Chanel West Coast Talks Ridiculousness Exit and New MTV Reality Show

Giovanna Schluter Nunes

For years, Chanel West Coast has wanted her own show. While some may know her for her unique laugh that graced 38 episodes of Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory and then more than 700 episodes of MTV’s Ridiculousness, she’s so much more than that—and she’s ready to prove it.

“The most common comment I see is, ‘You’re just a girl laughing on the couch.’ They have no idea how hard I work outside of being ‘silly,’” says West Coast, 35. diverseNot only did she welcome her daughter Bowie Breeze in 2022, but she’s also a recording artist, with music being her true passion. “I’ve done a couple of country tours. I’ve opened for a lot of big artists, like Lil Wayne and Cardi B. I’ve done a lot of amazing things in my independent music career, and a lot of people don’t know that because ‘Ridiculousness’ kind of overshadowed it. I can’t wait for people to see that. I work hard and I handle most of it myself.”

After news of her departure from “Ridiculousness” broke, she announced her overall deal with Paramount, which included a new reality show. “The West Coast Hustle,” which will premiere with two episodes back-to-back on MTV on July 18, chronicles her life as a mother, friend, swimwear designer and independent recording artist.

“I’ve been trying to get my own show for years,” says TV actress Chelsea Chanel Dudley, the show’s real name. “I made a million trailers and couldn’t find any that were interesting. I took a break from trying and matured a little bit.” She wasn’t sure she was ready to let the cameras in fully because it seemed “a little intrusive.”

But when MTV approached her with the idea at the right time, she saw all the benefits. And it was the platform, for her, her boyfriend, model Dom Venison, and their daughter, that made her say yes.

“I grew up in Los Angeles. There are a lot of babies born to unwed mothers here, and I knew this could be the thing that would change my daughter’s life,” she explained. “I hesitated, but I knew there were so many great things that would come of this.”

But leaving “Ridiculousness,” a short-form comedy show that began in 2011 under host Rob Dyerke, wasn’t easy. “There were a lot of tears and a lot of emotions and a lot of mental stuff to deal with,” she says of the decision. But when she had her daughter, she knew it was time to go: “It was almost impossible to continue doing ‘Ridiculousness,’ being a mom and having my music career — and at the end of the day, music is my passion, and that’s what I really want to take to the next level.”

It was difficult for cameras to capture every aspect of her life. For example, she had difficulty viewing certain parts of her life because of her weight. After having her daughter, she had liposuction, but she wasn’t at the level she wanted to be when filming began.

“As a very transparent person, the hardest thing for me was that I wasn’t in the best shape. In addition to having a baby, I had extra bulges from liposuction. I still gained 40 to 50 pounds. I’ve lost all of that weight now,” she says. “I wish I was a little thinner before filming the season, but I’m happy that people are seeing it and reacting to it… I went from being on a show where I just sit there and look perfect.”

West Coast was also used to always looking her best on camera. At first, she was worried about not looking that way on her reality show.

“I feel like, ‘I want to let the world see me on camera without makeup?’ I don’t want it to affect my career. I probably wouldn’t get an acting job or anything like that if they saw me looking like that,” she says. “But I realized at the end of the day, I have to be myself… So, you see, my workout sessions are without makeup. I’m in the pool with my baby without makeup. I have a hangover, no makeup. It was hard!”

This was the first time you were able to be fully involved in every aspect of a project, controlling what was shown and what wasn’t. There was nothing off-limits when it came to allowing cameras in, but the fact that they were part of every conversation was a big and necessary change.

Despite being on 30 seasons of Ridiculousness, she never became an executive producer.

“I wish I could do that. I’m very creative, I have a lot of ideas, but this is Rob’s show. It’s his baby,” she says. “When something is someone else’s, I’m not going to go there. I’m so grateful to be on this show, and the journey and where it’s taken me, but I never want to be the kind of person who tries to take over someone else’s thing.”