Reality Stars Reveal Whether Their Kids Can Watch Their Shows

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Reality Stars Reveal Whether Their Kids Can Watch Their Shows

Future fans? Reality stars from The Bachelorette, Jersey Shore and more shows are on the fence about letting their kids watch them on TV. After filming six seasons of MTV’s Jersey Shore, four of Snooki & JWoww and three of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has led her children to believe that she is an actress. “I tell them that it’s not real,” the A Shore Thing author exclusively told Us Weekly of Lorenzo, Giovanna and Angelo in June 2021. “I’m just acting, like, I’m playing a role, that’s what they think. … I don’t think they’re ready for that yet. So as of right now, I am an actress.” Two months later, the Dancing With the Stars alum told Us that her eldest son has seen clips of her MTV days on YouTube. “He watches WWE and all of that, and sometimes he does come across Mommy running around, going crazy from clips,” Polizzi, who shares her kids with husband Jionni LaValle, said in August 2021. "He doesn’t really judge me. He’s just like, ‘Mom, you’re a mess. Mom, you’re embarrassing.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, whatever.’” While Lorenzo doesn’t “hold [the show] against” his mom, she told Us at the time that he would “never” follow in her reality TV footsteps. Polizzi explained, "He’s like my husband. He’s like, ‘Don’t put me on camera. No pictures.’ My daughter would be [into it].” Jenni “JWoww” Farley agreed, exclusively telling Us in April 2021 that Giovanna and her daughter, Meilani, both love being in front of cameras. “Obviously, as a parent, you want your kids to be better than you and different than you and prosper and everything, but Meilani and Sissy … I have a feeling they’re going to end up in the entertainment industry somehow in some way,” the Rules According to JWoww author said at the time. Jinger Duggar for her part, reflected on how 19 Kids and Counting influenced her life. "I look at those years and I'm really grateful for the opportunities that I was able to have. Like we traveled the world, things that we wouldn't have been able to do as like a large family," she told Us in January 2023. "At the same time, I can say I saw also those challenges. Like I just mentioned, walking through the hardest seasons of my life in the public eye and needing to give an answer. That was tough." Keep scrolling to see more celebrity parents debating showing their children their reality TV shows, from Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks to Bachelor’s Ryan Sutter. [podcast_block]

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Paris Hilton

Hilton, who welcomed son Phoenix in January 2023 via surrogate, revealed when her infant son is able to check out episodes of The Simple Life.

“He’s already watched it,” the socialite, who shares her baby boy with husband Carter Reum, quipped during a Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen appearance the following March.

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Kate Chastain

"That feels so far away," the Below Deck alum told Entertainment Tonight in February 2023 about potentially showing her future child her show. "I have kind of wondered, like, will my child ever know about my reality TV past? But I feel like that's so far away. That's so in the future, like, will TV even be like a thing on spaceships? I don't know what media is going to be like that far, when it's age appropriate for my child to watch it."

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Jinger Duggar

"I think because it was such a huge part of my life [that is why I show it to my kids]. I spent most of my life on TV. So even in this [promotion] process, I've had a couple crews come in the house and my two-year-old will be playing in her playroom and she'll see cameras and be scared," Duggar, who shares two daughters with husband Jeremy Vuolo, exclusively told Us in January 2023. "I thought how interesting. That was my childhood. Like that was all I knew I play with the boom mics and all of that, but she's just so not used to it. So it's kind of interesting to see."

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Jackie Goldschneider

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star did not let her four kids “watch a single episode" of the show in 2021 due to Teresa Giudice accusing her of cheating on husband Evan Goldschneider. She exclusively told Us in October that she “hated” not watching with her family.

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Lauren Bushnell

The Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? alum will "maybe" let her and Chris Lane's son Dutton watch The Bachelor when it's "age-appropriate," she told Us in October 2021.

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Phaedra Parks

The Bravo personality's sons have "never" seen the Real Housewives franchise because "it's not child appropriate," the attorney told Us in October 2021. "I don’t think it was created for children and so I don’t know if any responsible parent allows their child to watch those types of shows. I mean, there’s maybe six [or] seventh graders, [but] I don’t even know that. Maybe high schoolers can watch it, but I would never allow my kids to watch the Housewives ’cause it’s too adult.”

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Tarek El Moussa

While the Flip or Flop alum does let his kids watch his partner Heather Rae Young's Netflix show, Selling Sunset, he told Us in September 2021 that it "depends on the scene."

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Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi

The Tattoo Too Far host thinks that 16 or 17 is an appropriate age to show her kids Jersey Shore, explaining to Us in June 2021, "They’ll kind of get it [then]. Like, ‘Listen, Mommy had some crazy years before she was a mommy. She let loose. So whatever you see on TV back then, just do the opposite of what I did.’”

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Meghan King

In May 2021, the Real Housewives of Orange County alum told Us that her and ex Jim Edmonds' kids can "of course" watch the Bravo show "when they're older" when it's "a novelty." But for the time being, King, who wed Cuffe Owens in October 2021, said, "If my children aren’t going to the parties with me, then they shouldn’t be watching the parties that I’m at.”

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Jenni 'JWoww' Farley

"If it’s 8 on a Thursday, I’m like, ‘OK, guys, go to bed. Mommy’s show’s on,’” Farley told Us of her and ex Roger Mathews' daughter and son Grayson in April 2021. “I try to avoid it but with the internet and kids just being kids, they all know.”

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Catherine Giudici and Sean Lowe

"My kids have not seen the show [yet]," the Washington native told Us in January 2020. "We watch cartoons here and I am actually commissioning somebody to remove all of the makeout scenes and all the dates with other women so that I can watch it without having an anxiety attack. They will watch that.”

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Trista Sutter and Ryan Sutter

In May 2019, the former professional football player told Us that he and his wife "won't have a choice" but to show their kids The Bachelor, adding, "I think it’s going to be important for us to really explain it, how it all works, and then we’ll hope for the best."