Kris Jenner is the mastermind behind the successful careers of her children -- Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Robert Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner -- and even came to manage the career of her ex-husband Bruce Jenner, now known as Caitlyn Jenner. Apparently Kris has a natural skill for business and that's why she has been able to boost the career of all her loved ones and even hers. Kris, who is originally from San Diego, California, from an early age knew the kind of life she wanted and that she had to work hard to get everything she wanted.

But before becoming the favorite mom from a reality show, this mother of 6 and now a grandmother of 8 grandchildren shows us that the most important thing is the family, no matter the adversities. During most of the last decade, Kris and her family have become some of the most influential personalities in the entertainment industry, thanks to the reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians that have reached up to 156 countries and helps them to create an empire based on their family these past years. But the life of Kris was not always so glamorous, in fact, the television celebrity was born to a simple family and with a lifestyle quite different from the one she currently has. And today we will talk about 20 curiosities that we did not know about this magnate of business.

20 She Was Born Kristen Mary Houghton

Although today we know her as Kris Jenner or even Kris Kardashian, with the surname of her first husband, the reality is that when this celebrity of television was born in San Diego, California in November 1955, with the name of Kristen Mary Houghton. She was the first daughter of her parents Mary Jo Shannon and her husband Robert True Houghton an engineer, and inheriting roots of Dutch, English, Irish, German and Scottish origin. However, her parents divorced when she was a kid, so her mother had to be a single mother for a long time, although luckily they had the help of her grandmother, Lou Ethyl Wyatt Campbell, to help her raise their daughters.

According to the online radar website, Kris's father was an unstable man with a rather toxic personality. "After a decade of rocky marriage with a lot of bickering and fighting about his drinking and verbal [harm]," his parents separated.

Her mother filed for divorce and requested a full custody alleging that they suffered domestic problems in the home. After that, his father was not present in their lives.

Kris before having the glamorous life that we have seen on television had a normal life like any other girl of her age, and all the negative things that she lived with her family served to make Kris want to form another kind of home where everyone could feel that warmth of family and support.

19 She Has A Younger Sister

Mary Jo Shannon and Robert True Houghton had another daughter before they divorced: Karen Houghton, who is now 59 years old. However, the younger sister of Kris does not have the same lifestyle as the rest of the Kardashians. In fact, her life is completely away from the Hollywood cameras and has had normal jobs like the rest of us, Karen has worked as a stewardess, caregiver, and currently works as a part-time nurse. feud

Very few people know of the existence of Karen and her family.

But according to Daily Mail UK, in 2016 the younger sister of Kris allowed the cameras of Inside Edition, followed by a few days to document the facial surgery to which she was going to submit because she wanted to look more like her older sister.

Karen has a daughter named Natalie Zettel who has aspirations as a model like her cousin Kendall Jenner. In fact. Zettel has 34.3k followers on her Instagram account, and just by looking at her photos we can appreciate that she has that exotic beauty that characterizes the Kardashians.

In addition, it seems that the sisters overcame their differences and now both have a better relationship than before, (although they never clarified why they distanced themselves) it probably has to do with certain statements made by Karen for certain media that interviewed her. According to Intouchweekly, the younger sister of the matriarch of the Kardashian clan, during an interview stated: "Kris is vain." Nevertheless, nowadays, both sisters seem to have a better relationship.

18 Kris Developed A Cancerous Bone Tumor

After her parents divorced in 1962 when Kris was 7 years old, her mother sold the family home in the Point Loma area of San Diego, and in this way, she could have money to move with her daughters to Clairemont, California, where Kris attended Longfellow Elementary.

Unfortunately when Kris was 8 years old, just one year after her parents' divorce, Kris developed a cancerous bone tumor. Fortunately, cancer did not spread. Although before the operation the doctors had discussed the possibility of amputating the leg in case the tumor was already malignant.

After undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, doctors determined she was cancer-free and was able to recover without problems. However years later, during season 11 of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris asked her older daughters (Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian) to undergo a genetic test to determine their chances of developing cancer at some point in their lives. Her mother, Mary Jo Shannon, has had a long battle against cancer, Kris hoped that by taking a test everyone in her family would be calmer and would create awareness about the importance of assessing the now and the small details of life. Luckily, the test was negative for all her daughters.

17 Her Mother Was Married Twice

After her parents divorced and her mother decided to sell the family home in the San Diego area and moved to Clairemont, California. Mary Jo Shannon had to face difficult situations, being a single mother and breadwinner, dealing with medical procedures when it was believed that Kris could have cancer, adding to the stress of all the changes she had to face in a new place while she tried to keep the family united.

And according to the Biography website, a few years later, Mary Jo would find a new love and remarry, this time with the entrepreneur Harry Shannon. At that moment everything seemed to be improving for Kris's family.

But they received the unfortunate news that stepfather Harry's business partner had run away with all the company's money, just 3 months after moving to Oxnard, California.

When the family saw they were facing financial difficulties again they decided that the best thing to do was to move back to San Diego.

Probably, all the situations that Kris saw her mother live regarding marriage and family, motivated her to try to achieve in the future something different for her and her future children, to form a home where her children would feel loved and would know that they were going to count on their parents. Because despite all the dramas we've seen in the reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashian, they've always shown us that at the end of the day the most important thing is the family.

16 Her Grandmother Had A Candle Shop

During an interview with Giuliana Rancic for "Beyond Candid" on E!, Kris shared some aspects of her life before fame and everything that the reality show has unleashed in their lives.

One of the details she told was that her grandmother, Lou Ethyl Wyatt Campbell, had a candle shop and after her parents' divorce in 1962 her grandmother played a very important role in her and her sister's life.

Her mother and grandmother were responsible for raising both girls, so Kris used to spend time in her grandmother's store, where from an early age she began to understand how a business was managed and about responsibilities.

During that interview, Kris stated that she used to work in her grandmother's store, where she used to be in charge of wrapping the gifts that customers bought. Her mother and grandmother have been examples to follow for her, because those two women were who taught her about family values, responsibilities, how to start a business, and that with effort and love she could achieve all the goals she wanted in her life.

Thanks to her mother and grandmother, Kris understood the importance of being independent and self-sufficient in her life, for which she performed different jobs throughout her life before becoming the most well-known momager in the world, qualities that she has tried to transmit to her 6 children and now their grandchildren.

15 She Used To Work In A Donut Shop

When she was a teenager, Kris worked in a Donut store near to her neighborhood, as a way to generate extra money. That was her first official job outside of her family's business. Meanwhile, her mother had decided to open a candle shop at that time, where the young Kris also helped. Although eventually, both women opened a retail fashion store, Kris explains during her interview with Giuliana Rancic for "Beyond Candid" on E !, that thanks to her grandmother, her mother, and others jobs where the momager worked in her teen years, helped her to learn about how to run a business, responsibility and learn to understand what customers want.

Kris explained that when she worked in her mother's business she used to sit at her mother's desk and look at the store, while she would imagine owning a business of her own one day.

In fact, thanks to her charismatic personality, sociable and not at all shy, Kris always had the motivation of accomplish her goals, if she wanted something she would get it on his own, reason why she had several jobs that helped her to generate an income and so be able to do what she wanted and has that independence she longed for.

In short, all that hard work helped Kris to manage and boost the careers of their children to become the empire they are today, with various brands and products related to the Kardashian surname.

14 She Also Worked As A Flight Attendant

 Apparently, there is nothing that Kris Jenner cannot be good at, she does the best she can in everything that she invests her time. In fact, after working in the donut shop and helping her mother in her store, Kris got a job as a stewardess assistant, working for the American Airlines company.

According to the ibtimes.com.au website, and Christine Caparras, by the time she got the job on American Airlines she had already met Robert Kardashian.

