McKayla Adkins calls Unexpected producers ‘evil,’ 10 other cast moms respond
Former Unexpected mom McKayla Adkins recently called out TLC and show producers for sexualizing her and putting her in uncomfortable situations when she was still a minor. Her complaints included being filmed naked while giving birth, and also being asked inappropriate questions with multiple adult crew members present.
“They pushed my f***ing boundaries to the limit,” McKayla stated in one of her videos. “And when they didn’t get their way they took my money or threatened to sue.”
Unlike most reality shows, the main cast members on Unexpected are generally minors. Combine that with the fact that the series is about pregnancy and you wind up with a very touchy situation where underage girls and boys are signing on (with their guardians’ consent) to share intimate details about their sex lives and bodies with millions of viewers when they aren’t even old enough to legally buy cigarettes.
As mentioned above, McKayla brings up the point that there were crew members filming her when she was naked — both while giving birth and breastfeeding. And not only was the crew present, but the unedited footage was most likely viewed by editors and potentially others.
McKayla’s videos sparked a heated debate among Unexpected viewers and cast members. Ten of the other Unexpected moms shared their thoughts on McKayla’s claims, with most of the former moms seemingly agreeing with McKayla’s claims about producers making them feel uncomfortable.
The numerous responses were posted on various social media platforms as written posts, answers during Instagram story Q&As, comments, and videos. I’ve attempted to compile all of the responses here — including a full transcript of McKayla’s original Instagram and TikTok videos.
I will start with the McKayla transcripts. There appear to have been two series of videos posted by McKayla — one in her Instagram stories and the other on TikTok — with quite a bit of overlap between the two. I’ve transcribed them both below, and also embedded the since deleted Instagram clips. You can click here and follow @everything_tlc_unexpected on Instagram to watch the videos. (The account is private and the post is not embeddable.) Be forewarned that they do contain quite a bit of profanity..
McKayla Adkins calls out Unexpected producers
So, Rilah and I have been talking and does anybody else find it weird that TLC asked us what our sex life was like whenever we were a f***ing minor? We literally — they asked us questions about what it was like to lose our virginity, where we f***ed. They asked us if, like, what our vaginas felt like after we gave birth. They asked me if I would ever pierce my f***ing vagina in front of my grandparents!
And the fact that we had to talk about all this stuff in a room of probably five crew members — all grown men and women. Tell me how that’s not f***ed up. Does nobody else find that concerning?
I know Rilah and I are both uncomfortable with it, and who knows who else was also uncomfortable.
There was also a time where I was filming a scene and I was pretty close to giving birth with Gracelynn, and they were basically forcing me to not wear a shirt during this scene. And I expressed how extremely uncomfortable I was. And everybody pushed me, and pushed me, and pushed me until I just had to f***ing do it.
They threatened to sue me because I didn’t want to tell my grandparents that I was pregnant yet because I was literally high risk and could have had a f***ing miscarriage at any point.
They’re evil. Like, literally, it’s the most f***ed up network. And who knows what other networks are like, but the fact that they did this to us — and it’s just, in the dark.
I argued with them about showing Gracelynn after she was born because they f***ed up and aired one of the kids’ private parts on TV. So, I obviously threw a fit because I am not about to let my kids’ private parts be broadcasted on TV for all the f***ing predators who watch that show.
We were sexualized. Our kids were probably sexualized. Honestly, I don’t even know how this show is still going.
Every time I thought I went into labor they made a crew member go in the room with me, and I was extremely uncomfortable because that’s a very vulnerable position you’re in when you’re in labor. And me personally I don’t even want Caelan’s mom in the room whenever I was giving birth because it makes me f***ing uncomfortable, so how do you think I felt when a random stranger was forced to go in my f***ing room?
Literally, I was filmed when I did not want to be filmed. I was in pain. My f***ing vagina was out. My tits were out half the time.
Just the fact that a random stranger and — I mean, I love her, I love the producer who was in there — but a stranger saw me naked, and it’s on a phone and TLC saw it at some point, disgusts me.
I forgot to mention they asked us to breastfeed on camera. Not that that’s a big deal because, like, “power to the women who do,” but as a minor, I didn’t want my f***ing titties out for TV. Neither did Rilah. They asked everybody who has filmed on the show and has breastfed if they could do it on camera. Is that not sus?
