Tragic Details About HGTV Star Cole DeBoer
Cole DeBoer is an HGTV star now, but his reality TV days date back to when he appeared on "Teen Mom 2" with his now-wife Chelsea DeBoer. Even with that start on a far more tense show, he's typically remained fairly drama-free. However, that's not to say he hasn't gone through any tough moments.
We'll start with a time Cole lost his cool on "Teen Mom 2." He'd been backstage at MTV's "Teen Mom" Season 8 reunion taping — and as fans of the show will recall, things got incredibly heated between Chelsea's co-stars Kailyn Lowry and Briana DeJesus (there's an understatement). DeJesus memorably ran on to the stage screaming at Lowry and even had to be restrained. Chelsea, who was expecting her and Cole's second child at the time, ran off stage as soon as the drama began. However, it seems Cole had some serious drama that never aired.
Taking to X the day after the episode aired, Chelsea shared what had gone down. "They also didn't include Cole busting through allllll those people in the hallway in last night's episode to get to Aubree who was on the other side, separated from us." She added that it had taken a lot for him to get to that point, but that his paternal instincts kicked in when he believed his stepdaughter, Aubree Lind-DeBoer, might get hurt. "Cole never gets mad ... and you would've seen him M A D," Chelsea wrote. Thankfully, Lind-DeBoer was unharmed, and Chelsea arranged to film the rest of the reunion with just Leah Messer. Even so, it's unfortunate that Cole ended up being roped into the situation out of necessity — especially considering that in a clip ahead of the reunion, he had jokingly repeated his mantra: "Drama's for nerds, everybody."
The DeBoers' home was broken into
Sadly for Cole DeBoer, the situation at the "Teen Mom 2" reunion wasn't the only time he felt a need to get protective. In 2018, his family's home was broken into. Thankfully, they had been on vacation at the time, so there was no confrontation. Even so, he recounted his concerns in an episode of the show.
As reported by InTouch, Cole shared on "Teen Mom 2" that it was Chelsea who noticed something was up before they realized their closet had been ransacked. After that, he checked the house to ensure the intruder wasn't still on the property. Thankfully, they weren't — but that didn't exactly allay the family's fears, which upset Cole even more. "Seeing them terrified, I think that was the most pi***d I've ever been," he said.
Understandably, the already harrowing situation affected Chelsea in a big way, and she told E! News that the combination of the burglary with the postpartum anxiety she was already experiencing had a massive impact on her mental health. Given Cole's comments on seeing his family scared, there's no question that that had an effect on him, too. Some will remember him telling Chelsea that if speeding up their move would make her more comfortable, he was all for it. Speaking to TooFab, Chelsea confirmed that they'd done just that. Of course, this resulted in one very impressive perk: The DeBoers ended up getting their own HGTV show. How's that for turning lemons into lemonade? Nevertheless, we're hoping the family has been able to find peace in their new home and in the years since the incident took place.
Cole has had awkward run-ins with Chelsea's ex
Back to "Teen Mom 2" drama that Cole DeBoer likely would have preferred not to have been involved in, some may remember that in Season 9 of the show, he had an awkward run-in with his wife's ex-boyfriend's family. ICYMI, though, at the height of Chelsea DeBoer's custody battle with Adam Lind, a court order stipulated that Aubree Lind-DeBoer's biological father could only see her when supervised. Despite that, when Lind-DeBoer was sent over to her paternal grandparents, Lind showed up, which meant Cole had to pick her up and take her home.
Cole recounted the awkward run-in on "Teen Mom 2," telling Chelsea he hadn't known what would happen when he pulled up to the house with several of Lind's family members present. Things got even worse, he shared, when Lind's mom started questioning the situation in front of her granddaughter. "I got annoyed right away," he said. He added that Lind's mom had complained that it was their weekend with Lind-DeBoer, and said that Lind being present probably couldn't have been avoided, which in turn saw the little girl explain that they could have scheduled things differently — and that was what frustrated Cole the most. "It's not fair to her to have to go through this, because she's confused. [She] shouldn't have to worry about this stuff, or even hear about it," he said, visibly irritated by the entire interaction.