Kris was assigned to Dallas to receive the necessary training for the position and was eventually assigned to work in New York City. In fact, at some point she tried to make an offer to change her assignment to the city of Los Angeles only because Robert Kardashian lived there.

However she did not get it at that time, it was after several months that the company finally granted her the possibility of transferring her to their offices and flights in Los Angeles.

According to deseretnews.com, Kris enjoyed her job as a stewardess assistant, besides during an interview she shared her opinion about it saying "I loved the satisfaction of having a job and earning my own money at a very young age." She explained that it helped her to be even more responsible, organized and punctual, "You know you can not be late if there is a plane taking off. This experience has been so transformative that Kris recommends that every young adult should try to find a job as soon as possible in their life because the learning that we get as a person is indescribable.

13 She Was Just 17 When She Met Robert Kardashian

According to the Marie Claire website and an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kris met who would become her first husband, Robert Kardashian, when Kris and a friend decided to spend a day at Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack, a place near San Diego.

She was 17 years old and it was there that Robert and she first met. According to Kris, he approached her and asked if she was someone he thought he knew, she quickly clarified that he was wrong, but he insisted on continuing talking and eventually he asked for her phone number, but she did not want to give it to him.

During an episode of the reality show, Scott Disick decided to do a "legacy video" and interviewed Kris. During the filming, the momager confessed that when she met Robert she was in a relationship with a guy named Cesar. "Back in the spring of 1973, I was 17 years old," Kris says in the clip. "I actually had a boyfriend who was always out of town. His name was Cesar. So while he was living on the road, I met Robert Kardashian..." Some time later she would cheat on her boyfriend with Robert.

12 Her Boyfriend Caught Her With Robert Kardashian

When Kris met Robert, she was not entirely sure about him, so she refused to give him her phone number that day at Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack. But Robert was a persevering man, for which he managed to find Kris's number with the help of one of his friends who used to work in the telephone company. Robert began to call her and although Kris was not sure and she seemed a bit annoyed with his insistence, after many phone conversations they developed a friendship and then something more.

During the episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians where Scott Disick films the legacy video, Kris also shared something embarrassing. She said that her boyfriend of that time discovered her with Robert.

"Robert came over one day when Cesar was out of town," Kris continues, later adding "And then we went back to Cesar's house and lo and behold, Cesar came home to surprise me. Well, it wasn't pretty. Not proud of it. Actually, Cesar tried to grab his sweater. I think he ripped a hole in Robert's sweater."

"I didn't want to ever hurt anybody's feelings." By that time Kris was already in love with Robert and after their relationship ended with Cesar she started dating exclusively with Robert Kardashian.

11 Robert Was Twelve Years Older Than Her So He Dumped Her For Priscilla Presley

Although Robert was 12 years older than Kris, that wasn't an impediment when they decided to establish a relationship. And according to the ibtimes.com.au website when Kris introduced to her mother to her new boyfriend Robert, the lady approved their relationship immediately. After all, Robert was an established and mature lawyer who could offer her daughter a good status and economic stability, besides he had family values similar to those that Mary Jo Shannon had instilled in her daughter.

By that time Kris used to work as a stewardess on America Airlines and being away from Robert made it difficult to spend time together, but after getting the transfer to Los Angeles where Robert was, it was easier for their relationship to flourish.

According to the News AU website, Robert thought that Kris was too young for something serious, so he dumped her at some point in their relationship for Priscilla Presley, but Priscilla apparently only dated him because she "had no one else to date" according to her cousin.

It was then that Robert gave Kris a second chance because if he could not mold Priscilla into the perfect "submissive" housewife, he would try to achieve it with the young Kris. In July 1978, Kris married Robert Kardashian at age 22. And as a honeymoon, Robert decided to take his wife to Paris and other cities in France and Italy.

10 Her Dream Was To Become A Wife And Mother (And Marry Rich)

According to the Biography website, when Kris graduated from Clairemont High School, she was much more interested in becoming a wife and mother than in going to college. The young Kris knew the importance and benefits of money, especially when you worked hard to get the things you wanted, but Kris had always longed for a family, that seemed to be her dream of life.