Who’s to f**ing say that they deleted and discarded all of the videos and probably pictures of me naked while I was giving birth? Who knows where those are now? For all I know, somebody could have f***ing downloaded it and kept it who was on the TLC team.
TEXT ADDED TO THE CLIPS: I voiced my concerns EVER [SIC] SINGLE TIME and no one cared. They pushed my f***ing boundaries to the limit. And when they didn’t get their way they took my money or threatened to sue.
McKayla’s deleted TikToks about TLC & producers
I’m gonna try and voice this the best way I can in the amount of time I have. But for those of you who love TLC Unexpected, I don’t know how. I really don’t know how. I was on seasons 1, 2 and 3. I’m McKayla, if you didn’t know, and that show f***ed up. The producer, or the director, whoever she f***ing is, is f***ed up. And they’re evil. They literally sexualized us as minors.
Rilah and I have been talking because we’re really just — it f***ed us up. It really f***ed us up doing that show. They asked us how we lost our virginity, where we f***ed, who we f***ed, . They asked me if I would pierce my f***ing vagina in front of my grandparents. They asked my grandpa if he knew what piercing your vagina meant.
They forced someone to be in the delivery room with me while I was giving birth, and somebody — the editor, whoever works with the film for TLC — saw me naked at some point.
They f***ed up and showed one of the kid’s private parts on TV, and whenever I said I didn’t want my daughter being shown on TV after she was born because that happened, they basically said that I had no say in it.
They forced me to not wear a shirt during one of the scenes. They even went out and bought me a sports bra to wear, and they pushed my f***ing boundaries to the limit.
They asked us what our vaginas felt like after giving birth. During filming, at all times, there were grown men and women who all heard these things and star5ing at us while we had to answer these f***ed up questions.
I have voiced my concerns with the production crew every single time I had an issue, and TLC either took my money or threatened to sue me.
I know me and Rilah are both uncomfortable with half of the sh*t that they put out there. So who knows who else is also affected by what they did. All I know is that it’s f***ed up. It’s a really f***ed up situation, and that show and the people behind it are all f***ing evil.
I’m just so tired of being silent, and just, like, not talking about it. There’s so much more I could say, too, but I don’t have enough time. So, that’s what you get for now.
Here’s a few more things that I’ve thought about. So, they filmed us while we were giving birth. Who’s to say they didn’t keep that footage of us naked? Who’s to say that somebody from the TLC team didn’t f***ing download that sh*t and keep it for themselves.
Another thing: they’ve asked every single girl who has breastfed on the show if they could do it for the camera. I had a producer up in my f***ing sh*t when I was trying to breastfeed my son. Like, literally face and titties basically. Does nobody else find that f***ing sus?
They’re actually asking girls on the show if they want their kids’ private parts being blurred, because if it’s blurred, the kid’s gonna be sexualized. What f***ing backwards thinking is that? Yes, we want our kids’ private parts blurred. Are you f***ing kidding me?
I’m so appalled by half of the sh*t that people are coming out and saying. Let me just say, it’s not just me. This show really does sexualize minors who are pregnant and their children. And if you’re still watching this show, why? Like, what the f***? Like, stop!
Unexpected moms respond to McKayla’s claims
MCKAYLA ADKINS: (After her TikTok videos were reportedly taken down.) The fact that my video where I talked about everything that happened to us with TLC got taken down — if I can’t talk about it, it shouldn’t be happening. Period.
LEXUS SCHELLER: Def feel this… I was literally 15 🥺 & just a baby myself, they pushed the f***ing limits.
LAURA BARRON: 10000% agree with everything you said. The show definitely f***ed me up too with all the things they asked me. Made me so uncomfortable in so many ways.
RILAH FERRER: Made me feel uncomfortable af.
REANNA CLINE: I’m counting the days till I can say how they really are.
MYRKA CANTU: She’s not wrong , and there’s WAY worse.
REANNA’S MOM JESSICA: We didn’t know how things were gna go when we signed up.
MCKAYLA ADKINS: Why did I do it for 3 seasons? I was told I’d be rich by season 3, I was in a contract, we were promised things would change if we did another season. Obviously none of that happened. We were played. The fact y’all are [blaming] minors bc “we knew what we were getting into” when the network recruits young pregnant girls and exploits their lives, sexualizes us, and makes us do things we’re uncomfortable doing. Our parents obviously didn’t know the extent of things. Mine did whatever they said bc they threatened to sue. Our parents weren’t present for every interview where they asked us extremely inappropriate questions. Stop blaming us for the network’s actions.
