Nicole Richie took a moment to remember The Simple Life, the reality TV show that launched her Hollywood career. And while she’s proud of everything she and her co-star Paris Hilton accomplished at the time, Nicole doesn’t believe this type of program could exist in today’s landscape.

The Simple Life, which ran from 2003 to 2007, was an instant hit among reality TV fans. It placed the two wealthy ladies in various regular jobs ranging from fast food restaurants to housekeeping, helping them learn more about work ethics in the process.

Nicole now credits the show with giving subsequent programs more prominence, also noting the likes of The Real World and The Osbournes.

Speaking of the show, she told Prestige Hong Kong magazine: “I was 20 years old and I had the best time ever. The only other reality shows were ‘Real World’ and ‘The Osbournes’, so there was no precedent of what this was going to be.

That show took us out of our reality for 30 days. It didn’t focus on our lives here. I’ve always been able to maintain a level of privacy because there has never been that focus on our lives here.

The concept was to put us in a different state or environment. We were young. We had fun. We didn’t know where we were going. That show probably wouldn’t exist now.”

And while she enjoyed her time on The Simple Life, Nicole has embraced a life out of the spotlight as a fashion designer. The 35-year-old beauty even created her own label, House of Harlow 1960, which she named after her young daughter.

She explained about her thriving business: “It was just something I liked doing. I liked having an idea in my head. I would get so frustrated with liking something, and wanting to make it. I remember buying all these velvet ribbons and elephant charms and making chokers for my mom’s friends.”