However, the News AU website tells a different version of Kris, a little more frivolous, according to Joan Zimmerman, a former friend of Kris's from high school.

Apparently what young Kris aspired after graduating was to marry a very rich man. In fact, Zimmerman said she believed that Kris's mother, Mary Jo, was up to something shady when the 17-year-old began a relationship with golfer Cesar Sanudo, who was more than 10 years older than her.

The same Cesar who Kris cheated on with Robert Kardashian.

Moreover, Daily Mail UK, explains that in the book 'Kardashians: An American Drama' from St. Martin's Press, when Kris graduated she and a friend decided to go to Hawaii and it was there where she met the professional golfer Cesar Sanudo, a man with a certain reputation and money. And according to Sanudo's daughter, Amber Carrilo, her father had no idea of Kris's true age because when he met her, she lied about her age. Carrilo added that 'She wanted to be mature and be a golf groupie and try to find a man who had money, that whole thing of just climb the ladder, try to find somebody who was going to get her where she needed to be, wherever that was." In fact, News AU, explains that Jack Spradlin, a friend of Cesar stated that "[Kris] saw a far better financial opportunity with Kardashian than with Cesar."

9 Rumors About Khloe's Father

After obtaining one of the things that Kris most wanted, a husband, now she just needed to get the children, for which Kris did not wait long to get to work on the matter. Kris got pregnant during her honeymoon in Paris and Italy with her first daughter, Kourtney Mary Kardashian who was born in April 1979. But Kris and Robert wanted a big family so they did not wait long before they started looking for another baby, then she got pregnant with Kim Kardashian who was welcomed in October 1980, followed by Khloe Kardashian who was born in June 1984, and finally Robert Kardashian who was born in March 1987.

However, with the birth of her third daughter, Khloe, there was some uncertainty about who was the father because it was rumored that she was not Robert's child. According to News AU, there are many secrets revealed in the book The Kardashians: An American Drama, written by Jerry Oppenheimer.

One is that Khloe was not Robert's daughter, and claimed that by the time Kris got pregnant, the couple had gone through a period where they were not together, and Gulliksen expressed the following: "it was my strong impression from him that [Robert] loved Khloé very much, but he said it in a way that implied that ‘She’s not my blood daughter.’ ”

However, for Robert, Khloe was his daughter because he had raised her and he never wanted to get a DNA test, according to Migdal, Robert told her once.

8 She Started Dating While Still Married, And Robert Found Out

But it seems that everything was not perfect in the Kardashian paradise. After the young Kris married the wealthy lawyer Robert Kardashian, she began to miss certain freedoms in her life. According to Jerry Oppenheimer's book, The Kardashians: An American Drama, Robert was a man who liked control. According to a close friend "He had a fantasy about being able to dominate women." But after having 4 children, Kris began to become rebellious and no longer obeyed the orders of her husband. Besides, she no longer enjoyed the role of a perfect wife in Beverly Hills.

Oppenheimer says that after Kris had cosmetic surgery, she decided to go more out. Kris would tell Robert, 'I need to go out. I need to have fun, '" Migdal said (a close friend of Robert). "[She] was coming home at 2 and 3 in the morning... and she would tell Robert, 'I have four kids and I have not lived life.'

Kris began to date a soccer player, Todd Waterman, presenting him as her boyfriend at parties and paying his bills with Robert's money. But soon, Robert caught Waterman and Kris "on three different occasions," he said, even in the other man's apartment and on a restaurant date.

Finding them together in Waterman's car once, Robert jumped out of his car with a golf club in his hand. "He hit and hit the back of my car," Waterman said. Kris told him to "keep driving - [Robert] could have a [weapon] in the car."

