Chelsea Houska Talks About Being “Tied” to ‘Teen Mom’ Franchise Despite Moving on to HGTV

Chelsea Houska says she has come a long way since her days of wearing zebra sweatshirts and complaining about her ex Adam on ‘Teen Mom 2’, but the HGTV star says that a lot of people continue to only see her as the “girl from ‘Teen Mom,’ despite her leaving the franchise nearly five years ago. 

In a new interview with Realtor.com, Chelsea, who has hosted HGTV’s Down Home Fab with husband Cole DeBoer since 2023, recalled the early days of her reality TV career and how much she’s changed since then. 

While fans met Chelsea as a teen on “16 and Pregnant,” on which she welcomed daughter Aubree with then-boyfriend Adam Lind, she went on to star on ‘Teen Mom 2,’ where she later met, married and had children with Cole, before the pair announced in 2020 that they were leaving the series.

“I think it’s just such a common thing for people to feel like they are always tied to something in their life, but it was just motivation for me to want something more,” she said. 

Chelsea also admitted to the outlet that before she left ‘Teen Mom 2,’ she reached out to HGTV via Instagram DM, suggesting that the network follow along to document her and Cole’s “homebuilding adventures” in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

The Season 3 finale of ‘Down Home Fab’ aired earlier this week, right on the heels of Chelsea and Cole competing on Season 6 of HGTV’s fan-favorite competition series Rock the Block. As fans know, the couple also co-own a brick-and-mortar decor and furniture store, Down Home by DeBoers, in Tea, South Dakota, which opened in 2024.

“We are busy, busy,” Chelsea told the website. “Every day is different and while I wish we were the organized type, we are not. It’s just pure chaos at all times, but family time is our biggest priority. We try to make sure weekends are so family-focused.”

“This life that I am living now is what I would dream about back then,” Chelsea added. “It makes me emotional.”