Child abuse, heroin battles & cheating hell – the dark side of Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie’s The Simple Life success

IT’S been 21 years since socialites Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie made their TV debut on The Simple Life.

Fast forward two decades, and the pair have reunited for a new three part series called Paris & Nicole: The Encore. 

But while the pals, both now married with two children each, are delighted to get back to their reality TV roots, their path to stardom has been anything but smooth sailing. 

Both raised in immense wealth – Paris’ great grandfather was Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotel chain, while Nicole was adopted as a child by pop superstar Lionel Richie and his family – the girls have nevertheless endured their fair share of heartache and tragedy. 

As the ladies, both 43, come back together, we take a look at their far from Simple Life and the horrors that have blighted them – from drug addiction and child abuse to tragic deaths and jail time.

HEROIN HELL

Following her parents’ divorce in 1993, Nicole turned to drink and drugs, starting with cocaine as a teenager and ending in full blown heroin addiction by the time she was in her early twenties.

According to Nicole, who went on to become a renowned fashion designer, her drug use stemmed from boredom.

Speaking in 2007, she said: “I think I was just bored, I had seen everything- especially when you’re young, you just want more.”

It was her father, Lionel, who urged her into rehab just before The Simple Life aired, cancelling his tour to help her and telling a TV interview later he was convinced his daughter was going to die.

“My past is out there. I have no choice but to be honest,” Nicole said years later.

Meanwhile, Paris also fought her own battles with drugs, famously getting arrested for possession of cocaine in 2010.

CHILD ABUSE

Paris shocked the world when she revealed she was the victim of alleged child abuse when at school and has even addressed US Congress as she fights for a change in youth facilities in the States.

According to Paris she was “force-fed medications and sexually abused by staff” at a private school in Utah, after being sent there as a teen.

She says her parents, Kathy and Richard, had no idea.

“They just thought it was going to be a normal boarding school,” Paris said.

“But we would just constantly be torn down, abused, screamed and yelled at.”

Paris is now fighting to pass a bill called the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act.

In an open letter posted on Instagram she wrote: “Silence doesn’t heal — it only protects the people that caused the harm.

Speaking up has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also been the most powerful.”

CHEATING SCANDALS

Despite being two of the most sought after bachelorettes on the Hollywood scene, Paris and Nicole suffered plenty of heartache before settling down with their respective spouses.

Nicole has been happily married to Good Charlotte star Joel Madden since 2010, while Paris wed businessman Carter Reum in 2021, but prior to that the ladies have admitted to being cheated on.

Speaking recently on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Nicole confessed to being “devastated and shocked to my core” when her first ever boyfriend was unfaithful.

Another man cheated on her while on the Peter Pan Disney ride, and one time a woman even called her to tell her she’d been sleeping with Nicole’s lover.

And when asked if she’d ever been cheated on Paris said: “Every girl has. Guys are a**holes.”

TRAGIC DEATHS

The ladies have faced multiple losses in their lives, including the deaths of two significant exes, as well as a beloved mutual friend.

Nicole and Paris were devastated to lose pal Casey Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson empire, in 2010 due to complications with diabetes.

Casey had been the original choice to join Paris on The Simple Life but turned the offer down, leaving the door open for Nicole to step in.

Paris said at the time, “I feel like I’ve lost a sister.”

In 2009, Nicole was stunned when her ex-fiance, Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM, died from a drugs overdose.

Just a year earlier Adam, who had also appeared on The Simple Life, had survived a plane crash which killed four other people.

Paris then lost her ex, Aaron Carter in 2022, when he accidentally drowned in a bathtub.

Years earlier Aaron had blasted Paris, who he dated from 2003-2004, as a bad influence.

“’Paris was the worst person in the world for me to hook up with,” he said.

“She fed my worst impulses as far as partying.”

LEGAL TROUBLES

Thanks to their history of drink and drugs, Nicole and Paris have been in trouble with the law more than once, with Paris even getting locked up for three weeks in LA County jail.

In 2006, she was arrested for driving under the influence, and when she did it again, was given a three year probation.

When she was caught driving at 70mph in a 30mph zone shortly after, she was hauled off to prison for a 45 day stay for probation violation – she managed three and a half weeks.

“It was a very traumatic experience,” she said of prison, which saw her locked up for 23 hours a day next to a toilet. 

However, it didn’t stop her getting arrested again, for drug possession in 2010, which resulted in a fine and a year’s probation.

In 2002, Nicole was arrested following a brawl outside a nightclub and was then cuffed in 2006, after failing a sobriety test while driving.

She was sentenced to four days in jail, but served just 82 minutes.

Nicole was arrested again for DUI in 2012,  but no drugs were found in her car.