Catelynn Lowell & Tyler Baltierra Say Producers Pushed Them to Discuss Cate’s Weight & Depression On ‘Teen Mom’: Tyler Denies Calling Cate a “Heifer”

Catelynn Lowell and husband Tyler Baltierra are recalling some of the lows captured on Teen Mom over the years and how some of these scenes continue to be “dissected” by viewers nearly a decade later. 

On this week’s episode of their Cate & Ty Break It Down podcast, the ‘Teen Mom’ couple spoke about certain scenes and storylines that were filmed for the MTV reality series “10, 12 years ago,” and how they are still being talked about by fans of the show today. Tyler noted that a lot of the conversations among viewers come back to the scenes that focused on Catelynn’s weight and postpartum depression. 

Tyler claimed that these particular storylines were filmed while he and Cate were with a “certain producer and it just wasn’t working,” while Cate emphasized how many of the scenes were “very, like, weight-driven.” 

“The whole story was about my weight and I’m like, why is this a subject, especially when I just had a baby, mind you,” she said. “ … That’s not good for any female.” 

While fans saw Tyler speaking candidly, albeit insensitively, to his wife about her weight at the time, Tyler told podcast listeners that in some cases, he or Cate would casually bring up a topic in front of producers, who would in turn, “magnify it” for the show.

‘Teen Mom’ fans likely recall the infamous moment Tyler called out Cate in Season 6 of Teen Mom OG for eating a sizable quesadilla, despite being on Weight Watchers and counting “points.” Tyler not only pointed out how much Catelynn was eating, but then proclaimed that he doesn’t want a “heifer for a wife.” In addition to claiming that his response was to a producer asking what he prefers in a partner, Tyler insisted that these were conversations he and Cate were having with each other behind closed doors and that he was actually supporting his wife in her weight loss journey. 

“I feel like when that situation was going on, it was like, what the TV didn’t show was that behind closed doors, you were talking about how bad you wanted to lose weight,” Tyler said to Cate, who admitted that she “needed to be held accountable” and did “need help with those certain things” at the time.

Tyler admits that his “delivery was off,” though he maintains his intent wasn’t wrong. 

“ … especially when you’re filming a show and this is, like, the fourth time [producers have] asked this question,” Tyler explained. “It’s like, all right, you know, how many [Weight Watchers] points is that [quesadilla]? 

“After a while, it gets super annoying,” he continued. “But I did it because that’s part of our job when we’re filming.”

Tyler and Cate also assured listeners that Tyler wasn’t calling Cate a heifer back in Season 6, despite how many viewers took it. 

“ … We joke around about s**t like that all the time,” Cate said. “Like, you aways say, ‘Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be getting down and dirty with somebody who’s got a big old beer belly.’” 

The couple also noted that many clips of that scene that get posted on social media are cut off before Cate is seen asking Tyler if he thinks she’s a heifer, to which Tyler assures her he doesn’t. 

“People must really think that I’m just, like, some abused pushover,” Cate said of viewers believing that she would allow her husband to call her a heifer on TV. She also compared the situation to some viewers believing that Tyler forced her to do an adoption with their birth daughter Carly years ago.

“People must really think I’m, like, a weak b***h,” she said. “I don’t think that’s how it comes across to me.” 

Tyler and Cate also spoke on their podcast about Cate’s postpartum depression being a storyline on the show, with Tyler admitting he felt “anxious” that cameras were coming in to film at a time when Cate was “on the couch a lot.” 

“ … I didn’t want them to see you in that way,” he told Cate, adding that he was “so worried” about her during that time. 

Cate and Tyler said they both learned a lot about postpartum depression after Cate experienced it herself, though Tyler admitted that at the time, he was dealing with some “caretaking fatigue,” which Cate said was the driving force behind her seeing a psychiatrist. 

“It was a blessing that I had you in my life during that time because your mental health journey started at a younger age,” Cate said. “So you kind of knew about seeing psychiatrists and therapists and things like that. [My mental health journey] just smacked me in my face when I was like, 20 or 21 … .”

Cate and Tyler also addressed Cate taking back-to-back trips to treatment in 2017 while suffering from postpartum depression, which Cate revealed that viewers have called her “selfish” for over the years, particularly because she “left Tyler to take on everything.”

Cate explained that, at the time, she realized that if she wasn’t at “100 percent,” she couldn’t show up for her child, let alone her husband or herself. 

“ … I’ve commented [online] or even said stuff to people before where I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. So, Nova could have a mom that was gone for, you know, six weeks, 12 weeks, or she could have a dead mom,” Cate said. 

Cate and Tyler noted that they’re both “criticized” for certain things that have played out on the show over the years, thought they acknowledged that they’re “always going to be criticized” and “that’s fine.” They also said that they’ve asked “very, very smart professionals” if they’re “trauma-bonded,” and have been told “absolutely not.” 

“Hey, listen, I’ll be honest with you, everyone out there, if we’re trauma-bonded, I really highly suggest it,” Tyler joked, with he and Cate going on to clarify that “trauma bonds” are actually “very toxic.” 

“You call it trauma bond, I call it support and love and I don’t know what else to call it,” Tyler said.