Mariah Carey’s E! reality show “Mariah’s World” isn’t returning, Page Six exclusively learned — but the superstar is working on another behind-the-scenes show with VH1.
Mariah will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her album “Butterfly” with a world tour next year, and VH1 will be there to film it. The album started her series of high-profile collaborations with artists like Jay-Z, Nas and Snoop Dogg.
“ ‘Mariah’s World’ was always planned to be an eight-part TV event. But now she is planning a huge world tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Butterfly’ to start early 2018. It will be similar to U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ tour. VH1 is set to film a docuseries that will capture the behind-the-scenes of her tour,” a Mariah insider told us.
Mariah got her stiletto-clad feet wet in the reality genre last year with “Mariah’s World.” The series had one of E!’s highest-rated premieres, but not even her split from billionaire James Packer could keep as many viewers tuned into later episodes.
“The show opened as one of E!’s top-rated premieres ever and then dipped drastically in Episode 2. If the show did well, they would’ve definitely ordered more episodes,” another TV insider explained, while Mariah insiders insisted she always only planned on eight episodes with E!
But this is hardly a setback. VH1’s “Hip Hop Honors” was honoring the icon and her longtime producer Jermaine Dupri Sunday night, and we’re told she was planning something special for the taping, with Da Brat, Fabolous, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, the Lox, Remy Ma, Ty Dolla $ign and Xscape expected to perform. The extravaganza airs on Monday.
Mariah is also bringing back her Christmas shows at the Beacon Theatre, MSG and other venues — as well as a new Christmas single, recorded with Oscar-nominated and Grammy, Emmy and Tony-award-winning composer Marc Shaiman.
We’re told Mariah will also return to Vegas next year for another residency, following on her two-year stint at Caesars Palace, which ended this year.
“E!’s ‘Mariah’s World’ was an eight-part event that chronicled her 2016 world tour,” a rep for E! told Page Six Monday. “It was exciting to bring our viewers inside the private world of today’s most iconic stars as she returned to the stage last year.”
Her team declined to comment Sunday night.