Andy DehnartNicole Richie has confirmed her former friend Paris’ supposition that The Simple Life 4 is fake, and that she is playing a character, not herself. “Paris plays the bombshell who doesn’t know a lot of things, and I play the jokester. That’s what the show’s about,” Nicole tells TV Guide. “But it’s Season 4 now, and you know what? Everyone’s in on the joke, including the families.”
Nicole goes on to say that, while in character, she “made it very clear to producers that I did not want to disrespect anybody’s culture.” However, she will trash their house and not be bothered by that at all. “I mean, to mess up someone’s clothes or pool — those are all material things. I would never disrespect their culture.”
Finally, she says that working with Paris in their joint scenes isn’t difficult. “I’m very used to working with somebody who I don’t get along with. Work is work,” Nicole says, adding that “the producers just thought that maybe that would be an easier [approach]” to have them be nearly always separated for the fourth season.