LAURA BARRON: This is a reason why people are scared to speak up when it comes to these things 🤷♀️ Me and my family had a horrible experience and yes, we did sign up for it. I guess we were naive thinking it wouldn’t be so bad. But they pushed boundaries and limits. And most of us were minors, who didn’t realize what was really happening when they were asking us some things.
Our first crew that we had was amazing, but I asked that they not be in the room while I was giving birth because I was only allowed 3 people and it also made me very uncomfy for a stranger to be in the room, and I wanted that to be my family in the room. The next day pretty much that whole crew “got moved” to a new project (me and my family think they got fired from the main lady for not pushing me more to be in the room to film) the crew that we got after was way more pushy on things that made me uncomfortable and pretty much gave me lines to say in front of the camera sometimes 🤷♀️
FORMER SHOW PRODUCER: [A former show producer messaged @eveything_TLC_Unexpected and the admins were able to confirm the producer’s credentials. The message was posted on Facebook and Instagram, but unfortunately the pages are private and cannot be embedded. There is a long numbered list calling out McKayla and Reanna for their claims as the former producer insists that the moms were not “forced” to do or say things that made them feel uncomfortable. Here is a link to the post on Instagram and below is an excerpt.]
…As far as these gurls coming forward with their “horror stories” concerning the producers of this show. ✋ right there. I’ve been in reality TV business for 13 yrs, I’ve worked on Unexpected for almost 4 years. Although I’ve moved on and am no longer working for the show or the current season I do know a lot of how the first 4 season[s] went down! Now to avoid any direct back lash and to protect my professional reputation I need to remain Anonymous. I know the crew can’t speak up for themselves so I felt a duty to speak up for them and inform others on how it works.
These girls got pregnant at a very early age, they signed up for a show with the soul [sic] intention of documenting the REALITY of Teen Pregnancy/ Parenting, So they are asking about how it happened and who knew you were sexually active, where and when etc. These are points and questions that are valid to the entire topic of the show!…
…Look I am not victim shaming at all. I hope no one takes it that way. I understand some of these girls may have unfortunately felt uncomfortable or offended at some points in filming their seasons but bottom line is they were not FORCED to! It’s a shame that some were made to feel otherwise… I am not saying that the production team is perfect but I just don’t feel it is as horrific as some are making it out to be I just feel a lot don’t understand that this is how the business goes.
LILLY BENNETT: (In response to the producer’s comments in the Instagram post above) I 1000000% agree. I understand they ask annoying questions but we all signed up for a show about getting pregnant young.. obviously they are going to ask about sex. Never once did I ever feel uncomfortable or “sexualized” by these questions or my producers and I’ve had a few. Filming/ being on tv isn’t a cake walk but it’s definitely not as bad as lot of these girls are making it seem. I’ve been gifted baby gifts, made wonderful connections with crew members and producers. Of course they want drama they have a story to produce, no one would watch this show if all of our stories were super happy and problem free. I know I can’t speak for everyone but I just can’t imagine things being as horrible as they are being described. I’ve declined to answer many questions and was never threatened with law suits once.
JENNA RONAN: Everyone is entitled to feel the way they feel. However I don’t feel my son was sexualized whatsoever. I do have concerns that past cast members doing pregnancy content on OF is bringing predators to watch the show though. The only people Buying pregnant content are very gross people who I want nothing to do with.
LEXUS SCHELLER: Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but she should’ve NEVER commented on it in her public f***ing platform. There is absolutely no reason to speak on what I do, on her Instagram story, when I’ve never seen or spoken to her in my life. Especially to a question that has NOTHING to do with me, my OF, or pregnancy. F***ing shady b*tch 🤣
JENNA RONAN: If worrying about pedos and protecting my son makes me a b*tch then I guess I’m a b*tch.
