Weird Things About HGTV Star Chelsea DeBoer's Marriage To Cole That Everyone Ignores

Chelsea and Cole DeBoer made their HGTV debut with "Down Home Fab," which began airing in January 2023. However, they're notably among the list of HGTV stars who were famous long before they joined the network. While the celebrity couple's days are now filled with home renovations, the DeBoers first made their mark on MTV, where Chelsea (then Chelsea Houska) starred in the hit reality series "16 and Pregnant" and its spinoff, "Teen Mom 2," which also featured her husband. Fans of the show had a front row seat to their sweet home life together, watching as Chelsea and Cole turned their gas station run-in into a full-fledged, long-term romance. 

Even when they put their MTV days behind them, with Chelsea leaving "Teen Mom 2" in 2020, the adorable couple continued to share their lives online and eventually on HGTV. Such a pointed view into their relationship and family life may have scored the DeBoers some relatability points among fans, but it's also revealed some pretty odd things about them. From a drunken meeting with a future in-law to a years-long legal battle with a consulting agency, these are just some of the eyebrow-raising details about Chelsea and Cole's ostensibly perfect life together.

The DeBoers have recounted their meet-cute several times, confirming that their unlikely love story started when they spotted each other at a gas station. While Chelsea and Cole didn't initially speak, they both recalled checking each other out as they filled up their cars. "We just kept staring back and forth the whole time," he divulged in an interview with HGTV. "I remember being like, 'Wow, she's really cute.'" Chelsea was similarly smitten, informing Us Weekly, "I went home to my friend and I was like, 'I just saw the guy I'm going to marry at the gas station, but we didn't talk.'" However, although it sounds like this was the future couple's first encounter, it's strangely unclear if it actually was. 

In fact, Cole acknowledged during an episode of "Teen Mom 2" that he wasn't completely in the dark about who she was. "I knew of her," Cole said. "Sioux Falls isn't really that big and then I saw her on Facebook, so then I just messaged her." This vague statement doesn't really provide many details, so we're left wondering if Cole knew Chelsea from her MTV fame or if they simply had some mutual acquaintances. If the duo did know each other from around town, we reckon that's a bizarre detail to leave out of their meet-cute, since being contacted by a gas station stranger isn't most women's idea of romance. Plus, it would put Chelsea's joking declaration about their impending marriage into more context.

Fans of "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom 2" will surely remember the legendary Randy Houska from his many appearances, popping up frequently to provide moral support and guidance to his daughter during her toughest moments. In April 2022, Houska recounted a shocking story about Cole DeBoer during an appearance on the podcast "Dentist, Implants and Worms." As Chelsea DeBoer's dad recalled, "There is this tiny hole in the wall bar/gas station/restaurant/whatever, and [Chelsea, Cole, and I] went there and that's where all the locals hang out, and we sat up there, and we might've got drunk." 

As he reasoned, "I think [Cole] was just kind of nervous." However, the proud papa also pointed out, "You know he got kind of drunk, but the drunker he got the nicer he was to [Chelsea] so I figured, that's a pretty good test instead of being an a**." Anxiety around meeting your significant other's parents is obviously very relatable, but getting drunk to calm your nerves is a risky move to say the least. Surprisingly, Houska looks back at their initial meeting with fondness, adding another unexpected element to the story.

The way Chelsea and Cole DeBoer reacted to her eldest daughter, Aubree's, evolving relationship with her paternal family was noteworthy for all the wrong reasons. If you're unfamiliar, Aubree's father is Chelsea's ex-boyfriend Adam Lind. The former couple welcomed her as teenagers. While both "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom 2" showcased how unreliable Lind was as a father, especially as he battled various personal issues, Chelsea and Cole's treatment of Aubree's connection to that side of her family was still totally uncalled for. In particular, Cole made several negative comments on the show after Aubree's grandparents added Lind's number to her phone. Chelsea observed that she and Cole's contacts included affectionate emojis in the names while Aubree's father was simply listed as "Dad," but this discrepancy wasn't enough for Cole. 

"I was looking to be that contact, but we'll get there," he confessed (via Celebuzz), apparently gunning for the title himself. In fact, her stepdad also admitted, "I don't understand why they're even around." While the contact name comparisons came off as immature, Cole's fixation on Aubree calling him "Dad" was much more troublesome. Though it's admirable that Cole has assumed a strong parental role in her life, it's unfair to expect to replace her real dad completely. The DeBoers understandably have a difficult relationship with Lind, but he's still Aubree's father and his parents are still her grandparents regardless.

Because they spend so much time working together, HGTV power couples are often asked how they keep their relationships strong amidst all the stress. Though certain couples point to healthy communication or tight family networks as the keys to their marital success, Chelsea and Cole DeBoer claim that their secret is always striving to have a good time together. "Anytime we have anything going on, even if it's stressful, we just try to make it fun," Chelsea explained to ET. "We want to have a good time with what we're doing."

Now, having fun is definitely an essential part of any healthy relationship, but the reality is that every partnership has its fair share of obstacles, simply because life itself is hard. For example, you can't solve financial hardship or parenting disagreements with nothing more than a good time. In this way, while we admire the DeBoers' optimism, their focus on fun isn't exactly practical. While it's not the weirdest thing about the HGTV stars, it does make us wonder how they work through their most complex issues.

Over the years, Chelsea and Cole DeBoer have also experienced some major legal and financial issues, adding to the litany of strange things surrounding the reality stars. Envy Branding, a New York-based consulting agency, sued the couple for $4 million dollars in 2020, alleging that Chelsea and Cole had breached their contracts and purposely shut the agency out of licensing fees. The celebrity couple countersued the same year, accusing Envy of failing to consistently deliver accurate financial statements and withholding $150,000 worth of profits. 

After years of deliberations, during which Envy went after Chelsea's MTV earnings, The Ashley's Reality Round-Up reported in April 2024 that both parties had agreed to dismiss their lawsuits with prejudice, preventing the filing of any future claims. While the details of the lawsuit were kept under wraps for quite some time, they eventually made it into the public sphere. Even so, it's not something that either Chelsea or Cole has ever publicly addressed, seemingly with the intention of minimizing this aspect of their relationship as much as possible.