"What Not to Wear" stylists Clinton Kelly and Stacy London seemed like best friends
on camera, but when it comes to real life, not everything is made for TV. While the two
looked cozy on the show, drama was brewing behind the scenes. Here's what we know about
these effervescent hosts.
"Denise, I'm Stacy."
"And I'm Clinton."
"And we're from TLC's 'What Not To Wear.'"
Part of what makes any reality show good is its hosts. And Clinton Kelly and Stacy London
were responsible for some stunning "What Not to Wear" transformations. The pair brought
so much joy to the role, it would be hard to imagine they were anything other than best
buds in real life.
For the series' entire 10-year run, London and Kelly were constantly working together
to make participants look and feel like a million bucks. Since the show lasted so long,
most fans assumed that London and Kelly were chummy in real life, too. But when it comes
to how they really felt about each other, there may have been more to the story.
It appears that behind the scenes, things were reportedly a lot more tense than they
looked on TV. In Kelly's 2017 tell-all, "I Hate Everyone, Except You," he explained that
his work relationship with London was full of ups and downs, writing,
"I either adored her or despised her, and never anything in between. We spent nearly
sixty hours a week in captivity, rarely more than an arm's length away from each other."
Clearly, the hosts' on-screen personas didn't accurately depict everything about their true
dynamic. Kelly recalled,
"There's a part of me that will love Stacy London forever, and a part of me that would
be just fine if I never saw her again for the rest of my life."
Ouch.
So were the bad vibes just flowing in one direction? Well, it appears that the hard
feelings were mutual. In 2010, London spoke to The Baltimore Sun and was asked a few revealing
questions, including who would win in a death match between her and Kelly. She said,
"Me. I've got stilettos. I'd hit him in the eye."
The host also revealed that she and Kelly never gave each other much style advice, adding,
"He is kind of stingy with me. He only compliments me when I wear really outstanding numbers."
"Your clothes look cheap."
Two years later, London still didn't sound too crazy about Kelly. When the Hartford Courant
asked her if she ever visited her co-host at his Connecticut home, her response was
ice cold. She said,
"I don't comment on Clinton. But I do visit family in Connecticut, in Norwalk and Greenwich."
Even more bad blood became evident as Kelly toured the circuit to promote his book. During
a 2017 interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Kelly explained he hadn't talked to London
in years. He said,
"We spent so much time together for 10 years. [While] it was funny in the beginning when
we completed each other's sentences, it got to be like, 'OK, we need a break from each
other.'"
"Stacy.”
“Please focus?!"
Kelly also didn't consult London before publishing some brutal descriptions of her in his book.
In one chapter, he claimed,
"[Stacy] really seemed to enjoy, nay, need the attention of others, and I felt that she
was almost consistently jockeying for it. Even though I rarely wanted attention […] I
found myself continually annoyed that she did."
Yet again, the jabs were firing from both sides. The same year that Kelly's tell-all
came out, London decided to stir the pot, herself. In November 2017, social media was
abuzz with the news that she had blocked Kelly on Twitter — not just unfollowed him, but
blocked him.
According to Bustle, Kelly discovered that London had blocked him after trying to view
her account when they were both tagged in a tweet. Sharing the Twitter alert to his
profile, he tweeted, quote, "Alllll righty then."
Clearly, Kelly was caught off-guard about London's apparent ill feelings. But, as Bustle
reported, fans of the show might have been even more shocked to learn that their favorite
hosts were on the outs. Sure, Kelly's book might have painted London in an unflattering
light, but people were still surprised to see she seemingly wanted nothing to do with
him.
"After ten seasons, we decided to go out on a high note."
Though London and Kelly's working relationship came to an official end in 2013, the drama
has continued for years. In a January 2018 Instagram post, London wrote a lengthy message
about blocking people online, and it seemed like she had some regrets. She shared,
"It occurred to me that taking action like blocking people in order to feel some sense
of control over others' actions is a waste of my time. I can't stop people from the way
they behave."
Still, all that regret might not have changed her mind about Kelly.
In a 2019 interview with People, Kelly spoke about his current status with his co-star,
explaining that he didn't really know where it all went wrong. He attributed some of it
to his book, but at the same time defended his position, revealing,
"I didn't say anything nasty about Stacy. I said there were times that we didn't get
along, but I didn't go into specifics."
When he was asked whether or not London had unblocked him, Kelly replied,
"No, she hasn't. And guess what? I really don't care."
"We give up! Where's our white flag?!"
Looks like none of us should be crossing our fingers for a "What Not To Wear" reboot starring
these two, anytime soon.
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