Teen Mom OG viewers have watched the drama between Farrah Abraham and her parents, Debra Danielsen and Michael Abraham, play out on various reality shows for years.
While Farrah’s relationship with her parents has been well-documented in recent years, her relationship with her sister Ashley Danielsen has remained a mystery. Ashley, who appeared on many early episodes of ‘Teen Mom,’ has not been on-camera with her family for years, and is rarely ever mentioned by Farrah & Co.
In this exclusive interview with The Ashley, Farrah’s sister Ashley discusses why she stopped filming ‘Teen Mom,’ whether or not she speaks to Farrah, Sophia and her parents, and why she didn’t join her family on ‘Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition.’
Ashley and Farrah used to be fairly close, but that changed on St. Patrick’s Day 2013 when Farrah was arrested for DUI after a night out with Ashley. Farrah later placed the blame on her sister for her arrest, and Farrah confirmed that things became strained for awhile between her and Ashley.
Four years later, Ashley says she has very little contact with Farrah.
“It’s very rare [that I speak to her],” Ashley told The Ashley. “I have a full schedule and I’m assuming she probably does too. Children, work, sports, appointments, school, etc… Life just gets in the way.”
Ashley is now the mother of two young children. Her daughter Sylvia was born in 2012 and her son, Axl, was born in 2015. Unfortunately, Ashley and her kids don’t have a relationship with Farrah’s eight-year-old daughter, Sophia, whom Ashley was once quite close with.
“I don’t get to spend any time with Sophia,” Ashley said. “I think that’s the part that makes me the saddest. Our family was very close growing up. We were with our cousins almost every day. I think it’s sad that my kids won’t have that relationship with Sophia.”
Ashley says she does, however, speak to her mother Debra and her former stepfather Michael. (Michael is the biological father of Farrah but not Ashley.)
“I hear from Michael here and there,” Ashley said. “Not very often but like everything else, I just think busy schedules get in the way.”
Ashley has more of a relationship with her mother. In fact, she is helping Debra plan her wedding to Dr. David Mertz, which will take place in November.
Although she used to appear on ‘Teen Mom’ alongside Farrah and her family, Ashley says she has no desire to return to life in the spotlight.
“Once you’re on a network like MTV, which is worldwide, your entire life changes,” Ashley said. “You can’t go into public without people recognizing you, strangers send you friend requests and messages, and you basically lose your privacy. I’m a very private person. I have a small circle of friends and family that I choose to spend my time and energy on, I don’t want that interfered with.”
Ashley’s family did reach out to her with an offer to appear with them on ‘Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition’ but Ashley said she turned the offer down.
“I value my privacy and the privacy of my children. I don’t feel it’s a productive use of my time,” Ashley said of filming the reality show. “I really don’t care to be on camera. Time is money and they don’t pay me enough to be a part of that mess!”
In April, Farrah talked to WetPaint about being disappointed that Ashley did not want to participate in ‘Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition.’
“I really wish that my sister could have equally gone to ‘Family Boot Camp’ with us,” Farrah told WetPaint. “I think that would have been great, but I know she has her own limits and she’s doing what’s healthy from her. That’s separating herself from my mom and I’m still in contact with my sister and things have kind of sorted for us.”
Ashley’s family is frequently in the news, but she says she doesn’t really pay attention anymore.
“I have completely blocked it all out,” she said of the on-camera Abraham family drama. “I know nothing unless someone else tells me.”
Recently, Farrah and her mother began arguing publicly regarding whether or not Farrah was abused during her childhood, as Farrah has claimed. (Debra has denied those claims.) Ashley says no stories of abuse stick out in her mind.
“I don’t remember anything like that,” Ashley said, adding that she chose to live with her grandparents for much of her childhood. “My mom and Michael fought a lot. She grew up around that.”
For now, Ashley says she’s content living life away from the cameras. She remains very close with grandmother.
“I have been focusing on finishing my Bachelor’s degree and spending time with my children,” she said. “My oldest is starting kindergarten in the fall and does sports, so we have a full schedule. I’m just enjoying my quiet, peaceful, drama-free life.”
