Signs We Missed That Mina Starsiak Hawk's Relationship With Her Mom Was Falling Apart
With so many home renovation shows on HGTV, it can be hard for a series to rise above the rest. But "Good Bones" stood out immediately thanks to the relationship between its stars, mother-daughter duo Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk. While the series premiered in 2016, the twosome already had a long history of working together: In 2007, they created their business, Two Chicks and a Hammer. On the show, Hawk and Laine bought rundown houses in their hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, which they fixed up and flipped. Of course, like most HGTV shows, it was also about the stars' dynamic — and Hawk and Laine seemed thick as thieves from the start. "We live next door to each other. We're mom and daughter and friends, as well," Hawk told IndyStar in 2016.
"Good Bones" featured a lot of Hawk and Laine's extended family, too. Hawk is from Laine's first marriage, as are her two sons, CR Starsiak and William Starsiak. Laine has another daughter, Kelsy Spaeth, from her second marriage. She went on to remarry two more times. Hawk's father also has two kids from his second marriage, Thadeus "Tad" and Jessica Starsiak. It's worth mentioning that Hawk has had drama with many of those siblings over the years.
Unfortunately, Hawk is now estranged from Laine, an outcome that may come as a shock to a lot of "Good Bones" fans. Yet, the signs were there that Hawk's relationship with her mom was falling apart. So let's break them down.
Mina Starsiak Hawk looked 'cranky' in the last season of Good Bones
Mina Starsiak Hawk and her mom, Karen E. Laine, did not seem to be in a good place on the final season of "Good Bones." And some viewers sure picked up on it. One fan told Hawk over social media that she looked "angry." Though she did acknowledge that she may have appeared "cranky," Hawk maintained that it was only because she felt a lot of pressure as the sole person responsible for their company, Two Chicks and a Hammer. "Everyone else [in the family] is there having fun and they're getting paid to be there ... to have fun," Hawk explained on a September 2023 episode of her podcast, "Mina AF." "I ... carry the weight of everything you see on TV."
In 2019, Laine partially retired from Two Chicks and a Hammer, but was still involved with the show. Evidently, being the only chick with the hammer began to wear Hawk down — and as far as some viewers were concerned, the stress was palpable. A fan even noted in the comment section of an Instagram post Hawk and Laine looked to have a lot of "tension" between them in the promo photo.
Hawk later admitted that she was actually angry during filming, and it was towards Laine. She told People, "Mom and I were in some of the most challenging places I felt we've been ... [We had] a knockdown drag-out [fight] during demo."
Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine had different working styles
If you watched "Good Bones," then you probably noticed that Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine had very different working styles. Their co-star, Michael "MJ" Coyle, touched on this on an episode of the "Mina AF" podcast, noting that Hawk was more "predictable" than Laine. Hawk went on to call herself a "control freak" who needs things done quickly, while Laine's process isn't as structured and more creative. "It's like [Laine] really wants people to understand things that are completely un-understandable," Coyle explained. "Getting on the same page as her can be very difficult."
What had to make it worse for Hawk and Laine's relationship though, was filming their work for "Good Bones." To keep with the tone of the show, they had to play nice for the cameras and constantly do projects together, even if things got heated. As Hawk told People, she recognized that most viewers probably wouldn't want to see the mother-daughter duo butt heads.
Hawk and Laine's different work styles may now be an indication that they would have a falling-out, but it was something that Hawk didn't see coming. On another episode of "Mina AF," Hawk admitted, "I just wish I had known how bad it could be. I think I was very naive to the fact that things that me and mom had gone through previously to the show like, 'we made it through all that, we can make it through this.'"
Fans noticed things were awkward on Good Bones
It's safe to say that fans noticed that things got more and more tense between Mina Starsiak Hawk and her mom, Karen E. Laine, on "Good Bones." Some even took to social media to discuss moments on the series that hinted that their relationship was strained. In a Reddit thread called "Good Bones Super Awk," one fan wrote, "Even if I didn't know they were not getting along I would have been able to see it on the show," while another commented, "The tension is real." On a separate Reddit thread that was specifically about Hawk and Laine's relationship, a viewer pointed out how Hawk and Laine interacted less in newer seasons of the show.
