’16 and Pregnant’ Alum Nikkole Ledda Admits She ‘Hardly Recognizes’ the Girl She Was on the MTV Show

16 and Pregnant alum Nikkole Ledda (née Paulun) is not the girl she used to be.

The MTV star, 30, took to Instagram on August 24 with a video containing throwback clips from her time on the reality series. She titled the Reel, “Moments from 16 and Pregnant That Altered My Brain Chemistry,” referencing a recent social media trend set to Taylor Swift’s song “Cardigan.”

“Realizing how disappointed my mom was, having to choose between my friends and Josh, [being] so big I ripped a dress and Josh laughed at me, Josh promising he’d pick me up from the dance, him ditching me and having to try not to cry in front of the film crew,” Nikkole wrote, with a clip to accompany each moment.

She continued, “My little brother playing Rock Band with me to cheer me up, this fight happening while I was in labor, getting an episiotomy and giving birth to an almost 9-lb. baby, having no idea how to care for the baby, being broken up with right in front of the film crew, being humiliated in front of a live audience.”

In the caption, Nikkole admitted that she “hardly recognizes that girl anymore. I look at her and hurt because I know all she wanted was to be loved.”

Fans in the comments showed their support for the reality TV personality.

“You were so vulnerable and he took advantage of you. I’m so glad you left and now you have been blessed with a beautiful family,” one user wrote.

“Girl look at you now!!! Wow wow wow!!!! I’m so proud of you,” another fan added, while a third person commented, “The amount of growth you’ve shown since this is so incredible!”

“Your life has come full circle! You were smart and didn’t keep going back to the toxicity and you made an awesome life for your oldest son and yourself and I’m pretty sure he is proud to be your son,” a fourth fan wrote.

Nikkole’s teen pregnancy was documented on the second episode of 16 and Pregnant season 2 in 2010. She and her then-boyfriend, Josh Drummonds, were expecting their first child together. However, Josh refused to coparent after she gave birth to their son, Lyle, and the pair split.

The Michigan native later welcomed daughter Ellie Jade with ex-boyfriend Ryan Rice in 2015. She married husband Kyle Ledda in 2020, and they welcomed son Bodhi in 2021.

Nikkole gave a glimpse into her life today on her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, August 27, sharing a few professional photos of her kids. The first snap showed all three of her children sitting together and smiling in the grass as she wrote, “My heart.” Meanwhile, Nikkole also shared a solo shot of Lyle, 14, and revealed that he reached a milestone.

“This guy has his high school orientation today,” she wrote.

Nikkole previously opened up about Lyle’s father in a 2021 video on her Instagram Stories, according to The Sun.

“I don’t talk about Josh often on here because I find it to be a very sensitive topic for me. A lot of trauma came from that relationship that I still haven’t fully healed from and don’t know if I ever will,” she explained. “A simple conversation mentioning him or a brief thought about something to do with him can cause me to have really bad nightmares and anxiety. I feel like that sounds dramatic saying it out loud but it’s true and I wish I had more control over it all but the reality is I fear him more than anyone/anything else. It’s been really difficult to navigate Lyle’s feelings towards him while dealing with my own.”