When Juliette Porter showed her JMP The Label collection at Miami Swim Week earlier this month, she made a big splash — and not just for the colorful bathing suits.
She also made eyes pop when Kelsey Owens — her ex-BFF and co-star on the MTV reality series “Siesta Key” — strutted down the runway. The two were estranged last season after Owens made disparaging remarks about Porter’s relationship with then-boyfriend Sam Logan (the fact that both women were creating swimsuit lines did not help). The bad blood came to a head on a cast trip to the Grenadines, which resulted in Porter throwing a drink and slapping Owens across the face, leaving her with a bloody lip.
While the altercation was not shown on camera, “we called it ‘the slap heard around the world,’” Porter joked, before getting serious.
“Yes, there was some tension with Kelsey, but that has died down,” the 25-year-old told The Post. “We both wish each other the best. We have all made mistakes in our past. I have made some that I wish I could take back, but I am forever growing as a person, and I have learned from my mistakes.”
Porter recently left Siesta Key, Fla., for Miami but will continue to be on the show.Sonya Revell for NY Post
In the aftermath of the fight, Porter took a mental health break from the show, and returned three episodes later with a clearer head. However, fans of “Siesta Key” thrive on drama like this. Created in 2017, the show focuses on a group of photogenic twentysomethings on the West Coast of Florida as they party together, date each other, live their best lives and drink too much.
Much of the storyline is based on the stars’ tangled loved lives. Porter famously dated cast-mates Alex Kompothecras, who was fired from “Siesta Key” after using a racial slur on Instagram, and Logan, whose family has made a mint from owning 10% of the Scripps networks (now owned by Discovery).
“It’s a weird experience that not everyone gets to have,” Porter acknowledged of being on a soapy, unscripted drama. “I got caught up in a lot of things that I shouldn’t have. Since then, I’ve learned how to walk away. Be less emotional. That’s something I really struggled with for a long time.”
“Vegas” one-piece swimsuit, $125 at JMPTheLabel.com.Sonya Revell for NY Post
“Siesta Key” includes Porter (far left), her ex Sam (next to her) and her on-off BFF Kelsey Owens (second from right)
Porter finally left Sam in the second half of Season 4, moving out of his $6.8 million mansion because his constant partying was distracting her from work.
“In any relationship when you leave, if you didn’t learn something, then you wasted your time,” she said. “I learned self-love more than anything. I was sticking in relationships that were not benefiting me for too long because I didn’t have that love for myself. And I was trying to find it from other people who weren’t willing to give it to me.”
Her new boyfriend, Fort Lauderdale Realtor Clark Drum, apparently causes much less drama. “It feels like peace,” she said of their connection. “As I started to mature and really focus on my business, I knew that I wanted a relationship that wasn’t draining me or taking my energy away. Clark is an addition to my life and he’s not holding me back from anything. It’s refreshing.”
After dating a couple of her “Siesta Key” co-stars, Porter has moved on with Fort Lauderdale Realtor Clark Drum.Instagram @julietteporter
Drum is also not looking for the limelight. In fact, he’s not even a fan of the show — or the attention it generates.
“It’s not his favorite thing,” Porter admitted. “He hates it. He’s not very active on social. I kind of like that about him. My friends think that he should be posting me more, but I don’t really care. Maybe I should care, but I don’t need that external validation from others to feel loved. He gives me love when we’re together.”
And after eight months of dating, Porter moved to Miami to be closer to Clark and solidify her career as a swimwear designer. Many of her cast mates from Siesta Key followed, along with MTV’s ubiquitous cameras. Porter is now living with another cast mate, real-estate broker Lexie Salameh, in the Edgewater neighborhood of Miami.
“Cabo” top, $84, and bottom, $84, both at JMPTheLabel.com.Sonya Revell for NY Post
“There was nothing left for me in Siesta Key, and I was ready for a change,” Porter said. “I didn’t realize how bored I was living in the city that I grew up in. We were doing the same thing that we’ve always done. It became a routine. In Miami, every day is a new adventure. I feel like I’m a different person. There’s so much more life and culture. And I can really focus on my business because Miami is the swim capital of the world.”
Porter launched JMP The Label in January 2021 with industry veteran Jaymi Washburn. The colorful line is designed to go from the beach to the bar, and sizes range from 0-18.
“JMP The Label stands for body positivity,” Porter said. “We want everyone to feel seen and not just by including larger sizes on our site. We want to show women of all body types, colors and ages. It’s not just for the skinny blonde girl at the beach. Swimwear is a vulnerable piece of clothing — the most vulnerable — and you want to wear a swimsuit that makes you feel beautiful inside and out, to feel like the best you.
JMPTheLabel “Cabo” top, and bottom, are not currently available.Sonya Revell for NY Post
“Growing up in Florida,” Porter continued, “I always had a passion for swimsuits … I’m excited to show people that I’m more than just a reality star who started a swimwear company.”
Porter admitted she sees “Siesta Key” as a steppingstone, pointing to the successes of Kardashians and Bethenny Frankel, whose entrepreneurial endeavors were boosted by reality fame. “I viewed ‘Siesta Key’ as a platform to launch my career, and it did,” she said. “I took an opportunity and turned it into a business opportunity.”
And as much as her 800,000-follower count on Instagram has contributed to her popularity, social media has also been a curse. Porter said she has been flooded with hateful DMs.
“Vegas” one-piece swimsuit, $125 at JMPTheLabel.com.Sonya Revell for NY Post
“People think because I’m on television and I’m skinny and pretty that I don’t get haters or negative comments, but that’s not true,” she said. “I want people to know that I also get that and that they’re not alone. How do we stop this? I want Instagram to stop it. There are people out there who are horrible and say nasty things. I don’t think anyone should ever be spoken to like that. Our social media companies need to be doing more.”
Despite the haters, Porter is all-in with JMP The Label. One of her swimsuits was recently featured in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue, which was a big win for the fledgling company. And she’s involved in most every step of the process, from sourcing the fabric in Turkey to the production in Bali to marketing the brand. Like the rest of the world, JMP The Label has been plagued with global supply chain issues, which held up the launch of a line that was supposed to drop on Porter’s birthday, July 7. When a loom broke in Turkey, the whole collection had to be pushed back to September.
Kelsey Owens shows off a pink outfit during the Miami Swim Week show.@thekelseyowens
Porter said she is involved in every step of her fashion line’s production, even though “It’s not as glamorous as it looks.”Sonya Revell for NY Post
“It’s not as glamorous as it looks,” she said of running a business. “Like, some people don’t even know what a loom is. You plan for things to go perfectly, and they almost never do.”
While the kinks are being worked out, Porter is busy filming Season 5 of “Siesta Key” in Miami. But she admitted she is unsure how long she’ll stick with it.
“I don’t know if I can do reality TV forever, but I want to stay involved in fashion and stay in the public eye,” she said. “Being kind of famous is fun.”
Photos by Sonya Revell for New York Post
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