NEED TO KNOW
Kendall Vertes’ life was first broadcast publicly when she was 8 years old, starring on Dance Moms, and she’s upheld the spirit of sharing in the decade and a half since.
The former reality star, 22, has built a presence as a content creator, documenting her day-to-day for millions of followers across social media platforms. Recently, she launched a new way to open up her world to fans. Her Not So Little with Kendall Vertes podcast debuted its first episode on Thursday, Nov. 13, and the influencer tells PEOPLE it’s her biggest step in a markedly more “mature” career direction.
“I felt like now’s a great time to share my life again with my followers who basically grew up with me, because we’re all going through this weird transition phase of going from being a college student into adulthood,” says Vertes, whose podcast is produced by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network media group.
Courtesy of Unwell
“I totally want to use this podcast obviously to emphasize my life after Dance Moms and what I am up to now and what career path I’m going to go on, but I also wanted to use this to kind of let people see who I really am because all they saw was 45 minutes of me basically crying on the TV show,” adds the all-grown-up child star. “They didn’t get to see my full personality.”
While the Lifetime hit focused on the youth competitive dance world, their moms drove the series, as its title suggests. Vertes’ mother, Jill, was one of the key players from season 2 through season 7.
Looking back, the content creator notes that she “never spoke” in a way that would give viewers an authentic idea of who she is.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“We were never really allowed to speak until later on in the seasons, of course, but everybody always thinks that they know who I am as a person from what they saw on TV,” she tells PEOPLE. “That’s literally 15 to 20 percent of who I actually am. You saw my worst moments because they had to make a good reality TV show.”
Vertes is looking forward to sharing the more typical aspects of her life, but she says she also plans to reckon with the fact of her unusual upbringing in front of the camera.
“A lot of my experiences as a child have kind of woven their way into my adulthood, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Why do I feel like this?’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, maybe it’s my past trauma speaking,'” says Vertes. She adds that the podcast will provide a way for her to unpack some of “those experiences as a child and how it’s affected me into my adulthood.”
The Not So Little host admits she’s never been in therapy, but social media has functioned as a surrogate avenue of self-analysis. Vertes says she feels comfortable opening up to her online audience since they witnessed so much of her past on television.
“I think a lot of people just want to know what really went on behind the scenes,” says Vertes. Referring to her former Dance Moms costars, she continues, “Now it’s kind of our time to navigate those emotions and kind of shed light to it in a positive way and move on as well.”
