Farrah Abraham is finally revealing how much she says she was paid for starring on MTV’s hit shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.
“It was only $3,500 from that first one,” the MTV personality, 35, claimed during the Tuesday, August 18, episode of the “We Need To Talk” podcast. “And then I think I only got $25,000 from Teen Mom.”
Farrah appeared in 2009’s inaugural season of 16 and Pregnant while she was pregnant with her and Derek Underwood’s daughter, Sophia. She later joined the cast of Teen Mom, a spinoff series that followed several of the original 16 and Pregnant stars as they navigated new motherhood in their teens and post-high school life.
While filming Teen Mom, Farrah claimed that she learned from costars Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra that they were allegedly earning a higher wage.
“Then I had Catelynn and Tyler call me … this is when I was so depressed I was like, ‘I need a boob job to make me feel better.’ So we’re doing this scene on Teen Mom that’s like, ‘Oh I think I want to have a boob job.’ They ask [about salaries],” she alleged. “They say they’re making $10,000 an episode and again I’m only making $25,000 in total.”
Farrah confessed that she was “so upset” after learning about the alleged pay discrepancy. At the time, Farrah was a single mom while Catelynn and Tyler did not have any on-hand parenting responsibilities. (Derek died in a car crash in December 2008, while Catelynn and Tyler chose to give their baby, Carly, up for adoption.)
“And I’m like, ‘OK for one, they don’t have their kid. I do. I’m doing this on my f***ing own.’ Against all odds literally. Who’s really supporting me? No one,” she said. “Then I make up [a story] and I say, ‘Oh yeah I’m actually making $15,000 an episode’ because I was so hurt.”
Farrah admitted she made up the story out of “spite.”
“Nothing was fair and I don’t know if it would ever be fair,” she reflected.
Farrah was a main cast member on Teen Mom’s first four seasons. She continued to appear on the series when it was rebranded to Teen Mom OG for season 5 and until she was fired from the reality show in 2017 after seven seasons.
“Every time that I’m sitting with fans and supporting the show and I’m watching season 4, season 5, season whatever, because I’m stuck under this contract,” she claimed. “That’s really how I lost so much money. I just couldn’t stand sitting there anymore sacrificing my child’s life.”
Ahead of her firing, Farrah claimed that she asked for her daughter to be “paid more.”
“They’re not paying her dad. They’re not paying anyone else. My parents were filming less … if you’re filming less you’re getting paid less,” she alleged. “And Sophia is always here, she’s always filming, you guys need to pay her more.”
Farrah claimed her request was “refused” because “all the kids need to be paid the same.” Meanwhile, Farrah believed it was unfair to her since she was “not in the same situation” as her costars. So Farrah took matters into her own hands and sought out opportunities to make more money.
Farrah Abraham is letting her 16-year-old daughter, Sophia Abraham, take center stage and express herself sartorially — and she’s proudly cheering her on every step of the way. The Teen Mom alum, 34, responded to a fan’s praise on Instagram after Sophia debuted a bold new look at the 2025 Page Six Virtual Reali-Tea Awards […]
“I do open up Sophia’s own children boutique store for her to earn more money. I open up my furniture store, I open up a frozen yogurt store. I do three other TV shows that are around the world,” she shared. “I signed two contracts, I think for $50,000 a piece for me just to show up on a live cam company website for an hour to talk to fans.”
Farrah clarified that the webcam opportunity was a venture with “an adult company,” but she insisted that the brand “wanted celebrities to be there to make it more mainstream.”
“So I just said yes, I needed the money, I’m a single parent,” she said. “And to this day, no one can get in the way of me earning money because I need that as a single woman, as a widower. So I’m gonna do work.”
