If you were watching MTV in the early 2000s, you are very familiar with The Osbournes. They paved the way for many of Hollywood’s famous families and made it acceptable for them to do a reality series. What viewers might forget is how young Kelly Osbourne and Jack Osbourne were when they began filming the show — they were in their formative teen years.
The family has been teasing a reboot of their series, but it’s been thwarted a few times over the years. “It wouldn’t be The Osbournes if we weren’t all on it,” Kelly shared on The Kelly Osbourne and Jeff Beacher Showin May. “In all honesty, I thought these conversations were put to one side and today is the first I’m hearing of it, so I don’t know if it’s — and I haven’t spoken to anyone — so I don’t know if it’s media making it up, or if it’s real.” (We’re guessing Sharon Osbourne’s recent controversies stopped the recent chatter about a revival right in its tracks.)
But maybe Jack and Kelly could do it together, without their mom and dad’s participation. The siblings have led a colorful life after their reality series ended in 2005 and there are plenty of tales to tell. And if you think we’re forgetting about oldest sister Aimée — we’re not! We certainly know she’s keeping a much lower profile than the rest of the family, which hasn’t changed since those MTV years. So don’t miss the photos of all three of the Osbourne kids over the years — including an update on the relationship between all three of them.
A version of this story was originally published in 2021.
MTV’s ‘The Osbournes,’ 2002
The family’s MTV reality show, The Osbournes, kicked off on March 5, 2002, and they became pop culture icons — well, except for oldest daughter Aimée, who chose not to participate. Even having a press photo with her in it is a rare find.
“For me, I had grown up around having a pretty well-known dad anyway, and… I always really valued my privacy within that family,” Aimée told New York’s Q1043 in 2020.
Life Changing, 2002
Jack was 14 and Kelly was 15 when they signed on to do the show, not realizing how much their lives were going to change. They had already grown up as kids of a famous musician, but now, the spotlight was on them.
“It is something that I don’t think I will ever fully understand because being in the moment when it is happening to you, it’s so insane when you are still trying to figure out who you are,” she explained to the U.K.’s Metro. “I was a kid! Now I look back on it and I realise what an impact that show had.”
Pop Star, 2002
Do you remember Kelly’s debut album, Shut Up? Many fans have probably forgotten her moderately successful singing career, but the reality star has some thoughts about it.
“My music career is, for me, a regret,” she explained to The Guardian. “I’d never sung in front of anyone when I sang ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ at the MTV Movie Awards in 2002; it wasn’t even something I thought about. But through doing it, I realise that I definitely do have a passion for it: I love singing, I love performing, but I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be the next Avril Lavigne.”
Life in the Spotlight, 2002
Life constantly in front of the cameras wasn’t easy for Kelly or Jack, both of them developed addictions while starring in their MTV series. Jack went into rehab in 2003 for his OxyContin abuse and Kelly went in a year later for a painkiller addiction.
“I was suffering from a lot of depression in my early teens, and I was drinking a lot. And then we did The Osbournes and it gave me a rather large piggy bank, so my parents had less control, and then my mom got sick [with colon cancer], Jack shared in a 2021 interview with Variety. “Eventually, my mom received a phone call from a friend who was like, ‘This is bad.'”
Where Is Aimée?, 2002
When filming began for the reality series, Aimée moved out of the house at the age of 16. She didn’t want to participate in the MTV series whatsoever — and if she was caught on camera, the network blurred her face out. While this made her happy, Sharon revealed that this is a decision she “regret[s] every day.”
“I know that my eldest girl, Aimée, left home at 16 and she couldn’t live in our house because we were filming and it drove her insane,” Sharon said in June 2018 on The Talk, via People. “She felt too that she didn’t want to grow up on camera. She hated the idea — it was appalling to her.”
Reality Show Game-Changers, 2003
The Osbournes became a sensation, and at the time, it was the most successful MTV show the network had ever produced. Many experts in pop culture think the family paved the way for the Kardashians because getting a behind-the-scenes look at a slurry rock star, his in-control wife and two teens trying to figure it all out was the chef’s-kiss recipe for success.
Red Carpet Madness, 2003
While their older sister lurked far away in the background, Jack and Kelly were suddenly everywhere with the paparazzi following their every move and the A-list red carpet invitations flowing.
During that three years, I was not in a good place,” Jack shared on the Mind Wide Open podcast. “And it’s because human beings are not designed to be famous. And I’m sure you can relate — growing up with a rock star father, fame is torturous, and as a child, all of a sudden, it’s, like, [being] on this hugely successful show, which kind of happened very accidentally.
American Music Awards, 2003
The Osbournes were so famous that the four of them hosted the American Music Awards in 2003. Can you imagine the censors that night beeping every ten seconds on typically very foul-mouthed family? They even did an awkward comedy bit with Jack sitting in Britney Spears’ lap and Kelly sitting in Justin Timberlake’s lap to capitalize on their breakup — the early 2000s were pretty awful, y’all.
Prince Charles, 2004
Kelly stepped in for her father after he had a quad bike crash that required surgery and he couldn’t attend the Royal Variety show in 2004. At the age of 20, she was rolling deep with the A-listers in Hollywood and beyond, thanks to their MTV fame.
