Adrienne Bailon-Houghton Reveals How She’s Remained Close with Her Mom After Child Stardom (Exclusive)

Jack IrvinWed, April 8, 2026 at 8:34 PM UTC

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Nilda Felix and Adrienne Bailon-HoughtonCredit: Michael Simon -

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton credits her mom, Nilda Felix, for providing financial stability and encouraging her to dream big

Felix continued working at Weill Cornell Medical College until 2019 despite her daughter's success in entertainment

The pair recently partnered with Finish to promote a new detergent, blending their family bond with a professional collaboration

How has Adrienne Bailon-Houghton maintained a tight-knit relationship with her mom, Nilda Felix, over the course of her decades in the entertainment industry?

Bailon-Houghton, 42, went from humble beginnings of growing up in New York City to the big leagues of pop music as a teenager in the early aughts when she joined the girl group 3LW, which was followed by her tenure in Disney's The Cheetah Girls. She's consistently worked as a singer, actress and TV personality through today and is now a mom to 3-year-old son Ever James, shared with husband Israel Houghton.

While many other former child stars' relationships with their parents have grown tense, Felix and Bailon-Houghton have remained close through every personal and professional development. "I've seen, sadly, a lot of young stars be like, okay, my parents were taking my money, or they felt the pressures of sustaining their household," Bailon-Houghton tells PEOPLE. "That's a lot of pressure for someone at such a young age."

Israel HoughtonCredit: Michael Simon

"I'm just really, really grateful that I had the opposite problem," she continues. "Instead, my mom really was my financial foundation. She allowed me to dream big."

Despite her daughter's success, Felix didn't retire from her job at Weill Cornell Medical College until 2019. Bailon-Houghton recalls people often walking into her mom's workplace and saying, "'Wait, you're Adrienne Bailon's mom. Why are you working?'"

Felix says, "My response was, 'That's not my money. That's her money.'"

Bailon-Houghton "never felt pressured" to be the family breadwinner. "Actually, when 3LW fell apart in the early 2000s," she explains, "I remember my mom being like, 'Go to school. My job still covers you to be able to go to school. We can get you a job here at the hospital.'"

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For Felix, supporting her daughter meant making sure "she would always have a roof over her head and food on the table."

There did come a time, however, when Bailon-Houghton wanted her mom to reap the rewards of her own success. "At some point I definitely was like, 'Mom, you do not have to work anymore,'" she says. "And she was like, 'Absolutely not. I like going to work.'"

Beyond simply enjoying her job, Felix also set a good example regarding dedication. "She'd be at work at 7:00, two hours before she needed to be there, and she would knock out all of her work before anyone arrived in case she needed to help anybody else," says Bailon-Houghton. "I just watched that work ethic of choosing to go the extra mile. And I wanted to be that my whole life."

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton in February 2024Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

The family dynamic also ensured Bailon-Houghton wouldn't get too big for her britches. "We also made it very clear to her when she started in this career that when she walked through the door, she was our daughter," says Felix. "We were her parents, and that was not going to change."

Bailon-Houghton adds, "It's not like some little superstar is coming in here and now we're going to be your groupie. I would walk through the door with my luggage and she'd be like, 'Take it out, go do your laundry.'"

Felix quips, "Although I ended up maybe doing it for you."

Now, the pair even gets to work together. They recently partnered with Finish to promote the detergent brand's new Finish Ultimate Quantum — a fresh addition to their dishwashing process. "My mom is the one that taught me how to cook, but now I am teaching her some really cool ways to clean up," says Bailon-Houghton.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”