Chelsea Houska Says She Felt “Physically Sick” Seeing Crew Arrive to Film Her During Her Last Season of ‘Teen Mom 2’: “My Body [Was] Rejecting It”

Chelsea Houska says being on Teen Mom 2 during her last season made her feel “physically sick.”

The former ‘Teen Mom’ star— who left the show in 2020— recently told Glamour that she knew she was over being on the MTV reality show when she began to feel queasy whenever the film crew showed up to film her and her family. 

“It wasn’t about the camera crew,” Chelsea told the magazine. “It was my body rejecting it because I felt like I was ready to move on. At that point, I don’t think I could have imagined being on TV again.”

Back in May 2021, Chelsea stated that one of the main reasons she left ‘Teen Mom 2’  was because the show’s storylines were starting to focus too much on her daughter Aubree’s private life. She told 

Glamour that a scene she filmed one day when Aubree was a teenager made her rethink being on ‘Teen Mom.’

“When Aubree got a little bit older, there was a scene where she started talking about how she’s feeling about something,” Chelsea said. “I remember at that moment I was like, ‘Wait, I don’t like this. I want to protect this. She should be able to say how she’s feeling, talk to me and be open with me, and not have other people watching that.’ That was really the turning point.”

As fans know, Chelsea and her husband have gone on to film three seasons of their HGTV home renovation show Down Home Fab, and have appeared on the network’s 

Rock the Block. When her HGTV show was first announced, Chelsea defended going back to reality TV, stating that ‘Down Home Fab’ does not focus on her kids or their private lives.

“I went into this saying I will be open and honest about everything, but off-limits is deep-diving into my kids,” Chelsea stated. “And HGTV was wonderful and has respected that since the beginning, so that’s always been amazing and really reassuring.

“…You could feel the vibe of the show was so different [from the vibe of ‘Teen Mom.’ They were so reassuring, saying, ‘We do not want your drama. We’re a network that is about watching the show and feeling good when you’re done watching it and not sad or heavy,'” Chelsea said.

In the Glamour article, the author applauds Chelsea for having “completely changed her personal brand,” something that is rare for a reality TV star to do if they’re known for a particular show.

“I don’t know how I did the full transition, but it is nice,” Chelsea told the magazine. “I love reading an article that says, ‘Chelsea from HGTV.’”

According to Chelsea, making the change from an MTV show to an HGTV show has resulted in her having a more-mature fan base.

“When I was on ‘Teen Mom,’… people would come up to me here and there, but it was always younger people. Now it’s way more, and it’s older people, and they’re so sweet and kind,” she said.

Chelsea said watching old clips of herself on the early seasons of ‘Teen Mom 2’ is “almost an out-of-body experience.”

“I do think it helped me be a better mom because I wanted to prove myself to people that I could be better than maybe what they thought I was going to be as a teen mom,” she said. “That’s just how I am. I like to prove people wrong. So I do think that the pressure of everyone watching and everything definitely made me really think about my choices and want to take a higher road at all times.”

Despite feeling sick about being on the show in its later years, Chelsea told 

Glamour that she’s still proud of helping to change the conversation about teen pregnancy.

“I remember it was so controversial when the show first started, but there was proof coming out that it was helping,” she said, adding, “… I do feel really proud that I was part of that conversation at that time.”