Kim Kardashian reveals major identity secret

Kim Kardashian changed her name just before making her debut on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

The 45-year-old star formerly went by her full name Kimberly Kardashian but made a last-minute change before the show first aired in 2007 as she realised it was too long when seeing it on screen.

Kim told Time magazine: "I used to always go by Kimberly, until we signed on to do the reality show.”

"I said, 'I think that's so long for people to say.' And like, 'Let's just shorten it to Kim,’” she recalled, adding, "And it's so weird, because all my friends from high school and growing up, and my dad, everyone calls me Kimberly."

The All's Fair actress also claimed the credit for persuading her sisters Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner to sign up for Keeping Up with the Kardashians as a method of promoting their Los Angeles clothing store DASH.

Kim recalled: "I mean, the whole reason we wanted to start our show was to bring attention to our DASH store - at least that's how I was able to get my sisters to sign on.”

"I let them know that, you know, it'll bring such great promotion to our store. And they were in once they heard that,” the reality TV star added.

She continued, "I think I was the one who convinced everyone for sure. I really wanted it.”

"I really wanted to do a reality show since the day MTV's The Real World came out and I watched it with my best friend. I looked at her and I told her, 'That's what I'm going to do.' And she said, 'I'll be your manager', I think we were 11,” Kim stated.

She added: "I said, 'When we're 18, we have to make a tape and send into The Real World.' Her dad's in the music-business management world. So, she said, 'Oh, we can get my dad to send it to someone at MTV.' We made a whole plan.”

"And so, when I signed on to do Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the producers were the same producers, Bunim/Murray (with Ryan Seacrest), that did The Real World,” Kim Kardashian revealed her moment of epiphany as she concluded the conversation.