These days, Chelsea Houska is one of the top home renovation stars on HGTV.
But way back in the day, she got her start on MTV’s infamous Teen Mom franchise.
In fact, Chelsea might be the show’s biggest success story (she’s certainly doing better than Jenelle Evans, anyway).
These days, Chelsea says her approach to reality TV has changed, and that means her children won’t be part of any future Teen Mom coverage.
Houska, who rose to fame alongside her husband, Cole DeBoer, told People this week that while she once shared her kids’ lives on camera, she wouldn’t think of doing that now.
“They were on TV so much, especially Aubree, in her early life. Looking back, I don’t know if I would choose that again at this point,” she said.
From there, she touched on how her views on privacy have changed in recent years.
“I’m so grateful for it and everything. I’m just saying for our kids now, that’s been the biggest difference between the two [shows],”
Chelsea noted that the stakes feel higher now that she and Cole’s children are older and more aware.
“We learned as we’ve gotten older and the kids have gotten older, we really want to be selective on how we show the kids, how much we show the kids, and just really try to protect them,” she explained
The South Dakota native went on to note that her current show, Down Home Fab, is very different from Teen Mom.
“HGTV has been so incredible,” Chelsea explained, adding:
“If you are uncomfortable with the kids being on [camera], you just tell us, that is totally fine. If they don’t want to, it’s okay. We will never dive deep into anything personal with them.”
These days, Chelsea admits that Teen Mom stardom had its downsides. And she claims she has no such problems on HGTV.
“I think I had been on TV for so long before and it was such a different dynamic,” she said, adding:
“Reality TV, such as Teen Mom, was very chaotic, you know, a little negative from time to time. It was a totally different feeling when we started [at] HGTV. I actually wasn’t nervous about any of that.
“I was like, they want us to look good. They want people to love us, and they want to show our true personality. And so I was excited too, just because I trust these people 100% and I’m not nervous about anything. I can say whatever.”
Chelsea’s shift reflects a larger trend among former teen reality stars who have become more selective about what they share as their children grow older.
And while she clearly values the opportunities Teen Mom provided her family, she understands that motherhood today looks different than it did when she first started filming.