Kim Kardashian revealed exactly when she knew her whirlwind marriage to Kris Humphries was over.
“I knew it before we were married in my soul,” Kardashian, 46, told journalist Jonathan Van Meter in the new book Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future, available now. “I just thought, ‘Well, it’s cold feet.’ But your gut, your soul, is always right. And then I thought, ‘Well, they’re filming for a show, and if I bail now, they’re going to call me “the runaway bride” and it will be an even bigger thing.’ But I should have just not gotten married.”
According to Van Meter, who spoke with Kardashian and her family in wide-ranging interviews conducted from 2018 to 2026, the reality star referred to her 72-day marriage as one of “the biggest mistakes (and regrets) of her life,” along with her infamous sex tape.
Kardashian began dating Humphries, now 41, in October 2010. The pair got engaged the following May and tied the knot in August 2011. A two-part wedding special aired that October — the same month Kardashian filed for divorce.
“I knew she wasn’t happy,” Kardashian’s mom, Kris Jenner, told Van Meter in the book. “I went to her during the rehearsal, before the wedding. We were in this beautiful house in Montecito, [California], and the windows were open and Robin Thicke was rehearsing some songs on the dance floor. And I remember listening to the song, and I said to her, ‘Listen … I can just … I feel like … you’re not making the right decision.’ And I said, ‘If you want to cancel the wedding, just get out of here and I’ll figure it out.'”
Keeping Up With the Kardashians producer Farnaz Farjam shared her own perspective, claiming, “Kim didn’t have the confidence to back out.”
Farjam said navigating the public conversation surrounding Kardashian’s quickie divorce helped give her a thicker skin.
“In early seasons, Kim was this hopeless romantic. She would get shy; she could get vulnerable; she wore her emotions on her sleeve. She liked being sexy and having all that attention, but she wasn’t confident,” Farjam explained. “I think she had to go through some hardships — recognizing that it’s not the end of the world — to build that up.”
In December 2011, Humphries filed a response to Kardashian’s divorce petition and requested an annulment, alleging the marriage was a fraud for publicity. Kardashian denied the accusations, and Humphries eventually dropped his case. Their divorce was officially finalized in June 2013.
Farjam claimed Kardashian “thought her life was over” amid the legal fallout, but the Skims cofounder relied on some advice from her late grandmother Mary Jo “MJ” Shannon.
“When I filed for divorce from Kris Humphries, my grandmom was like, ‘Listen. My parents saved up all their money so I could have a big wedding because I thought I was in love. About a month or two in, I realized I’d made a terrible decision and I was so embarrassed. It was in the town paper! I just wasted everyone’s time and money and I was mortified. I knew I had to get a divorce, and I just did it. I thought my parents would never speak to me again,'” Kardashian recalled in the book. “And she said to me, ‘You have to be happy. You have to be.'”
Before Humphries, Kardashian was married to Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2004. She tied the knot with Kanye West in 2014, and the pair welcomed four children before splitting in 2021. They reached a settlement in 2022.
Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future is out now.