LEXUS SCHELLER: Y’all I literally said she’s entitled to her own opinion, my point is there was no reason to comment on it on her story. Thank you everyone for commenting your opinions, I’m sure everyone loved to hear it. 💞
LEXUS’ BOYFRIEND ISAIAH:
JENNA RONAN: My producer last season and new one this season has always respected me as a person and my family. If you want my honest to god opinion I think Lexus doing full blown pregnancy content on her only fans is a lot worse than anything the producers on this show have asked/done. You guys should be raising questions on why the hell her boyfriend and her think it’s okay to sell people a fetish of an unborn baby girl. That brings pedophiles to my Instagram and to watch this show. Don’t get me wrong I think sex work is work but when you add an 8 month pregnant belly into [it] and constantly talk about your pregnancy and let it be a fetish that’s where the line NEEDS to be drawn. That’s bringing nasty people to watch this show!
EMILEY NOACK: (Do you feel the same way McKayla did on Unexpected?) Somewhat. But I also loved filming and loved the crew members. Still talk to them at least once a month. But at the end of the day we kinda knew what we were signing up for, they asked us questions along the lines before we even signed papers. Also the crew members were just doing their jobs by asking the questions. It wasn’t like we were all perfect people, the subjects we talked about were the subjects that got us on the show.
But I also wasn’t a minor while filming, so I can’t speak for the feelings on the girls under 18 being asked the questions.
I haven’t talked about this publicly, but as for one of the births on the show, the babies child parts were not blurred out in the original airing. Discussions followed less than 24 hours after the airing, the episode was removed and edited to be blurred out.
TIARRA BOISSEAU: I totally understand why some girls felt weird talking about their sex life in front of several people. When filming it isn’t just you in the room, there are other women/ grown men in there too. Plus even tho it’s grown folk business doesn’t mean it’s something u want to talk about in front of ur parents LMAO.
There are many producers/ crew members so just because a few girls had a good experience doesn’t mean all cast members did. & y’all should respect that.
MCKAYLA ADKINS: I deleted my tik toks regarding what happened to me and other girls while filming. No one is going to believe us & people keep blaming us for the situation. Honestly opening up about it was more stressful than helpful 🤷♀️ I will always stand by what I said though.
CHLOE MENDOZA:
VIDEO EXCERPT: So there has been some drama going on regarding, I guess, how people were treated on Unexpected and I just kind of want to tell my part. I was just gonna do a Q&A but I feel like there was so much. So I just wanted to make a little video and discuss.
But before I start out, I want to say that everyone had a different experience. And some people are still under contract doing another season, so they probably won’t say anything bad, even if they did not have the best experience. Also, we’re all different ages, so when I was 16/17, I thought some of the stuff that the producers were doing — I was, like, “Oh, this is OK.” But now, as, like, a 20 year old, I’m, like, “Oh. Maybe that wasn’t OK.” So it could also just take some people more time to be, like, “Maybe those questions were a little bit inappropriate. But I did want to come on and see what my experience was like.
LILLY BENNET: (What’s your thoughts on all the stuff said about TLC & Unexpected producers?) I do not want to invalidate anyone’s experience or feelings. I know we all had different crews and different stories. I personally never felt that the questions asked about sex were inappropriate or made me feel sexualized or uncomfortable as it pertained to the story of how we all got pregnant young, clearly our parents were cool with us having sex and getting pregnant at such young ages, so they asked us how we did it.
I also never felt uncomfortable with them following/ filming the birth of my children because I was on a TV show that followed my entire pregnancy, of course they would want to catch a glimpse of what it is like to give birth as a teen. I went on the show to share my story and I feel I did exactly that. How I got pregnant at 16, and again at 19. The struggles and the happiness of it all. I never felt pressured to do anything I was uncomfortable with, or say anything I did not want to say.
Reality TV is not for everyone because at the end of the day you do not get to control what gets displayed. And I know how hard that can be. But I can also put into perspective that to make a good TV show they have to catch some bad / uncomfortable stuff from the cast.
I fully understand the girls’ feelings though. And I truly am sorry to hear they had such bad experiences.
MCKAYLA ADKINS: Also just saying I was never asked any questions like I was asked when I started filming. They reached out to me, they told me I was signing up for an educational program, I did the psych eval, that’s basically it. To me it seems like most of the girls had a way different signing on experience than me. 🤷♀️
And in my opinion, it doesn’t matter if I liked the crew members or not bc I did & keep in touch with one of the women. But it doesn’t excuse the fact that the questions were extremely uncomfortable and I was talking about inappropriate topics in front of grown adults I didn’t know.
What do you think about McKayla’s comments? Join the conversation over on Instagram:
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
