Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie pair up for new reality TV show - 20 years after starring on 'The Simple Life'

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were reality TV royalty in the early noughties, and now set to pair up once again and take over our screens.

The Hilton heiress, aged 43, and the fashion designer, age 42, are known for starring on ‘The Simple Life’ between 2003 and 2007, where they swapped Hollywood glitz for a small town in America. What followed was culture clash comedy as the girls, who are from both elite families, struggled to adapt to working class life.

Throughout the show, which ran for five seasons, they each acted as wife to a various families, learning about different cultures and family dynamics along the way, and the family then decided which of them was better in the role. Unsurprisingly, this led to tensions between the pair and viewers watched as they fell out - and made up - many times.

They also each accepted internships so that they could learn about different jobs and again this led to comedic scenes as they tried to cope with their duties and being out of their comfort zones. The socialites were seen taking on laborious jobs like cleaning, doing farm work, and food service. The duo are now said to be working on a new show together, according to American celebrity source TMZ. The premise of the series has not yet been announced, though production sources told the publication that it’s not going to be carbon copy of their famous show, nor will it have the same name.

Hilton and Richie are already said to have sold their pitch to a streamer, after having reportedly spent months talking about the project trying to work out the logistics of how they could work together again. The pitch is said to have created an 'all-out bidding war' between production companies who wanted to get their hands on it, with James Corden's production company, Fulwell 73, eventually buying the rights to shoot it.

The news comes as Hilton and Richie seemed to be hinting at something on Wednesday (May 8) as they both shared a collection of nostalgic throwback images of them together. They both captioned the post, 'From Day 1: Sill and Bill,' referring to their nicknames for each other.

The show made each of them in to household names and remains a beloved reality TV series among fans two decades after it first aired. It also produced Hilton’s iconic catchphrase “that's hot!”. Another famous moment from the series happened in the American supermarket Walmart, where Hilton questioned “what is Walmart? Do they sell wall stuff?”.

The iconic show celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. To mark the miletone, Hilton posted a number of throwback photos of herself and Richie on Instagram. In the caption she wrote: “Happy 20th anniversary to [the] show that started it all, The Simple Life! Filming this series with @NicoleRichie was one of the most special, hilarious, and iconic times in my life. I’m so lucky to have these amazing memories!”

Richie also marked the occasion, sharing a reel of some of her and Hilton’s ‘Simple Life’ highlights to her Instagram page. In the caption she quipped: “20 years ago, not only did we become television stars... we became songwriters. Happy Anniversary Sill @parishilton.”

Last month Richie said her her teenage children refuse to watch reruns and clips of ‘The Simple Life’. The actress told Variety that her son Sparrow, age 14, and daughter Harlow, 16, are not fans of the show, which they have seen through TikTok clips. “’The Simple Life’ is apparently having a big moment on TikTok, so they do tell me that they watch clips on TikTok,” she said. “Their friends watch it. I get a lot of eye rolls in my house all the time. It's right on brand with how they see me, in general.”

While they were making ‘The Simple Life’ Hilton and Richie were both single women in their twenties. But they are are both married with children. Hilton shares one-year-old son, Phoenix, and six-month old daughter, London, with entrepreneur husband Carter Reum, 43, whom she married in 2021. Richie, meanwhile, shares her two children with rocker husband Joel Madden, 45, the lead vocalist of Good Charlotte.