Kendall Jenner on How Growing Up in the Spotlight Was a “Little” Like Hannah Montana

Kendall Jenner is getting candid about what her life was like growing up in the spotlight, as well as the challenges of being a teen model.

During a recent appearance on the Anything Goes podcast, the supermodel and media personality compared growing up in the public eye on Keeping Up With the Kardashians to the life of Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus’ character on the hit Disney Channel show.

“It’s a little Hannah Montana-y in a way,” Jenner told host Emma Chamberlain. “[But] I didn’t have a disguise, or I didn’t have a physical shift.”

Hannah Montana, which ran from 2006 to 2011 for four seasons, followed Miley Stewart’s (Cyrus) adventures as a typical teenager who also has a secret identity as a famous pop star, Hannah Montana.

“We went to school. We went to school as long as we could,” she continued. “I started home school, 11th and 12th grade … so even though we had a TV show at home, we were going to regular school all day and had our friends that we had from before the show started.” 

Jenner noted that while her life wasn’t “always easy,” being on camera from a young age, “it did feel kind of normal,” adding, “We lived as much of a normal life as, I think, was possible and I’m so grateful for that.” 

When Keeping Up with the Kardashians first premiered in 2007, launching her family to fame, Jenner was only 10 years old. She also recalled she and her younger sister Kylie Jenner having to do “very adult things at a really young age.” However, she admitted she’s “really grateful” overall because “I think it could have been a lot worse.”

A few years later, in her early teens, Kendall began her modeling career. She acknowledged to Chamberlain that she’s been “extremely fortunate” in the industry and mostly had a “beautiful experience,” but confessed to hitting some speed bumps along the way.

“I’m not gonna sit here and say that I’ve had the toughest journey. I think I’ve been extremely fortunate,” Kendall said. “But I also have had my own set of challenges, whether it’s [being] overworked or not getting a job that I would’ve really loved to get.”

The Kardashians star added that sometimes life was “very lonely” traveling the world as a teen for work and being away from family and friends for long periods.

“I’ve had really dark nights where I’ve been in random cities and just hysterically crying myself to sleep because I haven’t been home in three months and I’ve been pretty much alone the entire time,” Kendall said. “There’s been a lot of definite moments where I’m like, ‘What is going on, is this all worth it?’”