What 20 iconic reality stars looked like when they were in their 20s

Vanderpump was born in London, England, in 1960. She told Express in 2019, she starred in so many commercials by the time she was 19 that she was able to buy herself a flat in Fulham, London.

"I never had any financial help after leaving home, just a good education and a kick in the arse," she told the publication.

In her 20s, she starred in multiple music videos and had minor roles on various TV series, including the syndicated show "Baywatch Nights."

Vanderpump first appeared on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" at age 50 and was part of the reality franchise for nine seasons.

Now in her 60s, she's been a main cast member on the Bravo spin-off "Vanderpump Rules" since 2013. She also starred on the short-lived Peacock series "Vanderpump Dogs," which focused on the family's LA rescue center and The Vanderpump Dog Foundation.

Nick was born in 1973 in Harlan, Kentucky. He rose to fame in his 20s performing with the pop/R&B boy band 98 Degrees.

In 2002, when Nick was 29, he married Jessica Simpson, and the two starred on MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica." The couple later divorced in 2006.

That same year, his current wife Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo) starred in Nick's music video for "What's Left of Me." They started dating and then got married in 2011.

The singer, now in his late 40s, has since starred on a number of reality TV shows. He won the fifth season of NBC's "The Masked Singer," hosted Netflix's "Perfect Match," and cohosts both "Love is Blind" and "The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On" on Netflix with Vanessa.

Vanessa was born in 1980 on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.

At 18, she was crowned Miss South Carolina Teen USA and won the title of Miss Teen USA later that year.

In her early 20s, Vanessa hosted MTV's "The Morning After" and "Total Request Live."

Now in her early 40s, she cohosts the reality dating shows "Love is Blind" and "The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On" with her husband, Nick. She's also a series regular on CBS' "NCIS: Hawai'i."

Banks was born in Inglewood, California, in 1973. She started modeling when she was 15 years old and was signed by Elite Model Management at 17.

When she was 19, she starred in the music video for Michael Jackson's "Black or White." Two years later, she landed her first acting role playing Jackie Ames on NBC's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

In 1996, Banks became the first Black woman to be on the cover of GQ and the first Black model to get a solo cover on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

According to Bank's 2021 Instagram post, she was also the first Black model to work under contract with Victoria's Secret. Her first runway show as a Victoria's Secret Angel was in 1997.

In 2003, the star created "America's Next Top Model," producing and hosting the UPN/CW show until 2015. From 2005 to 2010, she also hosted her own CW talk show, "The Tyra Banks Show."

Banks, now in her 50s, recently hosted three seasons of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Brown was born in Houston, Texas, in 1980. He spent a lot of his adolescence in Florida and later attended Florida A&M University.

The celebrity gained recognition when he was 24 after appearing as the first openly-gay Black man on MTV's "The Real World: Philadelphia."

Since then, Brown has starred on other reality shows, including MTV's "Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II," Netflix's "Are You the One: Second Chances," and ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Now in his early 40s, he's part of the Fab Five on the hit Netflix reality show "Queer Eye" and hosts his own syndicated talk show.

Mandel was born in 1955 in Toronto, Canada.

He started doing stand-up comedy in the late 70s, and his acting career really took off in his late 20s when he played Dr. Wayne Fiscus on NBC's "St. Elsewhere." Over the next few years, he appeared on TV and in various movies, including voicing Gizmo in "Gremlins" (1984).

He didn't start hosting NBC's "Deal or No Deal," what he's probably best known for, until he was 50. And a few years later, he starred on NBC's "Howie Do It," a practical-joke show similar to ABC's "Candid Camera."

In 2010, Mandel became a judge for NBC's "America's Got Talent," a position he's held for over a decade. He's also a judge for the competition show's Canadian counterpart.

William Jonathan Drayton Jr., better known as Flavor Flav, was born in Roosevelt, New York, in 1959.

He attended culinary school in the late 70s, but at 26, he pivoted to music and cofounded the rap group Public Enemy. In 2020, in a statement obtained by Rolling Stone, the rap group announced they'd be "moving forward without Flavor Flav."

Flavor Flav became even more of a household name starring on various VH1 reality series like "The Surreal Life," "Strange Love," and his own reality dating show, "The Flavor of Love."

RuPaul was born in San Diego, California, in 1960.

When he was a teenager, he and his sister moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he started studying the performing arts. In 1982, he made his debut on "The American Music Show," a public-access variety show.

RuPaul moved to New York when he was 24. There, he immersed himself in the Club Kid subculture, a group of androgynous dance-club personalities that expressed themselves through unique fashion, makeup, and music.

He moved back to Georgia after six months and continued working in the club scene.

The celebrity returned to New York at 27. About five years later, he released his first studio album, "Supermodel of the World." Today, his discography includes features on over 20 albums and in over 40 music videos.

In 2019, he also appeared in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video alongside Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, and Brown.

Now in his 60s, RuPaul is probably best known for producing, hosting, and judging Logo TV's "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Rinna was born in Newport Beach, California, in 1963. At 21, she starred in the music video for John Parr's "Naughty Naughty."

The star then rose to fame playing Billie Reed on NBC's "Days of Our Lives." Rinna left the show in 1995 and reprised her role in 1996.

In 2014, she joined the main cast of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and soon became popular for bold one-liners, messy drama, and jokes about her iconic lip fillers.

Now in her 60s, Rinna recently announced her departure from the popular reality show after eight seasons.

Bailey was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1967.

When she was 18, she moved to New York City and started her modeling career. She also had one-episode roles on NBC's "The Cosby Show" and Fox's "New York Undercover" in her 20s.

