“It was hard to ignore them, so I just lied.”
Because the early days of MTV Cribs, followers took a look at the homes of the rich and well-known. Celebrities go behind the scenes to show off their huge mansions, incredible backyards and fleet of luxurious vehicles. And while it’s fun to see how our favorite stars live, it seems these home tours might not be entirely accurate. Later, several celebrities admitted to lying about parts of their tours – from little things like their guidebook collections to faking their entire home!
Find out what was wrong with these home tours…
1. Ashley Tisdale
When Ashley Tisdale gave a tour of her home for Architectural Digest, she decided to tidy things up before the camera crews entered. One of those upgrades included completely filling her empty cabinets with books she had never read. During filming, she admitted that her husband had gone out to buy a bunch of books just a few days earlier.
“These shelves, I have to be honest, didn’t even have books a few days ago. I sent my husband to a bookstore and I was like, ‘You might want to buy 400 books,'” she shared. “Obviously my husband thinks, ‘We should collect the books over time and put them in the cupboards.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no, no. Not when AD arrives.’”
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2.Dakota Johnson
Fans fell in love with Dakota Johnson’s home when she took a tour for Architectural Digest in 2020. While touring, she found a bowl of lemons on her kitchen counter, sharing that she liked lemons and enjoyed showing them off. A year later, Dakota admitted that they were actually a prop placed in the kitchen by home organizers – and she was actually allergic!
“I actually didn’t even know they were there. I was taking the tour and I went into the kitchen, and I was decorating it. I’m very allergic to lemon… Lemon makes my tongue itch,” she revealed on Tonight’s gift. “It was hard work to ignore them, so I just lied. I went completely the wrong way.”
3.Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens gave viewers an inside look at her Hollywood residence in a video for Architectural Digest. While in the salon, she showed off her grand piano and even played some Mozart. Although she said in the video that the piano “doesn’t get used to very much,” it looks like she doesn’t know how to play!
“The piano came from my old house, but I don’t play it. I don’t learn music, actually. I’m good at pretending,” Vanessa shared in an Architectural Digest article.
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4. JoJo
When JoJo was still a kid, she gave fans a tour of her vacation home on MTV Cribs. Years later, she revealed that she never lived in the house at any time and that it actually belonged to her uncle and his family.
“It was so ridiculous. The thing is, we didn’t have a house at that time. My mother and I lived out of suitcases and lived mostly in hotels. After all, that was really my uncle’s house in Cabo. This wasn’t my home. That wasn’t my thing. When I was sitting in the thorny part, it was his children. That’s the reality,” she told HuffPost.
She continued: “I should have worked hard and thought, ‘Welcome to my crib, look how luxurious it is,’ and I should have rented a place. But not. I simply used my uncle’s crib. So that I was lying Cribs.”
5. 50 cents
When 50 Cent appeared on Cribs, he showed off his mansion as well as a collection of luxurious vehicles. Years later, when he ended up in court, he testified that much of his over-the-top lifestyle was a gateway drug. In fact, his diamond jewelry was loaned and his fleet of vehicles was mostly rented.
“It’s leisure,” he said during the trial, according to the New York Daily News. “These vehicles were rented.”
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6. 3LW
Former girl group 3LW appeared on Cribs years ago, but they didn’t actually own the house they visited in the present. During the episode, they explained that they bought a house together while working on their second album and were all living together. Only in 2021 did Naturi Naughton reveal that the house wasn’t theirs – and that they didn’t even have their own vehicles.
“MTV did the Cribs and again when 3LW was boiling. We needed to pretend. But I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have any of those problems… But we did MTV Cribs,” about Adherence to breakfast. “I had to empty the house at 7 am to present it to the owner again. We needed to clean all our stuff, we needed to hire someone to clean.”
7. Robbie Williams
When Robbie Williams was in his early 20s, he appeared on Cribs for the first time, showcasing an eight-bedroom mansion in England. He even had butlers hired at the property. It appears that the house was actually being rented from Jane Seymour and the butlers were only hired for filming.
“We didn’t let (Jane) know that I was going to pretend it was my house. And because I was about 23 years old and full of courage, I didn’t even think about other people’s thoughts or emotions, so I want to take this opportunity to apologize to Jane Seymour,” he said during an appearance on a radio station.
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8. Ja Rule
When Ja Rule appeared on MTV Cribs, he was given a tour of a five-bedroom mansion in Miami – where he hosted a huge party. Although he warned that he was renting the place, it appears that events were definitely not allowed and the owner allegedly sued him for $1 million for trashing the place and causing structural damage.
9. Wow Bow
Again in 2008, the Bow Wow episode of Cribs presented its fleet of luxurious automobiles. Although he confirmed them as his own, some eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the bottom of the vehicles were all marked with the word “status.” After further investigation, they found an organization called Status Luxurious Auto Leases in Miami – leading many to believe that he had actually leased all the vehicles.