Elton John’s Oscars Viewing Party, 2007
Even though the Osbournes wrapped up their TV show in 2005, that didn’t take them out of the spotlight. Jack and Kelly began to develop their own brands outside of their reality series. Kelly began hosting shows and dabbled in acting while Jack decided to take charge of his health and became interested in the fitness industry by developing several sports series after his weight loss.
‘Dancing with the Stars,’ 2009
Kelly went on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, where she waltzed her way to third place. She told Ellen DeGeneres that the show was a turning point in her life, not only to get in shape, but to also learn about self-love.
“Working hard for what I wanted, and achieving my goals in life. And not just sitting at home and not doing anything about it, and wondering why I didn’t like myself,” she told DeGeneres. “You have to put action in, and you have to wake up and set yourself little small goals, and just stick to it.”
Red Carpet Looks, 2010
Kelly struggled with her self-esteem over the years, but she found little ways to positively boost that inner voice that was nagging at her.
I would look at myself and think, ‘Ugh,'” she told Shape magazine. “I was miserable. To get to the gym-when you already don’t like yourself-is really hard. So I had to make it fun. I started wearing cute outfits and putting on a little bit of makeup. And as vain as it sounds, it really helped me because eventually I stopped hating the way I looked.”
Sticking Together, 2011
No matter what was happening in their family— cancer battles, addiction or other controversies — the always stuck together. Jack summed up the Osbourne philosophy for having each other’s back, “You just kind of support what you can and focus on whatever you can get done.”
Following in Kelly’s Footsteps, 2013
Jack followed in his sister’s footsteps and decided to join the cast of Dancing with the Stars in its 17th season. He came onto the show a year after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, so there were a lot of additional challenges to doing the show.
“I actually got really pretty symptomatic during Dancing with the Stars,” he explained to Everyday Health. “I hid it well, but I was having really bad problems with fatigue and balance, and I started getting tingling up my arms and legs.”
He didn’t let that stop him, though. He and partner Cheryl Burke finished in third place that season.
Hanging with Joan Rivers, 2013
Kelly turned into quite the fashionista and was spotted at runway shows, on the red carpet and on E!’s Fashion Police for five years dishing about Hollywood’s best (and worst) looks.
“You know what, it was the five best working years of my life,” Kelly said on The Talk after leaving the show in 2015, per the Independent. “I am so grateful for the experience… working with Joan Rivers for five years was incredible.”
All Grown Up, 2013
Jack and girlfriend Lisa Stelly started a family together in April 2012 with the birth of their daughter, Pearl. They married in October of that year and eventually welcomed two more daughters, Andy in 2015, and Minnie in 2018.
Sadly, they announced their divorce a few months after their youngest child was born. “So, first and foremost, we absolutely still love each other. Our family is the most important thing in our lives, and we tried everything we could for many years to make this work. What’s best for our family right now is that we separate lovingly, and remain best friends who are committed to raising our children together,” they shared on social media. Their divorce was finalized in 2019.
Lilac Mohawk, 2017
Kelly has never been one to settle for one look, so we loved it when she changed it up big time for a lilac mohawk and a tattoo on her scalp. This became her signature style for a while and she inspired the fashionable hair color trend years before it became mainstream.
A Date with Dad, 2018
As a single father, Jack has been making sure each of his daughters feels special, like taking Pearl as his date to a red carpet event. And despite his unconventional upbringing as the son of Ozzy and Sharon, he does bring some of their parental wisdom to his parenting style.
“Both my parents were really big about the way they communicated to us. My mom would always talk to us like we’re humans — same with my dad,” he told People. “It was never that, like, ‘We’re your parents and we’re just this dominant figure in your life.’ It [was] always a conversation, which I think is really important to be able to have — communicating with a kid on their level versus trying to talk down to a kid.”
Staying Healthy, 2019
Jack has been focusing on his young family over the last few years after his divorce from Lisa. He also is making sure his health stays a priority amid his battle with multiple sclerosis.
“I’m feeling really, really well, you know, I haven’t had any significant MS flare-ups in a long time,” he told People in 2021. “I exercise a lot. I do a bunch of jujitsu. I’m great.”
Struggles with Sobriety, 2020
Kelly has been open about her struggles with addiction over the years — it hasn’t been easy for her. Her most recent relapse came in early 2021 after four years of sobriety.
“This is a little hard for me to talk about, but I’ve always promised you that I will always be honest with you about where I’m at and what’s going on in my road to recovery,” she shared on her Instagram Story in April, via People. “I relapsed. Not proud of it. But I am back on track.”
Family Fracture, 2020
Sadly, Aimée and her siblings aren’t close anymore. Kelly shared with Dax Shephard on his Armchair Expert podcast that the sisters “don’t talk” anymore. The former Fashion Police host said, “We’re just really different. She doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand her.”
And it seems like things have been that way for a while since Aimée told The Independent in 2015, “I wouldn’t say there is an ease between us, but there is an acceptance. Do we socialise? No.”
Maybe one day, they will come back together, but for now, Aimée is continuing her music career with her band, ARO.
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