Keeping Up With the Kardashians almost wasn't a thing for E!

During Khloé Kardashian's appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday (January 25), the reality darling admitted that the family's long-running reality show almost never aired. "I think we shot a pilot or something for Ryan [Seacrest] and it didn't go anywhere," the star, 36, expained. "And then a show on E! fell through, so they needed something to fill this dead air time. And they were like, 'You’re getting on the show, start filming, you’re getting on the air, like, in two weeks.'"

"We were so excited, asking what to expect and they said, ‘Don’t get too comfortable here. It’s just filler.’ I actually really appreciate that because we were just thinking, 'Oh we’re not going to have a season two, let’s just film. It’s fun. Let’s just be ourselves. This isn’t gonna go anywhere.' They told us we’re just filling up this dead air time," she continued.

The ease of filming turned out to be the Kardashian/Jenner family's secret recipe — and it worked.

"We had no pressure on ourselves," Kardashian explained. "We didn’t even have time to think about it; to really, like, have any preconceived, fake anything. It was just who we are on the fly and I think that’s what made the show so good… we just weren’t thinking. We were just being us. It wasn’t a time to over analyze and critique. It was just us and we were just thinking we’re not going to have a season two anyway so who really cares?" She added, "And it turned out that was probably the best thing to happen to us because it was so, I think, relatable and realistic to some people."

Fans will see the reality show wrap this year after 20 seasons, but the series leaves behind a strong legacy. Not only did it become one of the longest-running reality television series in the United States, but the show produced a number of spin-offs, including Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Khloé & Lamar and more.

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