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Sharon Osbourne opens up about feeling 'terrible' over Aimée's absence from The Osbournes
Virgin Radio
20 May 2024, 11:04
Credit: Getty
The reality TV matriarch shares the emotional toll of not having her eldest daughter on the family's hit MTV show.
Sharon Osbourne has revealed the emotional struggle she faced over her daughter Aimée's decision to stay out of the limelight during the Osbourne family's groundbreaking reality TV series, The Osbournes, which aired from 2002-2005.
The MTV show, which catapulted the family to pop culture stardom, featured the legendary heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon, and their two youngest children, Jack and Kelly.
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However, Aimée, the eldest Osbourne sibling, opted out of participating, a choice that left Sharon feeling 'terrible.'
Reflecting on those rock 'n' roll days during an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Sharon admitted the absence of her entire family unit weighed heavily on her.
“Yes it was [a discussion] in the beginning,” she revealed. “It was very, very hard on me because we were traveling all over the world, we were doing a million things and Aimée wasn’t a part of it.
"It made me feel terrible because I didn’t have my whole family."
Aimée, who was 18 at the time, found the prospect of reality TV stardom unappealing.
“She just didn’t want the attention. She was 18, that’s a tough age for a girl, and she just didn’t want it,” Sharon explained.
While Jack and Kelly thrived in the spotlight, Aimée chose to forge her own path, away from the cameras.
Post-The Osbournes, Aimée launched a music career under the stage name ARO. Despite her famous last name, she has always shunned the trappings of fame.
Sharon confirmed: “She doesn’t like it, no. She loves writing, she loves singing, but she doesn’t want to be a pop star.
"She wants to be a professional singer and writer. That’s it. She’s not looking for fame and power. She’s happy doing what she does.”
Aimée's preference for privacy is something that still remains, even in her professional life.
In 2020, she shared her thoughts on growing up in the Osbourne household, acknowledging the inevitable attention her family’s notoriety would bring.
“I always really valued my privacy,” Aimée said.
“For me personally, for who I am, as far as morally, and also just to give myself a chance to actually develop into a human being as opposed to just being remembered for being a teenager, it didn’t really line up with what I saw my future as.”
While The Osbournes was a launchpad for her siblings, Aimée felt her path lay elsewhere.
“The Osbournes definitely worked great for the rest of my family,” she conceded.
However, she: “just knew it was never something that I would have been able to consider realistically.”
Appearing on the show, Aimée believed, would have cast a long shadow over her music ambitions.
She previously stated that participating in The Osbournes would have led to her being typecast, potentially undermining her credibility as an artist.
Speaking to NME in 2020, she said: “My motivation for the music has never been huge fame, or huge success. These things are great if you can handle them, but I really wanted the music to speak for itself and I wanted to give it a fair chance.”
To carve out her own identity and independence, Aimée chose the moniker ARO for her music career.
“That’s why I came up with an alternative name for the project,” she explained.
“But that’s not to say in a few years I might release something under a different name. But right now, for my sense of independence, that’s why I did it as well.”
As the Osbourne family continues to rock on, Aimée's decision to remain out of the reality TV spotlight stands as a testament to her commitment to authenticity and artistic integrity.
Meanwhile, Sharon’s heartfelt reflections remind us that even in the world of heavy metal and reality TV, family dynamics are complex and deeply personal.
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