HGTV Star Chelsea DeBoer's Top 5 Most Controversial Moments

The stunningly transformed Chelsea Houska DeBoer was shot into reality TV stardom on MTV's "Teen Mom 2," but the South Dakota native has since landed the HGTV show "Down Home Fab" with her husband Cole DeBoer. At the same time, Chelsea has been growing her online influence, amassing over six million followers on Instagram and launching a home goods line known as Aubree Says.

Though DeBoer admitted to leaving "Teen Mom 2" partly to protect her children's privacy, she's steadily remained in the spotlight herself. Paired with her established online presence, the interior designer has been no stranger to controversial moments. While Chelsea has experienced some serious legal and financial issues, she's also encountered criticism of everything from her changing appearance to her parenting practices.

While long-time fans have been around to watch these controversies unfold, Chelsea maintains that it's her very public journey that has kept her relatable to her audience. "People watched me and [my daughter] Aubree grow up. I started when I was 17, and now I'm 31," she told The Ashley's Reality Roundup. "I think the people who have grown up with us are relating to being in that phase of life too."

Alongside her reality TV endeavors, Chelsea DeBoer has also dabbled in entrepreneurship. In 2019, she teamed up with the ecommerce website Lauriebelles to release her own clothing line under the Lily & Lottie brand. The South Dakota native also founded a home goods and lifestyle brand called Aubree Says in 2020, named after her oldest daughter.

While some of her fans seem to enjoy her collection of products, plenty have expressed their reservations. People have mostly speculated that Chelsea's clothing and home goods are cheaply made and marked up in price. One Redditor found what appears to be the same table runner sold by Aubree Says on Amazon, with Chelsea's item costing $32 more. "Both Amazon and Chelsea are getting these from a third party in China and marking up the price," one commenter speculated in response.

Regarding DeBoer's clothing line, followers have also been left disappointed. One user took to Reddit to compare more than 10 items they had ordered from the collection to photos shared by DeBoer on Instagram, pointing out differences in appearance and apparent quality. Though some followers of the "Teen Mom 2" star had better luck with her merchandise, many internet users have written it off as an unreliable retailer.

The renovation series "Down Home Fab" launched in 2023, with Chelsea and her husband Cole DeBoer redesigning client homes in and around Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While the show was successful enough to land a second season in 2024, many HGTV fans have been less than thrilled with the couple's renovations. "They have zero credibility in designing and building," one Reddit user wrote. "They got the show because they decorated their own home in cow prints and dark colors, and they were on Teen Mom."

Audiences have taken issue with some of Chelsea's specific design choices, with the sparkly fireplace decor of the episode "French Glam Bungalow" raising many questions. In the episode, the couple was tasked with renovating their friend's bungalow on a budget of $50,000, taking a more maximalist approach to the redesign. In the living space, Chelsea filled a faux fireplace with different-sized disco balls, explaining that the clients were fans of the shimmering decor. During the reveal, her friends appeared moved by the entire redesign, but not every HGTV viewer was convinced.

"How does she even think this looks semi acceptable?!" a user said on Reddit. "And how would you even go about cleaning this monstrosity too?" In the comments, several users agreed it was an impractical design choice and better suited for a birthday party or holiday. This is a flashy example of a disliked design from the DeBoer couple, but it's far from the only one.

Another controversy surrounding Chelsea DeBoer centers around her use of self-tanner. While the "Teen Mom 2" star has long favored the tanned look, followers have been quick to call out when it crosses the line from a sunny glow to blackfishing. If you're unfamiliar, blackfishing is when a white person attempts to appear Black through makeup and toner or hairstyle and fashion.

In 2022, a photo from Chelsea's Instagram Story was reposted to Reddit, with the user pointing out how dark her ankles looked in the photo. "This is blackfishing," one commenter wrote about the mirror selfie. "And honestly most white influencers like Chelsea seem to be addicted to tanning to the point where i'm worried it's body dysmorphia."

A similar situation occurred later that same year in a brunch photo featuring Chelsea and Cole. Though much of the HGTV star's face is shadowed by her hat, commenters felt that what they could see of her tan was much too dark. The reaction was similarly negative, with one Reddit user saying, "The way she's always trying to look dark skinned is absolutely pathetic." While Chelsea has made passing remarks about her use of tanner, she's yet to respond to the allegations of blackfishing.

Chelsea and her husband, Cole DeBoer, received some backlash when they attended an Eric Church concert in January 2022. The "Down Home Fab" star shared a picture to her Instagram, posing alongside her husband while they held drinks in their hands. "A little Church is good for the soul," she captioned the photo, tagging the country singer.

While many COVID-19 restrictions had loosened at this point, there was a surge in variants of the disease in early 2022. The majority of her comment section had a positive response to the post, but several followers voiced their dismay at the couple's decision to attend a crowded event with no mask. "This is so gross and disappointing," one user said. "Imagine being so irresponsible that you willingly expose yourselves to a potentially deadly virus and in kind, exposing your kids."

The backlash was even more obvious on Reddit, where the photo was reuploaded to a snark subreddit. "Nothing like cheap beer to wash down the omicron variant!" someone wrote. "Are you a good mom if you're okay with bringing home Covid to your unvaccinated kids?" one person asked. While the DeBoers definitely received some flack for their maskless night out, it wasn't enough for Chelsea to remove the photo.

Chelsea DeBoer was criticized as a mother for her decision to attend a concert without a mask, but this wasn't the only time that the HGTV star had her parenting decisions questioned. In 2012, DeBoer was condemned by fans of "Teen Mom 2" for allowing her daughter Aubree, born in 2009, around a registered sex offender. The offender, Slade, was the husband of DeBoer's friend, Ashley Hinrichs, who appeared in early seasons of the MTV show.

Screenshots shared to Reddit show that DeBoer's social media account was flooded with concerned and critical fans in 2012, who referred to posts from the previous year about Aubree and Slade. Ashley originally shared a since-deleted photo of the two, writing, "Aubree loves her Uncle Slade so much!" DeBoer retweeted the post, adding, "Lol she has the biggest crush!" Despite the warnings from fans in 2012, DeBoer posted about having dinner with the couple, her husband, and Aubree in 2014. "So grateful for the people in my life," she wrote.

It doesn't appear that Chelsea has ever publicly responded to the situation, but long-time followers of the MTV star remain critical of the decision. "Chelsea has never made the best decisions," one Redditor wrote. "People just glossed over it because she was rich and appeared to have her life more together than others."