7 She Was Close Friend Of Nicole Brown Simpson

Nicole Brown Simpson was an American German who was married to the former football player O.J. Simpson. She was also the mother of two children, Sydney and Justin. Unfortunately, Nicole, achieved worldwide recognition in the wrong way, after she passed away in 1994 at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, along with her friend, the American bartender Ron Goldman, 25 years old. Being her husband, O.J Simpson was the main suspect in the case.

According to News AU, the Kardashians were pretty close to the Simpsons.

In fact, Kris and Nicole were best friends, and Kris's children used to call Nicole "aunt". By the time the event occurred Kris was already divorced from Robert, however, her ex-husband joined the team of lawyers who would defend O.J Simpson.

Kris was upset, but her ex-husband sent her a letter explaining his reasons “I truly believe in O.J.’s innocence, and unless they find him guilty, I will continue to support him ... Please be understanding.”

Upon learning of what happened, Robert decided to support his best friend O.J Simpson in court, forming part of what the press called the "dream team" because the athlete had surrounded himself with the best lawyers, known for representing celebrities and wealthy people. But not everyone agreed that Robert supported OJ, some of his friends turned their backs on him and people began to hate him.

In the end, OJ Simpson was declared innocent, although in 2007 he was sentenced to 33 years for other crimes.

6 She Never Believed O.J.’s Innocence

During all these years after the passing of her friend Nicole, Kris has been dealing with the guilt of not paying attention and having helped Nicole when there was still time. In fact, in an interview in 2016 for People when asked about the case the momager answered “I saw all the pictures and the police reports and I heard tapes of Nicole calling 911… That was stuff I didn’t know anything about. I beat myself up because I felt like I wasn’t paying attention. Like, how did I miss this? But that’s typical in [a bad] relationship – that the woman doesn’t speak out about how she’s being treated. My heart breaks because of all the pain and suffering she went through,” Jenner said, “I wish I had noticed the signs. She was fighting for her life many days I’m sure. I try to pay attention to things more now. I follow my intuition.”

Moreover, according to Daily Mail UK, Caitlyn Jenner (Kris's ex-husband) shared during an interview that Nicole had called Kris days before her passing and told her "He says he's going to [get rid of] me and get away with it because he's OJ Simpson " but Kris underestimated her friend's words and thought that she was exaggerating. Caitlyn after learning of the crime said that "We knew OJ was guilty."

5 She Got Engaged To Jenner After Dating For 5 Months

Apparently, the infidelity of Kris with the soccer player Waterman marked a before and an after in the marriage of Robert and Kris. The couple would end up divorcing in 1991.

Curiously, within a few weeks of the split from her husband, Kris knew who would be her next husband: Bruce Jenner, former Olympian, whom she met on a blind date.

They both had things in common and they were in similar phases of their lives. They were divorced and had children as a result of their previous marriages. But the couple seemed to be madly in love because after 5 months of dating they got married. In fact, during an interview with Huffington Post, Kris expressed what she felt and thought when she met Bruce "We were at a restaurant and he just dropped to a knee. We had been house-hunting all day and we were thinking about moving in together, and then I thought to myself, driving to the restaurant that we were going to, "I must be out of my mind that we're house-hunting. We're not even married, we're not even engaged!" And that night he just busted out a move.

The couple was married until 2015 and had two daughters: Kendall Jenner, who was born in November 1995; and Kylie Jenner who was born in August 1997. The reason for the couple's divorce was that Bruce comes out as a transgender woman.

4 Kris Called One Of Her Daughters Nicole In Honor Of Her Friend

The dramatic and surprising passing of her best friend Nicole Brown Simpson was something difficult for Kris to overcome, especially due to the guilt and helplessness of not having seen the signs and having done something to help her friend. In fact, during an interview with People magazine, Kris expressed the following: “I went to bed one night and I woke up the next morning and my entire universe had changed… They were my family. O.J. was like my big brother. So I not only mourned the loss of Nicole, but I mourned the loss of O.J. and that relationship.”

After the passing of her best friend and the birth of her first daughter with Bruce Jenner, both parents wanted to commemorate Nicole as a reminder of how important was her friend to her and that she will always keep her legacy alive.