(Photos: MTV, Instagram)
40 Responses
Finally!! Ashley seems like the only sane one! You go girl! Pursue your education and make something of yourself for your kids….Instead of living life, lying and trying to convince everyone you are a STAR!! LOL…You are a star in your own right!?
Farrah….you could learn a thing or two from your sissy. Primarily, how to keep your clothes on and your legs closed!!!
Sorry you aren’t close to your sister. ’m watching teen mom now and Farrah and Sophia are so mean to your mom the disrespect there makes my blood boil Sophia is a Mini Farah and Farrah will be the one crying when Sophia disrespects her like she does her mother
His dad’s a producer of the show, so he’s paying for a show about his son being a player *rolls eyes
RIGHT! She FA-LIPPED out…and Deb just sat there and took it LOL! But i do think it’s smart she’s not on TV….she seems pretty chill until she’s provoked…and Deb seems to do a lot of provoking with her daughters.
lol this was supposed to be in reply to guest down below LOL…
I’ll never forget the scene where Ashley called Debra a “satanic f*cking psycho bitch”. It was epic.
“I really wish my sister could have *equally* gone to MBC with us.” Nothing quite like a fresh Farrah word salad.
I’ve waited for so long for her to give her opinion on the whole mess and this was so…not worth it.
Where is her comments on Debz OG? The “rap”?! The baby prostitute get-up?! COME ON!!!
I feel like I’m going mad while they all act like this is normal behavior for someone in their 60’s!
I’m so curious to learn how much money Deb made from that rap. I doubt many people paid for it on iTunes, but it was so ridiculous that I’m sure most of the TM fandom has heard it. She’s laughing all the way to Forever21 ??♀️
I don’t think Ashley is necessarily doing that. I think that she is being careful about what she says in the media about her family, and if she starts acknowledging things like that it’s just going to start a media shitstorm, and it really seem like Ashley just wants to live her life.
Good for her staying away from the mess that is the life of Farrah
Waw, she seems normal and down to Earth. Much different than her crazy family. I guess her father must be like that. I must admit I didn’t even know Farrah has a sister (I thought her issues are cuz she is an only child) Anymore siblings we don’t know of?
You do you, Ashley. You are doing the right thing living your life away from cameras. All the best to you and your little family.
Yeah, and it appears that Ashley can actually form a coherent sentence, unlike the rest of the family.
Ashley, please recap siesta key. How is the main guy “the king” of their crowd? How does that guy get any ass with his pathetic flirting and that dopey, deer in the headlight look? How is that whole group so awkward?? I was hoping for some mindless hills-esque reality tv. Yeesh
I was totally thinking that! He is not hot or charming!
Noooo! Please #boycottmtvsiestakey That loser is linked to SEVERAL instances of animal abuse & toture. Please, don’t watch or support that show! He has killed endangered species on purpose & totured sharks & birds, even involved with using a dead dog as shark bait!!! Google Mike Wenzel. That is his best friend. You’ll see all you need to see. And, no, I’m not some vegan. I love to fish & eat meat.
If I were farrahs sister and had the option of living apart from her I would too. She’s the worst kind of obnoxious a person can be. And deb is as equally obnoxious. There is something amiss about the both of them. Both are psycho and dilusional.
Reading along…all sounds fine, whatever…get to Farrah’s quote and immediately squint, turn my head, and have to re-read three times. For someone who prides herself on being educated and “high-class” (according to her), she sure can’t speak or write to save her life.
They need to get along
Wow…she looks just like Debz
It’s probably no coincidence that the only semi-normal one was raised by her grandparents.
She seems like the only reasonable and sane one.
Maybe growing up under DebzOG and Mike-hole is what messes a person up!
Things don’t really add together for me. I remember one time (I think it was season 4) Ashley called out Debra for being a terrible mother. If there wasn’t any abuse, I don’t understand why she would say that. That whole family is bizarre.
You don’t have to be physically abusive to be a terrible mother though. We’ve already seen that Deborah is emotionally abusive to Farrah (and farrah is exactly the same way). And if Ashley lived with her grandparents, then my guess is that if any physical or emotional or sexual abuse went on, she wasn’t there for it.