It's not only Redditors either; fans have also analyzed Hawk and Laine's broken bond on Facebook. In a September 2023 post, for example, one person commented how sad it was to see them "distancing" themselves from one another. Another fan blamed Hawk for their rift in the comments of another post from August 2023, writing, "Mina is always mean to Karen and overruled everything Karen proposed."
Then there's Instagram, where others shared their thoughts on how Hawk and Laine's interactions on "Good Bones" had changed. In a post from 2020, one person dished, "There seems to be a coldness between Karen and Mina. It's not fun anymore." While a lot of social media rumors usually turn out to be untrue, some "Good Bones" fans were apparently on to something.
Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine rarely post each other on social media
While "Good Bones" fans' social media activity should've clued us in on the state of Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine's relationship, Hawk and Laine's own social media activity has definitely raised eyebrows. In recent years, the mother and daughter basically stopped posting photos of each other on their respective Instagrams, unless it had to do with their show. In fact, it looks like Hawk hadn't posted anything specifically about her mother since 2019, when she wrote about Laine's retirement. Alongside photo of the pair smiling together on a job site, Hawk wrote, "It wouldn't have been possible without her and not nearly as fun."
While Hawk often shares pictures of her family, posts featuring Laine are few and far between. In 2020, for example, Hawk shared a photo of her extended family celebrating Christmas, which noticeably didn't include Laine. A person even commented, "where's your mum?" More recently, in 2023, Laine wasn't in any of the photos of Hawk's son's birthday party. It was later revealed that Laine wasn't even invited.
Laine, too, hasn't posted Hawk much on her Instagram, outside of her "Good Bones" promo posts. Her last personal photo of Hawk was in 2020. It's worth mentioning that Laine has recently posted more about doing things with her other daughter, Kelsy Spaeth, like repurposing dresses. Laine also often posts about the different projects she does with other people, and Hawk isn't included in those either.
Mina Starsiak Hawk has thrown shade at her mom on podcasts
When it comes to talking about her mom, Karen E. Laine, "Good Bones" star Mina Starsiak Hawk is not exactly one to mince words. On a number of podcasts, she's hinted that their relationship was on shaky foundation. In 2020, Hawk revealed on "At Home with Linda & Drew Scott" that she and Laine began having issues when she was just 10 years old, because Hawk disliked Laine's second husband. "I didn't see her for a while... so that was the first of a period of kind of like ups and downs," she said.
Hawk also seemingly took a dig at her mother by calling her the "party mom" who didn't necessarily care if Hawk got into trouble. They then had another rift when Hawk was 17 and Laine tried to get custody of her when her dad moved. "You've not really been a mom. Like I'm about to turn 18 and you're trying to mom me now," Hawk recalled.
Even when Hawk talked about her and Laine's adult relationship, she had problems. On an August 2023 episode of "Mina AF," Hawk appeared to reflect on her own experiences with her mom's parenting history. She said, "We think about our parents and we're like 'Wow, you were a s***** parent. Why are you such a good grandparent? ... You've had the chance to make the mistakes with your kids like these your grandkids, the pressure's off, it's great, but I don't have that, which is challenging."
The HGTV stars have been estranged in the past
While it's rather obvious now that Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine were bound to have a falling-out, this isn't the first time that the "Good Bones" stars have been estranged. Hawk once admitted to People, "My mom and I have had a very rocky relationship since I have memories." In an exclusive interview with The List, Hawk mentioned that she and Laine didn't speak throughout her first year of college.
During the first season of "Good Bones" in 2016, Hawk told IndyStar that she and her mother had often needed to take space from one another, but that filming the show made that difficult. "I think we're just getting back to the point where we like each other again," she said at the time. She continued, "In regular life we would go to our separate corners when we need a break, but when we're filming it's full time ... so there wasn't time to go to our corners."
All in all, it seems there have been plenty of signs that Hawk and Lane's relationship had been hanging out by a thread, despite their image as HGTV's "Gilmore Girls." However, they're apparently used to having friction and have managed to overcome their past issues to find their way back to one another. So perhaps there's hope this will just be another bump in the road for the two chicks with a hammer.