From Terrified to Transformed: How One TLC Star Conquered Her Fears

When you’re living with severe Tourette syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, exposure therapy isn’t just uncomfortable—it can feel downright impossible. But Baylen Dupree, star of TLC’s *Baylen Out Loud*, decided to face one of her biggest fears head-on, and the journey she took to get there is equal parts bold and beautifully unconventional.

Dupree, 23, recently opened up on the“Dumb Blonde”podcast about her exposure therapy experience centered around horses—an animal she was once petrified of. The motivation was personal and romantic: her now-husband Colin Dooley wanted a horse present at their May wedding, and she wanted to be ready. But beyond that surface goal, Dupree recognized something deeper. She understood that horses offered therapeutic value, particularly for neurodivergent individuals like herself, and she was determined to unlock that benefit.

What followed was a therapy journey that pushed every boundary of her germ-related OCD. Her therapist didn’t just ask her to pet or brush the horse—they went for the hardest exposure possible. Dupree had to handle horse manure without gloves, feel it under her fingernails, and sit with every anxious thought that came with it.“At first, I was like,‘I’m not doing this,'”she recalled, but she did it anyway. She did what she describes as“the hardest thing I possibly could have ever imagined,”and in doing so, she reclaimed her peace of mind.

The payoff was real and immediate. Those horse-related fears? Gone. The broader germ anxiety that had once prevented her from drinking from her husband’s glass or accepting handshakes? Significantly diminished. In a podcast conversation with host Bunnie Xo, Dupree was candid about how severe her contamination fears had become—to the point where she’d choose a hug over a handshake because in her mind, hands are“probably one of the dirtiest parts of your body.”Now, she’s living differently.

What makes Dupree’s story resonate isn’t just the shock value of what she endured in therapy. It’s her willingness to be radically honest about neurodivergence, mental health struggles, and what real recovery looks like. *Baylen Out Loud*, which airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, captures this same authentic energy—her and her extended family in West Virginia, embracing the chaos and finding laughter in the everyday challenges that make their lives uniquely theirs. Dupree isn’t performing recovery for the camera; she’s living it, messily and courageously, and inviting viewers to witness it all.