Luckily, in the time since, the DeBoers and Lind have managed to become more civil, with Chelsea telling Us Weekly, "There's no bad feelings. We see him sometimes and it's totally fine." All's well that ends well!
Cole was involved in a difficult legal battle
Switching gears to another kind of legal drama, in February 2021, "Without a Crystal Ball" revealed that in April of the previous year, the DeBoers, their companies, and the management firm that represented them had all been sued for non-payment of fees to Envy, a consulting agency.
One of the claims made was that the DeBoers had asked a number of the brands they worked with to pay them directly, rather than through the agency. Another complaint was that the couple hadn't done what they'd been paid to do by some of those brands. That led to a forfeiture on Envy's end, and the agency sought $3 million. The DeBoers responded with a suit of their own, claiming that the agency had taken some of the deals off their account statements, which led to them losing more than $150,000.
By 2023, the legal battle was still in full force, and Cole and Chelsea ended up filing for the case to be dismissed, as well as for their financial records to be kept private. "Public disclosure of sensitive information such as how much revenue the DeBoers collect from brands and expenses incurred will harm the DeBoers in limiting the willingness of brands to negotiate about financial terms of future deals," their legal team noted, per The U.S. Sun. The consulting agency disputed that, arguing that there was no need for confidentiality. Ultimately, in April 2024, the DeBoers' legal issues were concluded, with Envy dropping its lawsuit and the couple doing the same.
Cole and Chelsea's store was damaged in an accident
Sadly, just a few months after Cole DeBoer and Chelsea DeBoer's legal battle came to an end, they had another hurdle to contend with. In June 2024, roughly a month ahead of their Down Home by DeBoers scheduled grand opening, the store had to be closed temporarily after someone lost control of their vehicle and drove through the window.
Taking to the store's Instagram account, Chelsea shared that despite the not-great situation, they were grateful that no one was injured. Cole doubled down, sharing, "It's extremely unfortunate, but I'm so glad nobody was injured. Pulling up to the scene ... it's scary, and you know, things like that happen. I'm just glad we're all okay" (via @tm_chatter).
Luckily, in addition to no one being hurt in the accident, the damage caused to the storefront was seemingly fixed up right away. Just a few days later, the couple took to Instagram to share that while they were still reassembling their stock, the store had reopened. What's more, their grand opening went ahead without a hitch. Granted, it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Cole in the time since. In celebration of a full year of being open to the public, in March 2025, the Down Home by DeBoers Instagram account shared a hilarious video of the staff's preparations for the big occasion, with Chelsea and two other employees taking shots as Cole did all the work. It's called delegation!
Cole has been trolled for being 'boring'
Taking a look back on Cole DeBoer's ups and downs over the years, one thing that becomes clear is the fact that he tends to come out top, and even the most tragic situations have been resolved. That said, you can't please everyone, and a number of HGTV fans have said they can't stand Cole or Chelsea DeBoer ... precisely because of the lack of drama.
On a "Teen Mom" Reddit, some users have questioned whether Cole really is as kind and anti-drama as he seems and discussed the possibility that there's something strange about Cole and Chelsea's marriage. "Someone has to have some tea on Cole ... No one's that perfect right?" one Redditor mused. For the most part, others disagreed that there was anything untoward, though some agreed that they found him boring. A few users also called out the very idea of looking for something bad about him. "This post is actually insane if you think about it. 'That guy is so nice, because of that I don't like him and something must be wrong with him.' This is some of the ugliest parts of humanity," they retorted.
Like we said, the vast majority of Reddit users shared that they believed Cole to be genuine, if at times "boring." However, one user in particular stood out as someone who had had an IRL interaction with him. They claimed that he'd bumped into them at a concert and not only bought them a replacement drink, but a new, dry t-shirt as well. "I had wondered if the nice guy super polite thing was an act but nope it literally is exactly who the dude is," they wrote. Honestly, we're here for it. Here's hoping Cole stays drama-free for many years to come!