After spending years on TV and eventually building a large social media following, Elliott Rivera– the 16-year-old son of Kail Lowry and Jo Rivera– says he has somewhat of a “sixth sense” when it comes to people recognizing him in public– a skill he claims to have developed for his own safety.
As you know, Elliott was literally born on TV, making his MTV debut during his mom’s 2010 episode of “16 and Pregnant.” The following year, he began appearing regularly on ‘Teen Mom 2,’ which he continued to do until his mom announced her exit from the series in 2022.
While Elliott hasn’t been on reality TV in years, he maintains a pretty large following online (one that is monitored by Kail) where often documents his life. Fans also saw Elliott join Kail for an episode of her Barely Famous podcast in 2025, where he came out as gay and explained that he was now going by his middle name (Elliott) instead of his first name (Isaac), partly because he wanted to separate the person he is today from the kid people watched on ‘Teen Mom 2.’
Despite the new moniker, Elliott revealed in a video posted to Instagram this week that he continues to be recognized in public quite often, even if fans don’t realize that he notices.
“I don’t know if you know this or not, but if you see me in public and we make eye contact, or I see you [and] you see me kind of thing, I will know within the first few seconds if you recognize me or not,” Elliott said. “I think it’s kind of just a sixth sense at this point. I think after a few years of being used to it, I kind of have just been very aware of how people are looking and their facial expressions and all of that.”
Elliott– who mentions in his Instagram bio that he’s “passionate for [American Sign Language]”– went on to credit his “sixth sense” in part to ASL, noting that it’s “a visual language, so you have be hyper aware.”
However, he also revealed that he tends to stay alert because there have been situations where fans have approached him in a very inappropriate manner.
“I think another reason why I’m like this is because there have been many instances in the past where I’ve been touched or grabbed, especially at places like concerts, at malls, at venues, at big events, and so when there is a big crowd, I just get very overstimulated, very anxious, very observant because I have to look for that stuff for safety reasons,” he revealed.
Elliott said he also tends to know when someone recognizes his mom in public– sometimes even when Kail doesn’t notice it herself.
“I’ll literally tell my mom in public, I’ll be like, ‘That person just recognized you, you better, like, run away before they ask for a picture,’– you know, just to avoid it for time purposes– and she’ll be like, ‘How did you catch on so fast? Like, we haven’t even been here for five seconds?’ And I’m just like, ‘I don’t know, I just knew … I can see it.’
“I don’t know, I just think it’s really interesting,” Elliott said of his situational sixth sense. “I don’t know how celebrities are, but you know, that’s how I am.”
After a number of fans took to the comments of Elliott’s video to ask the teen what he feels is “the appropriate response” for someone who recognizes him in public, Elliott said he loves when people approach him casually and respect his boundaries.
“ … Also a quick ‘hello, how are you, I love your videos or ASL, or ‘Teen Mom’ (whatever),’ and go on about your day,” he explained. “Under any circumstance, I will always be nice to the person also because the respect needs to be mutual. I personally do not take pictures and will politely decline, but I will have a conversation with people!”
The former ‘Teen Mom 2’ star also told followers that he isn’t big on people who stare at him in public, nor does he like when fans “take pictures from afar,” calling the latter offense “THE WORST!!!”
You can watch Elliott’s full video below.
(Photos: Instagram; MTV)
One Response
I adore Issac. It is so inappropriate for people to approach these kids under any circumstances. The kids didn’t ask for their lives to be broadcasted or for the adults in their lives to continue to bring their kids personal lives to a large public platform.