Heartbreaking Details About HGTV's Karen E. Laine

Karen E. Laine became a household name in 2016 when HGTV's "Good Bones" thrust her and her daughter, Mina Starsiak Hawk, into the spotlight. However, far from everything being smooth sailing since then, a ton of not-so-great things have happened in her life. 

One thing that may come as a surprise to HGTV fans is that Laine's relationship with Starsiak Hawk isn't quite as tight as "Good Bones" may have suggested. Quite the opposite, Starsiak Hawk has been pretty open about the struggles they've faced as mother and daughter, even before the show. Speaking to The List in 2021, the HGTV alum revealed, "We always have these ups and downs. That's how mom and I have been, honestly, since I was like six." Starsiak Hawk also revealed that the two didn't speak at all during her first year of college.

Unfortunately, working together didn't exactly help the situation. Speaking to IndyStar about their dynamic while filming, Starsiak Hawk revealed that not being able to take breaks from one another added a fair amount of pressure. Of course, Laine pointed out that even with the tension that came with constantly being together, there was an understanding that they'd be just fine at the end of the day. "That's the value of being mother and daughter — she's not going to lose me. I'm always going to love her and think she's awesome and have her back," Laine mused. However, she also said something that feels like dramatic irony: "It's not like two business partners who can just go their separate ways." Sadly, it seems Laine was mistaken there. 

Karen E. Laine may have felt as though she was always there for her daughter, but the tragic truth is that Mina Starsiak Hawk didn't feel the same. In fact, the opposite is true, and she's spoken pretty candidly about that on several occasions. 

In addition to a number of mentions on her "Mina AF" podcast, Starsiak Hawk even spoke with People about the fact that her relationship with Laine was never really what one might consider a typical mother-daughter bond. "It was maybe eight years of my now 39 years that we were extremely close," she told the outlet. That wasn't all, though. Starsiak Hawk revealed that even when she and Laine were close, their relationship was still not a particularly traditional one. "When we became close, we became close as friends. We were never really close as, 'You are my mom; you take care of me. I'm your daughter; I look to you to be a safe place,'" she explained. Yikes. In light of all that, it's not exactly surprising that Starsiak Hawk felt relieved when their HGTV show ended. After all, as she'd told People, they'd hit one of their biggest rough patches while filming their final season. That said, during an episode of "Mina AF," she shared that she hoped ending the show would pave the way for less tension.

As for Laine herself, she's never spoken about the situation — and TBH, we're not expecting her to any time soon. 

As for why there's such a big rift between Karen E. Laine and her daughter today, Mina Starsiak Hawk mused during an episode of "Mina AF" that her mother's divorce had a lot to do with it — though she also hinted at her mom struggling with the split more than her dad did. 

For starters, Hawk explained that her mom was much younger than her father and hadn't even completed law school at the time of their divorce. On top of the age difference, Hawk's father was also a well-to-do surgeon, which added to the disparity. While it probably wouldn't rank among the most expensive divorces in Hollywood, it certainly didn't help that the divorce ended up being very drawn-out, which made it more costly for Laine. "My dad definitely had the upper hand," she said of the situation. 

Unfortunately, things didn't improve between Laine and her first husband post-divorce, and Starsiak Hawk revealed that there were always issues when it came to visitation. "They both would, like, refuse to turn us over at varying points," she shared, adding that on occasion, the police were even involved. Even so, Starsiak Hawk shared on "Mina AF" that the main reason her relationship with Laine broke down a few years later was that she decided she didn't want to visit her mom anymore. Her reason? She felt the punishments her mom and her second husband (Laine remarried three times) imposed were too harsh. Unfortunately, Laine didn't handle the situation well and said something about burning bridges that stuck with Starsiak Hawk ever since. Even though Starsiak Hawk said she doubts Laine intended it that way, it's been hard to shake. 

Unfortunately for Karen E. Laine, fraught family dynamics didn't come to an end after her kids hit adulthood. Quite the contrary, there's been a ton of drama surrounding her relationship with her grandchildren, too. 

"Mina AF" fans may remember that in one episode, Mina Starsiak Hawk discussed not having her mom present for her son's fifth birthday party. At the time, she mused that it was probably for the best, because she didn't want to put anyone into an awkward situation for the sake of going along to get along. However, Starsiak Hawk wasn't prepared for her mom's decision to outright ignore her younger child's birthday, too. "Charlie's birthday was this past weekend, and my mom didn't call or text, or give her a card, or drop a present on the door. And I know she feels like she has very valid reasons for not working on developing relationships with my kids, but I just can't understand that," she said in a follow-up episode.

Again, Laine hasn't spoken about the situation herself. However, she has hinted at her stance on her grandchildren through Starsiak Hawk and her husband Steve Hawk in an episode of "Good Bones: New Beginnings." The issue? Laine had mentioned having four grandchildren in Indianapolis — less than the number of grandchildren she actually had in the city. Of that, Starsiak Hawk hinted that she was well aware that her kids had been snubbed. After a confused HGTV fan asked via an Instagram comment if they had moved away from Indianapolis, the "Good Bones" alum responded, "No ma'am. Still live downtown on the same street." Yikes. 

Even though Karen E. Laine retired from "Good Bones" in 2019, the mother and daughter teamed up for the "Good Bones: New Beginnings" special in 2024. However, in light of everything we know about their fractured relationship, it kind of made sense that the show wasn't exactly a reunion. Instead, the two women filmed completely separately — but that's not to say their fans were particularly impressed.

Taking to Reddit, countless fans of the original show have vented that the show is a waste of time unless both Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk are working side by side. As one complained, "Why didn't they just give them separate shows?" Over on another Reddit thread, another viewer pointed out that the tension between the two was insanely obvious, despite them not filming together. "On Mina's episodes it's like Karen doesn't exist and never existed. On Karen's episode, she has all the boys with her and Mina never existed," they said. 

Overall, it's pretty clear HGTV fans aren't vibing with the prospect of the twosome being on the same show, especially because of all the drama outside the show. One Redditor summed up their feelings thus: "It should be called Family Skeletons and be a tell all!"

Family drama aside, one thing that certainly belongs on a list of sad things Karen E. Laine has been through is the spate of burglaries she endured back in 2020. Having one break-in would be bad enough, three a terrifying concern ... but unfortunately, there was even more to it. On two of the occasions that Laine's home was broken in to, the perp defecated in her garage. Making matters worse (if that was even a possibility), Laine told Fox 59 that there had been evidence of the burglar having been inside the bathroom.

"They know we have a bathroom. That's what makes it feel personal because it's not, 'Oh, I need to go to the bathroom.' It's, 'I'm going to leave my feces behind for you to clean up,'" she said. We'd say yikes, but frankly, that doesn't seem like enough. 

Luckily, Laine was an attorney before becoming an HGTV star, so she knew to keep track of credit card purchases, and even used the, ahem, leftovers to look for DNA that could be traced. As she told Fox 59, "Probably not the house you want to burglarize because I was immediately on the case!" Laine has never issued a follow-up on anyone being caught, though she did tell the outlet that the police were looking into video footage from the store where her stolen credit cards had been swiped. Here's hoping that put an end to the perp's stinky attitude.