Hilaria Baldwin, who is married to actor Alec Baldwin, is joining her husband in an upcoming reality show starring their family. In the wake of the announcement, she’s sparked renewed controversy over a Spanish accent she used in years gone by.
Hilaria announced the upcoming debut of the reality show The Baldwins on Instagram. The show will premier in 2025 on TLC, and will feature the couple’s impressive brood of seven children. The announcement was accompanied by a trailer narrated by Alec Baldwin.
The video has generated more than 60,000 likes since it hit Instagram, but it has also attracted some negative attention from denizens of the Internet. Hilaria is a lifelong Massachusetts native, but she at one time claimed that she was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca and spoke with an accent that appeared to accord with that story.
One commentor caustically speculated on whether Hilaria would be using her Spanish or Bostonian accent, or if she’d be switching off every other episode. Another commentor joked that the show shouldn’t be on TLC, but rather on the Spanish-language Telemundo television network. Yet a third said that he didn’t think the series would get traction, as both Alec and Hilaria have no credibility with the public, so nobody will invest in their story.
Hilaria had originally made a big deal about her purported Spanish nationality. Originally a yoga instructor, she was a guest on NBC’s Today show back in 2015, where she spoke in a Spanish accent, made gazpacho, and asked a fellow guest—Evi Siskos of Telemundo—to tell her the English name for a cucumber.
She was subsequently unmasked as a Bostonian in December 2020. She told the New York Times that the whole incident was a “brain fart” because she was nervous about appearing on TV.
However, despite all the public comments mocking Hilaria’s heritage confusion, many other Instagram users spoke with glee about the upcoming show.
