Nobody Would Hang Out When I Was on ‘Punk’d’

No thanks. Ashton Kutcher opened up about the simple reason he would never return to hosting the MTV series Punk’d — it was far too lonely. 

“For a long time, I would go out and like nobody would want to hang out,” Kutcher, 44, told former Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay, who was reporting for Extra at the Vengence premiere on Monday, July 25. “They were like, ‘I am not messing with him.’ It’s nice to have friends.”

The No Strings Attached star both co-created and hosted the prank show from 2003 to 2012, finding inventive ways to torture his various A-list friends — including Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé —  by enlisting some of his closest comedically well-versed pals to help with his devious plans.

The show returned in 2020 sans Kutcher, making its way to mobile video platform Quibi with new host Chance the Rapper. After Quibi shut down less than a year later, the show moved over to Roku for its second season.

While Kutcher may not be available for a Punk’d cameo any time soon, he will be a guest star on That ’90s Show, an upcoming spinoff of his hit sitcom That ’70s Show. 

“Mila and I were contemplating it,” he told Variety on Monday. “We thought, ‘Listen, we’re only in the position that we’re in because of that show, so let’s just go back and do this. We just went back and had fun for a week. It was so random and fun.’”

The Iowa native added that while it was “really nostalgic to be back on set” it was also a “bizarre” experience, due to the show being run by “all the same folks” of the original retro-hip comedy.

In February 2022, newcomer Callie Haverda officially nabbed the lead role of Leia in the Netflix series, a teenager who is the perfect combination of her mom and dad. While in Point Place for the summer, Leia wants an adventure, which she will find with a new friend group of her own.

Topher Grace and Laura Prepon will return as Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti, who are now parents to daughter Leia, The Hollywood Reporter announced in April 2022. Kutcher and real life wife Mila Kunis will reprise their respective roles as Michael Kelso and Jackie Burkhart. Wilmer Valderrama will also reprise his role as Fez.

Years before the idea for a That ‘70s Show spinoff came about, Grace, 44,  expressed his interest in a reunion for the fan-favorite series

“I would do it for sure because that was a very wonderful time for us,” the Win a Date With Tad Hamilton star told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2018. “We were all very close, having that experience every single day with each other. It was great to broadcast it out once a week, but, like, I’m still great friends with those guys. So the fact that someone would pay us to go [hang] out together.”

Listen to Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood as each week the editors of Us break down the hottest entertainment news stories!