At 43, Bailey joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." She stayed on the show as a regular until 2021 and returned as a guest in 2023.

Now in her mid-50s, the star has also made cameos on other franchise projects, such as "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" and Peacock's "The Real Housewives Girls Trip."

Richards, Paris Hilton's aunt, was born in Hollywood, California, in 1969.

She began appearing on the screen very early, most notably playing the role of Alicia Edwards on NBC's "Little House on the Prairie" from 1975 to 1982. She was also in various sci-fi and horror films, including Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) and "Halloween" (1978).

When she was 41, Richards became a household name after joining the cast of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." She's been part of the reality franchise ever since.

Buteau was born in New Jersey in 1977. She originally worked in journalism as an editor on local TV news, but she soon moved to New York to work in production.

Throughout her 20s, her comedy career took off, and she eventually landed a spot on Comedy Central's "Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents," formerly known as "The Half Hour."

Buteau moved to the big screen in films like "Someone Great" (2019) and "Marry Me" (2022). She also released the hour-long comedy special "Welcome to Beautopia" on Netflix in 2020.

Now in her mid-40s, Buteau has become a big name in reality TV, hosting the fan-favorite Netflix show "The Circle."

Most recently, she's the writer, executive producer, and star on Netflix's new comedy series "Survival of the Thickest."

Seacrest was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1974. He got his first radio job in college at the University of Georgia.

In the mid-90s, he moved to Los Angeles, California, to further his career in broadcasting.

At 27, Seacrest became a cohost of Fox's "American Idol." and stayed on as a solo host until 2016. He also returned for the show's ABC revival in 2018.

In 2004, he launched his own syndicated radio program "On Air With Ryan Seacrest," which is still running. A year later, at 31, he started hosting ABC's annual "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" special.

Now in his late 40s, Seacrest is set to replace Pat Sajak as host of ABC's "Wheel of Fortune" in 2024.

Cannon was born in San Diego, California, in 1980. He started doing stand-up comedy on his dad's local cable-access program at the age of 11.

He was also part of a rap group Da G4 Dope Bomb Squad as a teenager, opening for stars like Will Smith and Montell Jordan. He left the group in the early 2000s to release his own music.

By 21, he had his own comedy show on Nickelodeon, "The Nick Cannon Show," and he eventually became the chairman and face of Nick's teen network, TeenNick.

A few years later, Cannon started hosting the MTV improv show "Wild N' Out" and landed various other hosting ventures, including multiple seasons of NBCs "America's Got Talent."

Now in his early 40s, Cannon continues to make headlines for being very open about having 12 kids with six different women.

Kardashian was born in 1980 in Los Angeles, California.

She first entered the spotlight through her friendship with Hilton. But her name became even more recognizable when her sex tape with singer Ray J was leaked in 2007.

The same year, in her late 20s, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" premiered on E! The long-running reality series followed the lives of the Kardashian and Jenner families. She also appeared on various spin-offs, such as "Kourtney and Kim Take New York," "Kourtney and Kim Take Miami," and Hulu's "The Kardashians."

Now in her early 40s, Kardashian has a significant online presence and has launched cosmetic and clothing brands, including KKW Beauty and Skims.

The celebrity is currently set to star on the 12th season of FX's "American Horror Story."

Palmer was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1978.

In college, he was a quarterback at the University of Florida before graduating in 2001. He went on to play for the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers in his mid-20s.

In 2004, Palmer was the star of the fifth season of ABC's "The Bachelor." He was 25 at the time, making him the youngest lead in the show's history.

At 29, the star retired from the NFL and became a college-football analyst on ESPN, which he still does today.

Now in his 40s, Palmer is the current host of "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," and "Bachelor in Paradise."

Snooki was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1987.

When she was 21, she briefly appeared on an episode of MTV's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" A year later, she rose to fame on MTV's "Jersey Shore" and the spin-off "Snooki & JWoww."

Snooki competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2013. She's also hosted a number of reality-TV and web shows, including MTV's "How Far Is Tattoo Far" and "Messyness."

Now in her mid-30s, Snooki stars on MTV's "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" alongside other original "Jersey Shore" cast members.

Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California, in 1986.

In 2004, she starred on MTV's "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," a show that followed Conrad and others as they navigated Laguna Beach High School. But Conrad left the show after two seasons to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California.

When Conrad was 20, she got her own MTV spin-off series, "The Hills," which aired from 2006 to 2010.

Now in her late 30s, she also created a clothing line with Kohl's in 2009 and has published a mix of fiction and nonfiction books such as "Sweet Little Lies" and "The Fame Game."

Stause was born in Draffenville, Kentucky, in 1981. She rose to fame at 23 playing Amanda Dillon on ABC's "All My Children."

She also was a regular on ABC's "Days of Our Lives" from 2013 to 2015, returning to the soap opera in later seasons as a recurring guest star.

Stause, now in her 40s, has pivoted to reality TV.

She's well known for breaking into LA real estate and selling million-dollar homes on Netflix's "Selling Sunset." Throughout the drama on the reality series, she's opened up about her marriage and divorce with actor Justin Hartley, her relationship with broker Jason Oppenheim, and her current partner G Flip.

Clarkson was born in Forth Worth, Texas, in 1982. She did a lot of singing in middle and high school — including performing at Six Flags Over Texas.

Although she received numerous college scholarship offers, she reportedly declined them to move to LA and pursue a music career.

Clarkson is probably best known for winning the first season of "American Idol" when she was 20, which earned her a record deal. Since then, she's released more than 10 albums. Her most recent was "Chemistry" in June.

The singer has also served as a coach on NBC's "The Voice" and currently hosts her own NBC talk show, "The Kelly Clarkson Show."