TLC has featured some seriously unforgettable personalities.
Longtime fans probably remember Kate Gosselin's "Karen" hair, Mama June's "sketti" dinners,
and the tear-jerking journeys on My 600 Lb Life. But if it's been a minute since you've tuned in,
you won't believe what these network stars look like today.
"They talk, they have memories, they have conversations, they have attitudes."
The OG TV mother of eight — with one set of twins and one set of sextuplets — is none
other than Kate Gosselin. Along with her husband Jon, Gosselin made her way into the homes of TLC
fans with Jon & Kate Plus 8, in 2007, and quickly became a hot topic due to both her
strict parenting style and her rocky marriage. But from the start, Gosselin's asymmetrical pixie
cut became a signature part of her brand. At the time, she told Entertainment Weekly,
"Everybody wants it."
Fast forward to today, and Gosselin has raised eight kids, done the spin-off show Kate Plus 8,
moved on from her divorce, and grown out her iconic haircut.
"Have you noticed? I'm single. For the last decade."
She went on to become the star of her own spin-off in 2007 with Kate Plus Eight,
and then again in 2019 with Kate Plus Date, which is dedicated to her rollercoaster
dating life. She shares updates on her life and family on social media.
The entire Duggar family found fame when 19 Kids and Counting premiered in 2008. Daughter Jessa
was only 16 at the time, though she seemed born for reality TV life. The series was canceled in
2015 — due to a very public scandal centering around her brother Josh Duggar, per USA Today.
But Jessa didn't let that stop her. She went on to marry Ben Seewald,
and is the proud mother of three children. Of course, Jessa and her husband plan to
continue growing their family, revealing to People that they hope to adopt one day.
"There are so many diapers and they pile up so fast.
We gotta take the trash out a lot more often."
While she might be busy with her kids these days, Jessa is still very much in the public eye,
thanks to her spin-off show Counting On, which essentially picked up where 19 Kids and Counting
left off. She's also active on social media, and often posts updates on Instagram and YouTube.
Jeremy Roloff grew up on camera, as a star of his family's show,
Little People, Big World. Documenting the lives of his parents, Matt and Amy,
the series profiled the daily challenges the family faced, living with dwarfism. Over the
course of many seasons, Jeremy played an integral part on the show. Viewers even watched as he fell
in love with Audrey, and formulated his plans to marry her. Over 2 million people tuned in to watch
the couple's wedding during the Season 8 finale, making it one of the show's most-watched episodes.
"Cheers to the family we have and the family to come."
But in 2018, Jeremy announced that he, his wife,
and his young daughter were leaving the show. He explained on Instagram,
"A year ago I made the decision that this season would be our last. We will still
be supporting the family as they carry the [Little People, Big World] torch onward."
The couple has since launched a blog and a podcast,
and they became published authors as well.
At 28 years old, Tiffany Barker weighed over 600
pounds. Her story was documented on My 600-lb Life, where she explained,
"I'm at the point where I can't even get out of bed on my own."
"It's gonna take a little work putting myself first…But…[But?] I'm definitely gonna try."
While the road ahead was by all accounts a rough one, by the end of the show,
Tiffany had lost 258 pounds, thanks in part to a gastric bypass. And ever since, she has continued
to share her weight loss progress, often posting photos of her high-protein diet on Instagram.
But Tiffany reminds her fans that just because they watched her episode,
that doesn't mean they know everything about her. For instance, she and her boyfriend Aaron,
who was also featured on the show, have since ended their relationship.
"My mama weighs the most in my family because she's fat."
"Mama June" Shannon quickly made a name for herself on Toddlers & Tiaras.
Her daughter Alana, who went by Honey Boo Boo, was a standout on the show.
And Mama June quickly gained notoriety due to her quirks and often questionable judgment.
The mother-daughter duo went on to star in their own spin-off series, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,
which documented the family's life after the pageant circuit, from 2012 until 2014.
"What is that? A err d'erb. A what? A hors d'erb. A hors d'erb, it's a sausage kinda thing."
Since then, Mama June has continued to stay in the spotlight. She received unprecedented
attention when she dropped 300 pounds as a result of gastric sleeve surgery, revealing to People,
"It's kind of crazy. A lot of people don't recognize who I am until I talk."
That prompted several spin-offs, including Mama June: From Not to Hot, in 2017. But despite her
seemingly healthier image, Mama June again made headlines when she was arrested for drug
possession in 2019, according to People. She has since confirmed her sobriety on social media.
Appearing on Season 3 of My 600-lb Life, Amber made one of the most dramatic transformations
viewers had ever seen. Before appearing on the show, she'd been struggling with her weight for
years. At 5 years old, she weighed 150 pounds, and by age 16, she relied on a wheelchair. By
the time the cameras started rolling, Amber was 23 years old and weighed 657 pounds. She said,
"When you let fear control your life,
you end up at a place that's worse than what you were trying to avoid."
"Sometimes I think to myself, 'I'm never gonna change.'"
Fortunately, Amber was able to turn her life around, and by the end of her time on the show,
she was under 400 pounds. Amber has since continued to document her
weight loss journey on social media, where she once posted,
"I drag my a-- and whine about going to the gym but
I have never once regretted going after the fact."
Amber tweeted in 2016 that she was engaged to someone other than the boyfriend who
appeared on the show, and she keeps her love life far out of the spotlight.
Jana Duggar made her TV debut in 2004 on 14 Children and Pregnant Again,
before rising to fame on 19 Kids and Counting. One of the oldest kids of the family,
Jana watched as several of her younger brothers and sisters got married and started their own
families. Still, Jana remained single, causing loads of speculation on what caused her situation.
"I mean, I can try things. It might not be quite my style, but I'll try it."
