Aimée Osbourne, the eldest daughter of Ozzy and Sharon, has once again opened up about her decision to not participate in the family’s reality TV show, “The Osbournes”. Aimée, who was only 15 years old at the time, reportedly went as far as to move out of the family home in an effort to stay away from the cameras.
Asked by The Oakland Press if she had any regrets about not being involved with “The Osbournes”, Aimée said: “No. It wasn’t even something I ever contemplated. I never saw it as an option, so it didn’t feel like a hard decision. I knew (the show) was never something that would have made me happy and would have benefitted me long-term. The show was real; There was no script, and I think they got some messages out there that were important, and people got to see their gentle charm and quirkiness. I think after that you saw reality TV take this perverted twist, and a lot of it is so bogus and not reality.”
As for what it was like watching the shows from the sideline, Aimée said: “It wasn’t that shocking or surprising ’cause I grew up with it, with a very well-known father. So it wasn’t unfamiliar. What was pretty surprising was how successful it became, overnight. I don’t think any of us were anticipating anything at that level. There’s nothing that could prepare you for that kind of exposure. It was interesting, to say the least.”
Last October, Sharon said that she understood how Aimée felt when she chose not to participate in “The Osbournes”. “It was chaos. We had about 30 crew, 24 hours a day,” she said on her talk show “The Talk”. “And the house wasn’t a home anymore; it was a studio. So, I get why she didn’t like it. But would I have done it differently? I didn’t know what I was doing then. So, I wouldn’t have done anything differently, because I had an unbelievable time doing it — great experiences. And it was just something in my life that I don’t regret and I’m glad I did. I was just sorry that Aimée didn’t come on the journey with us.”
Sharon also talked about “Vacare Adamare”, Aimée‘s debut album to be released under the ARO banner, which came out in October via Make Records.
“With Aimée, she doesn’t wanna be a celeb,” Sharon explained. “She just wants to do her music and do her creative thing, and feel good about it. That’s it.”
After co-host Sheryl Underwood asked Sharon, “Has Ozzy heard it? What does he think about it?” she replied: “He loves it.”
That was not the first time Aimée had spoken about her refusal to appear in “The Osbournes”. A few years ago, she said: “I want to be a singer, and I felt if I’d stayed with ‘The Osbournes’ and done the whole thing, I would have been typecast right away.”
She elaborated in a 2015 RollingStone.com interview, saying: “I don’t think I will ever cross-contaminate my private life and my family life with my public and professional worlds. For me, nothing’s more important than having a very clear boundary between the two. That’s just part of who I am.”
The “fly-on-the-wall” TV series, which became the highest rated original program in MTV‘s history, started in 2002 and ended in 2005. The show followed the lives of the BLACK SABBATH singer and his family, including Sharon‘s battle with cancer, as well as younger children Kelly and Jack Osbourne‘s stints in rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse.
“The Osbournes” was credited with being the first show where cameras followed celebrities around and led to a number of copycats like A&E‘s “Gene Simmons Family Jewels”, which followed the life of KISS bassist Gene Simmons and his family, and A&E‘s “Growing Up Twisted”, about the family of TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider.
