‘Teen Mom’ Fans Spot Unsanitary Detail That’s Infuriating Them

The popular MTV reality series Teen Mom and its spinoffs are no stranger to their share of controversy, but the fan-favorite series and its stars are now facing a new wave of backlash after eagle-eyed viewers spotted an unsanitary habit of some of the stars. Over on Reddit, one person said they had been driven “mad” after noticing that those starring on the series tend to prop their shoes up on furniture, a detail that sparked a strong response from other viewers.

The controversy was first sparked over on the “Teen Mom OG and Teen Mom 2” community on Wednesday when a redditor shared a screenshot from Teen Mom OG Season 7, Episode 11, “Fertile Myrtle.” That screenshot showed one of the stars lounging on a bed, their shoes propped up on the piece of furniture. The discussion was quickly sparked, with the original poster writing, “Why is shoes on the furniture such commonplace on Teen Mom?!? Drives me mad!”

In the lengthy 200-plus-response thread that followed, other fans aired their grievances with the habit, with one person writing, “I hate shoes in the house. You step in poop particles, spit, dirt. Gross.” Somebody else said, “it’s the same as a suitcase on a bed,” summing up the habit as “f–ing disgusting.” A third said they “seriously cannot deal with this,” noting that they “don’t even like wearing ‘street clothes’ in bed shudder.”

Several people even got scientific with their responses, pointing to experiments showing the number of bacteria on shoe soles. One person recounted an experiment from their microbiology labs that involved taking swabs from various surfaces, including the soles of shoes, and then growing them under nutrient agar plates. That person said, “the amounts and varieties of microorganisms that grew on them was astronomical.” Somebody else performed a similar experiment at home with their children and found “the plate with the bottom of a shoe swab grew the most bacteria,” adding that “shoes, in my experience, carry more germs than a phone. And a phone carries more germs than a toilet.”

The responses weren’t all bad, though, and several users came to the girls’ defense, suggesting some possible reasons they may keep their shoes on at all times. As one person put it, they may be “wearing shoes because they get dressed up for filming. Better to be judged for wearing shoes than to be caught in dirty socks or socks with holes in them….just a thought.” Another person agreed, writing, “it’s a continuity thing for filming, so when they go to edit, they don’t run into issues with clips in a scene with disappearing/reappearing shoes/articles of clothing.” Others pointed out that the habit isn’t reserved just for the Teen Mom cast members, as stars on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, and other reality TV series are frequently filmed wearing shoes inside and on furniture.