TAKE ME BACK! KE ME CK!

CAITLYN BEGS KRIS: BEGS KRIS:

Together again?! Why Caitlyn Jenner has gone running back to ex Kris Jenner

She’d been dreading this moment. After months of speculation about the future of her eponymous reality show, which was suffering from increasingly dismal ratings as it limped along last spring, Caitlyn Jenner finally announced to the world that E! wouldn’t be bringing it back for a third season. “After 2 amazing seasons of @Iamcait,” she tweeted on Aug. 16, “it’s time for the next adventure.”

That new adventure involves a familiar face: her ex-wife Kris Jenner. Caitlyn, 66, “wants to be back on TV so badly that she’s begging Kris to let her return to Keeping Up With the Kardashians full-time,” a family insider tells In Touch exclusively. “Caitlyn’s had about four conversations with Kris about it.” But after their contentious divorce, followed by a public war of words over what Kris, 60, did or didn’t know about Caitlyn’s gender identity issues, “Kris wants nothing to do with her.”

It’s not the first time Caitlyn has asked Kris for help. Just before E! canceled I Am Cait, “Caitlyn wanted Kris to go to network bosses and threaten to not proceed with the next season of KUWTK unless I Am Cait got renewed,” a source told In Touch in early August. “Kris balked at the idea. She feels like Caitlyn is constantly demanding things but rarely shows any gratitude.” Now Caitlyn wants back on KUWTK. “She loves seeing herself on TV, loves the glam squad that comes with filming, loves hearing herself speak. She loves it all!” says the family insider. “Caitlyn also thinks this is a way to see [daughters] Kendall and Kylie more.”

Kris isn’t the only one rebuffing Caitlyn. “Kim [Kardashian] also feels Caitlyn has milked them out of enough Kardashian fame, and they’re tired of her riding their coattails,” says a

source. Caitlyn’s E! show garnered its biggest ratings during the first season — 2 million people tuned in to watch the debut episode — when story lines focused on the Kardashian family’s reaction to her transition and unflattering comments about how Kris treated her during their 23-year marriage. But by the season two finale in April, after Cait shifted the focus to her friends instead of her family, ratings had plunged to just 500,000 viewers. “Kim’s not thrilled with Cait,” says the source. “She even told her, ‘ Your gig with us is up. You wanted a solo career — well, here you go.’”

But Caitlyn isn’t giving up. “For so long, she secretly wanted to be one of the girls,” says the family insider, “and now she’s telling Kris that this is her time to do it — on the show they started together. There’s just one thing standing in her way: Kris.” ◼