That's why Kris and Bruce decided to call her first daughter together Kendall Nicole Jenner who was born a year after the passing of Nicole Simpson.

Besides during that interview with People magazine, Kris added that she hopes Brown’s legacy can protect other women because "Domestic [problems] is a real tragedy in our lives. [Nicole’s passing] could have been prevented… And if Nicole’s legacy can be protecting other women, then that would be a really positive thing.”

3 She Had An Instructional Workout Video

Having grown up in San Diego, California, the momager learned how to surf. From an early age Kris enjoyed doing outdoor activities with her friends, she even enjoyed practicing some sports and maintaining a healthy life. A discipline that she has managed to maintain over the years, in addition to the occasional visits to the surgeon, the Kardashians have shown us that exercise and healthy eating are fundamental habits to look spectacular.

In fact, when she married for the second time, with the athlete Bruce Jenner, the couple launched on the market in the '90s an instructional workout video, Power Walk Plus: Getting Started With Kris and Bruce Jenner.

In it, the former Olympic winner explained to his wife the best way to stay in shape, with certain tips to perform with treadmill exercise.

Part of the video of the couple became news years later after his daughter Khloe Kardashian shared a fragment of the video on her social networks. In this video Bruce is seen correcting the position of his wife in the treadmill while explaining to his audience "You control the pace," Bruce explains. "You'll be fine as long as you stay nice and..." It included certain innuendo. Even the VHS tape can be found on Amazon for a cost of around $ 20.

2 Deena Katz Came Up With The Reality Show Idea

Deena Katz is a television producer who is best known for her work on TV shows such as Dancing With the Stars (2005), Joking Around (2007) and The Grand Tour (2016). And according to the Eonline website, Katz was the one who gave the idea to Kris about having her own reality show based on her family.

According to Eonline, the idea came after Katz was visiting Kris's house one night and seeing the internal conflicts that occurred in the family she said: "This is a reality show — I think you should really talk to Ryan Seacrest."

After that night Kris seemed amazed with the idea for which Katz put her in touch with Ryan Seacrest, who liked the idea and that was how Keeping Up With The Kardashians was launched in 2007, and become one of the longest-running reality television series in the country. The fourteenth season premiered on October 2017.

How long will the reality show be on air? Kris at the end of last year during an interview with Variety said “I used to just joke and say [the show will end] when Kylie [Jenner, 20] gets married in 20 years,” Kris explained, “and here we are 10 years later. Who thought a decade later we would still be going as strong as we are. It’s really interesting because there are so many people emotionally invested in the family, and they want to see the ups and the downs and the good and the bad and the ugly and all of it. Every time someone gets married or gets divorced or has a baby or a celebration or graduates from school.”

1 Divorce Is One Of The Biggest Regrets In Her Life

After having had a life with ups and downs, (like all of us) Kris confessed during an interview with Harper's Bazaar that her only regret was to have divorced Robert Kardashian.

"I had a wonderful, beautiful life with Robert. He was just an amazing man," she told the magazine. "I always wish I could call Robert right now,” added Kris, who noted that divorcing her lawyer husband was her only regret in life. “That's an everyday thing."

While in an interview with Giuliana, Kris also spoke about divorce as one of the biggest regrets in her life. Explaining that when she tied the knot to Robert Kardashian, she was too young to understand that marriages require a lot of work to make them work.

During an interview for Daily Mail UK, she explained that if she had not divorced Mr. Kardashian, she would not have met Bruce Jenner and probably would not have had her other daughters. "But then there would not have been Kendall and Kylie, so that's the way I look at that. I do not have a lot of regrets." Kris adds that she somehow feels that everything had to happen that way and is grateful to life for all the things that have given her and her family.

References: ibtimes.com.au, wetpaint.combiography.comnews.com.au, bustle.compagesix.comdailymail.co.ukeonline.comok.co.uk, people.com, deseretnews.com, usmagazine.com, and independent.co.uk