Chelsea Houska and Cole DeBoer may have left Teen Mom 2 behind years ago, but say the fame they and their family gained from the show still has an effect on how they parent their 14-year-old daughter, Aubree.
As ‘Teen Mom 2’ fans know, Aubree grew up on-camera and appears sporadically on the couple’s HGTV show Down Home Fab. In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Chelsea and Cole talked about the boundaries they have to have for Aubree because she is a public figure.
“People do know who she is. A lot of people love her, and they love watching her grow up. But I just want to be very protective of [her],” Chelsea said.
Chelsea went on to say that they “have a lot of rules” for Aubree now that she’s a teenager.
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“We haven’t really had to get into dating rules yet, but I just [have] boundaries [for her], especially with phones,” she said.
Cole stated that they restrict Aubree from certain things in order to protect her from potential harassment from the public.
“Sometimes she’ll ask why she can’t have certain things or do certain things, and you just have to be honest,” Cole said. “Sometimes we just say, ‘You don’t live a normal teenage life. There are a lot of people that watch you.’ It’s not because we don’t trust her; it’s that we don’t trust all the other people.
“And I would be devastated if there were negative comments that affected her in any way and made her feel bad,” Cole continued. “Then I would have to go full Dad Mode.”
Back in May 2021, Chelsea stated that one of the main reasons she left ‘Teen Mom 2’ in 2020 was because the show’s storylines were starting to focus too much on Aubree’s private life.
“There were conversations that Aubree and I were having from time to time, and there came a point where I was just worried because I don’t want her to ever [feel] like she can’t tell me things because it’s going to be aired to millions of people or whatever,” Chelsea told the site at the time.
“When she was little, the stuff that was going on with her dad and stuff, it was from my point of view, and as she got older, it started coming from her point of view. I think that deserves to be private for her. That was ultimately what kind of pushed me to decide to step away and leave that chapter of life.”
In their recent interview with ET, Chelsea gave an update on Aubree, whom Chelsea previously stated wanted to be more involved with ‘Down Home Fab’ for Season 2.
“She is so unique and I love her personality. She doesn’t seem like the kind of kid that just wants to form into what everyone else has going on. She has her own opinions, a very unique style and she’s into skateboarding right now,” Chelsea said. “She’s so cool.”
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Chelsea also confirmed that she has allowed Aubree to watch old episodes of ‘Teen Mom 2.’
“I was fine with it. I wasn’t upset that she watched it or whatever,” Chelsea said. “I think it’s an interesting thing to be able to see what your parents went through. It’s the real story so I think as long as she feels she can talk to us, or ask us any questions, then I think that’s OK.
“I feel like that’s the reason that I made all the decisions that I did and always made sure to put Aubree at the top of my priority list, [so] hopefully someday she would see how important she was to me,” Chelsea said. “And I do hope that kind of shapes how she makes decisions in her life.”
The new season of Chelsea and Cole’s HGTV show ‘Down Home Fab’ premieres Thursday on HGTV. Click here for more info on Season 2!
RELATED STORY: Chelsea Houska Comes to Terms with Her ‘Teen Mom’ Past & More Recent ‘Teen Mom’ News
(Photos: Instagram; MTV)
I think they are great parents. I’m so glad Chelsea found Cole.
Ugh. I hope they didn’t let Aubree watch the one where Adam says “Tell me where and when to sign the rights over for that mistake.” : /
I wouldn’t be surprised though. But i do know was from the q6 and Pregnant episode. I wonder if Aubree still gets to see her sister Pasely even though she was adopted by her mom’s new husband. Because Chelsea said she wouldn’t keep Aubree from her sister. I know Adam has had his problems but unfortunately what he predicted came true. With Aubree wanting Cole as her dad. I often wonder if Adam just gave up altogether. Unfortunately there will never be any truth to it. I heard MTV edited things to make people on there worse than they are.
MTV didn’t have to try to make Adam look worse. His arrest record does a good enough job of that. And he signed away rights to Paislee entirely, allowing her stepdad to adopt her. That all happened outside of the show.
Chelsea and Taylor posted some picturesof the girls together a few years ago (after the adoption), so I think they’re in contact.
I’m glad to hear Aubree seems to be doing well. Allowing her to be authentic and not have to be on socials is healthy, especially for kids and teens.
I hope Chelsea is doing well, I’m genuinely concerned about her.
What a vast difference between Chelsea/Aubree and Farrah/Sophia.
Poor Sophia.
Sounds like they’re on top of things. Good for them!
All teens need boundaries and checks on their phones, it’s always because of other people.
Unpopular opinion: But I wonder if Papa Randy paid her MTV crew for good edits throughout the show? There is a scene shortly after their house was broken into where she screams at Cole in the car over something silly. I bet that happens a lot when there are no cameras.
They seem very put on and always have been.
I just don’t get “sincerity” about her married life from her and I never have.
Idk about paying for edits but they needed a “good mom”, bc we had Jenelle and cheating Leah. So by default..
I think many of you forget to remember that uh, yeah- lots of couples scream/yell at each other (or even worse) over silly things. Especially when no one is looking (AKA no cameras). Couples have issues- it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. In fact, I’d say sunshine and rainbows are pretty rare. With that said, I highly doubt Randy paid them to edit anything. I mean, you’d think if he could, he’d have edited out that foul statement that Adam made about his granddaughter being a mistake and other unsavory things he said about her AND Chelsea.
What good edits? Before meeting Cole, she threw herself at Adam for years. None of that was edited out.