After the show was canceled, Jana returned to TLC with Counting On. There,
she's a series stand-out, particularly since she's not yet coupled up. She told Us Weekly,
"I'm not that worried. Yes, I long to be married, one day I think that will come.
But I think I'm just also […] trying to stay busy
with whatever comes along […] and just making the most of these single years."
These days, Jana also happily shares her life with fans on Instagram.
Toddlers & Tiaras was known for its pint-sized divas, but few made a lasting
impression quite like Isabella Barrett. Despite her success as a pageant star,
she quickly became known for her so-called "kitty cat fight" with 3-year-old contestant Paisley,
calling her a cruel name after one particular event. The scandal left a mark on Bella's
reality TV fame, but her family didn't let that stop her from achieving success.
"I have won over fifty-five crowns and eighty-five titles."
After her run on the show, Isabella capitalized on her star power by selling jewelry and lip
gloss to her fans. She even dabbled in the pop music scene, and released a song called "LOL."
Isabella has since shrugged off the toddler tutus and become a teenage entrepreneur.
Having started her first business at age 9 — which made her a millionaire — she now has
several partnerships on Instagram, and has appeared on the show Next Big Thing NYC.
Jazz Jennings entered the spotlight in 2007, when she became one of the youngest transgender
girls to publicly come out, at 6 years old. She revealed to Barbara Walters that she always knew
she was a girl, despite being assigned the male gender at birth. Fortunately,
Jazz's parents were on board, with her mom Jeanette affirming,
"I'm going to be there for her, always."
"She would ask me, 'Mommy, am I a boy or am I a girl?'
This is my sister. She's a girl. She's a girl. She's a girl."
Now officially in her twenties, Jennings has starred on her very own series, I am Jazz,
since 2015, documenting her everyday life. The show has also featured details about
her gender confirmation surgery. She shared with the New York Times,
"For the first time, my body fully reflected my soul — how I felt on the inside."
Jennings has also been an open book on Instagram,
sharing everything — even her scars, which she calls her battle wounds. She wrote in one post,
"We're all beautiful and unique and we just have to learn to embrace that."
Six-year-old Alana Thompson made a splash on Toddlers & Tiaras with her bold personality,
once declaring on the show,
"The other girls must be crazy if they think they're gonna beat me,
Honey Boo Boo child. I'm a superstar because I do pageants."
"I didn't win anything at the natural pageant. Those judges were nuts."
Alana quickly became one to watch, thanks to her undeniable energy and sass. And her
charisma eventually landed her and her family their spin-off, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. But
when it was canceled in 2014, America's favorite Boo Boo was suddenly getting far less screen time.
Alana re-appeared five years later, in 2019, as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors,
at age 14, ultimately landing in 8th place. But judging by how much this girl loves the camera,
chances are we haven't seen the last of Honey Boo Boo!
"Mommy, it would be a much better time if it was me, Mady and Daddy."
Cara and Mady Gosselin were just 7-year-old twins when Jon and Kate Plus 8 premiered in 2007.
But unlike their mom, who appears to revel in fame, the twins had a different take on things.
Now in their twenties, Mady shared on her mom's show, Kate Plus Date,
"College feels like a place to blend in, and I feel like we haven't really had
much of a chance to [do that]. I don't want everyone to know my name and my business."
"It's so bad, cuz when I say 'stop yelling at me,' she just goes 'I'm not yelling,'
and I'm like, 'but, yeah, you are, you're just yelling in a quiet voice.'"
Mady and Cara even chose to go to different colleges. Still, Mady is active on social media,
and has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, as well as a budding YouTube channel.
On the other hand, Cara prefers to live under the radar, without a public social media presence.
Another breakout star from Toddlers & Tiaras, Taralyn Eschberger,
was the red-headed beauty who dominated the competition,
racking up an impressive amount of titles during her time on the stage.
Mom Traci told Fox and Friends that her daughter's success wasn't planned;
they'd stumbled into pageantry, and although she never imagined she would be spray-tanning her kid,
the pint-sized pageant queen took a liking to it. According to Traci,
the family had spent roughly $100,000 on pageants.
But despite the successes that Taralyn achieved as a child, she grew up to be a relatively normal
teen. In 2020, a Facebook post updated her fans about her life post-pageantry, where she
said she officially has her driver's license. At the beginning of Melissa's weight-loss journey
on My 600 Lb Life, she weighed in at 653 pounds, at just 31 years old. At the time, she explained,
"It's not like I set out to be the world's biggest lady, I wanna be 700 pounds. It just happened."
Fortunately, Melissa worked hard to shed the pounds from the get-go,
which qualified her for weight-loss surgery. Fast-forward to today,
and Melissa is the mother of three kids — a dream come true for her — according
to a post on her Instagram. She's also blogged about her transformative experience, sharing,
"Remember weight gain doesn't happen overnight, and neither do long-term changes.
Concentrate on making one change at a time, and reward yourself for your progress,
and before you know it you will be going where you want to be."
The eighth child of Jim Bob and Michelle, Josiah Duggar was introduced to fans of 19 Kids and
Counting as a playful kid. But this reality star's early adult life got very real when,
according to the Duggar family Facebook, his first courtship with Marjorie Jackson ended in a breakup
rather than a marriage — something almost unheard of in the Duggar house.
"You may now kiss the bride."
Josiah went on to marry Lauren Swanson, but it wasn't long before the couple suffered a
heartbreaking loss when their first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Despite the hardship,
however, Josiah and Lauren revealed seven months later
on Instagram that they were pregnant again. They wrote,
"As we rejoice [in] the life of our second sweet baby,
we also remember […] our other sweet baby, Asa, in heaven."
The couple welcomed their daughter, Bella, in November of 2019.
"I really think she looks more like your side of the family than my side of the family."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more List videos about your favorite reality stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.