BUt you’re entitled to your opinion. Completely agree that they’re all weird though.
I know that. I didn’t say physical abuse. It could’ve been verbal or emotional abuse which is just as bad.
Deb is full of crap…we SAW her hit Farrah when she was pregnant on film and subsequently deny it. She didn’t say “it was a little slap” or try to downplay it, she legitimately said she hit the chair and it didn’t happen. That’s what makes me think Farrah is telling the truth. Mother is clearly in denial about what she did and do not do to her kids. Why the hell fwould Ashley choose to live with her grandparents most of her life if something wasn’t VERY wrong?
She wasn’t pregnant.
I don’t remember if she was pregnant or not, but really it makes no difference. The slap, while juvenile and uncalled for, wasn’t exactly what I would call horrific abuse. My issue with it is moreso the fact that Deb DENIES it happened, despite literal video evidence that it did. That is what makes me doubt what Debra says. If she had said, yes, I did do that, and then elaborated that it was wrong but not as serious as Farrah claimed, I might believe her. The fact that she refuses to even admit it happened makes pretty clear that Deb is delusional and unwilling to admit to her actions.
Thank you Sarah! I agree with you. People seem to forget that Deb was a completely different person on the 16 and Pregnant episode and the first few seasons of Teen Mom. She only changed when Farrah started making lots of money. She obviously uses Farrah so she can be on the show and get her to pay for her plastic surgery (remember that scene when she called and asked for a face lift?). It’s all very shady and weird.
I completely agree, its so pathetic, the balance of power in the relationship completely shifted. Her mother was a controlling tyrant when Farrah depended on her, but as soon as she became financially independent, the dynamic of their relationship completely shifted. I don’t really feel bad for her when Farrah’s mean to her, when she had even the tiniest bit of say in Farrah’s life she would use it to yell, scold, demand things from her. I completely believe she was emotionally manipulative all over the place growing up. The best way to tell if someone’s a good person is how they treat people they don’t HAVE to be nice to
Fighting in front of your children, neglect, verbal abuse, emotional abuse is enough to be a really crappy mom.
Why the heck do you allow your child to live with her grandparents so much and not with you?
When physical abuse took place while she was not there, I think Farah would have told her.
To be fair, Ashley’s response to the physical abuse inquiry wasn’t much of a response at all. It was sort of a passive middle-ground stance to the whole thing. She didn’t say, unequivocally, no, that never would have happened. She just said that she spent most of her childhood with her grandparents and didn’t remember any of that happening. She seems to have a decent relationship with her mother as an adult…how do you think that would have been affected had she confirmed that Debrah hit them? I feel like it’s entirely possible that Ashley’s response was just a strategical approach to avoid answering the question. She’s not confirming it, she’s not denying it, she’s basically just saying “I don’t know”. Which, tome, sounds like she DOES know and doesn’t want to answer.
Well, Deb is a terrible mother. Think about every mother on the damn show- it’s pretty contrived and twisted to allow your pregnant sixteen year old to go on tv and get famous for being irresponsible. They just wanted the financial gain.
Like it or not, Farrah wouldn’t be the monster she is today (surgeries, all the money, live in a bubble where nobody ever tells her no) if she didn’t have that MTV money. I mean, I’m sure she would still be a fucked up mess of a person, but without thousands of dollars an yes-men surrounding her.
I agree to an extent, but you have to remember that no one knew how big TM was going to be. They thought it was a one-time episode.
That’s a great point. Letting any child do reality TV is questionable, especially during such a vulnerable and volatile time.
Deb only puts up with the raging bitch Farrah for the money and spotlight. It’s a shame the wrong daughter sold her vag, Ashley seems more respectful than Farrah. And more together.
Funny because on the few episodes we did see Ashley on, she seemed to always side with Farrah and be genuinely irritated with Deb on most occasions.
Looks like that changed when Farrah shifted the blame from Debz to her.
Farrah is a product of her environment, that is to say, Deb.