Getty Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West arrive at "The Cher Show" Broadway Opening Night.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians returns tonight with its sixteenth season. Since the famous family and all of their drama are constantly in the public eye, fans often head into a new season of the reality with quite a bit of background information about what they can expect to watch unfold on their TV screens.
The season 17 episode premiere episode is entitled “Chicago Loyalty;” the official TV Guide synopsis reads “Kim’s fierce loyalty to her husband becomes a source of conflict while on a trip to Chicago. Kourtney struggles with anxiety in the aftermath of her breakup, so her sisters decide to plan a girls trip to Palm Springs to cure her breakup blues. MJ feels neglected by her daughter, Kris.”
Based on the trailer and news shared by the media and the family members themselves, here’s what we already know ahead of season 16:
Much of the conflict between Kim and Kanye appears to be rooted in his announcement last year that he was moving back to Chicago, especially since Kim says in the trailer “moving to Chicago might be my breaking point.” Though the couple named their third child after Kanye’s home city, they recently announced they are having a forth child and it does not appear today that they have any plans to leave their Los Angeles home. Kanye has even started hosting musical, spiritual gatherings at their home on Sundays, which appear briefly in the trailer and will be explained to curious fans during this season. The expectation of their fourth child, currently being carried by a surrogate, will also be a part of the family’s season 16 story.
Fans and critics of the family know that the major drama for the Kardashian-Jenner clan in recent months surrounds the cheating allegations of Khloe’s baby daddy Tristan Thompson with Kylie Jenner’s best friend, Jordyn Woods. Although that scandal took up a bulk of the season 16 trailer, Cosmopolitan points out that that drama happened in real time as the family was wrapping up season 16 of filming. Fans expected that this meant the cheating scandal wouldn’t unfold on the show until season 17; however, it’s clear from the trailer that last-minute editing and filming was done to include it in the upcoming season. It is likely that that footage will air as part of the season’s finale, and it will be interesting to see how much screen time Jordyn Woods gets in the season leading up to that bomb drop. Based on the trailer, we know there’s at least one episode in which a toast to Jordyn and Kylie is at the focus of the family’s festivities.
Big changes are coming fam. See you March 31st ✌️ #KUWTK
As for Kourtney, who is a big piece of the premiere episode’s synopsis, we know that she and long-term boyfriend Younes Bendjima broke up in August 2018, so Kourtney’s handling of that break-up will be aired on the show. The trailer also shows Scott and Kourtney together, teasing fans who just want to see the ex-couple (who share three children together) reunite. Scott, however, is still in a relationship with Sophia Richie, so don’t expect Scott and Kourtney’s exchanges to be anything outside their roles as co-parents and (sometimes) friends.
Though next week’s episode description suggests MJ (Kris Jenner’s mother) might be “seriously ill,” Kim posted a photo with her grandma, Kourtney, and some of their kids recently, and MJ appears to be in good health. If something is wrong with MJ, that information has not been shared with the public.
Tune in to Keeping Up With the Kardashians season 16, Sunday nights at 9/8c on E!.