Cast of Travel Channel Original Paranormal TV Show 'Destination Fear'

Chelsea Laden | Biography

Played with the PHF's Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters

• By Anjila Shrestha
• Update : January 16, 2022

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Chelsea Laden is an explorer on the paranormal TV series Destination Fear. She is also an optometrist and was a former professional ice hockey player.

Short Bio

Born on 12 September 1992, Chelsea Laden is a television personality and a paranormal explorer. Laden was born in Minnesota to Rob and Polly Laden. She is the second oldest child; she has four siblings, Mykenna, Dakota, Tavian, and Isabella. 

When she was young, she and her brother Dakota explored abandoned and haunted buildings around their area. 

Laden received her bachelor of science degree from Quinnipiac University. She later got her master’s degree in pre-medicine/pre-medical studies from the same university in 2015. She then studied Optometry at Illinois College of Optometry from 2017, graduating in 2021. 

Laden is best known for co-starring in the paranormal TV show, Destination Fear since 2019, where Laden, her brother Dakota Laden and friends; Tanner Wiseman and Alex Schroeder explore famous haunted locations across the country. 

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Her younger brother, Dakota is a documentary filmmaker who created the show. The show features a group of self-proclaimed “paranormal explorers” who travel to allegedly haunted and paranormal places around the United States. And then, one of the group members sleeps alone overnight at each haunted hotspot to document their experiences. The show has 40 episodes and is available on Travel Channel and Discovery+ as of January 2022. 

She has also appeared in the 2016 documentary Trail to Terror, which was also created by her brother Dakota. Besides being a TV star and an Optometrist, Laden is also a business owner and a former professional ice hockey player. She is the owner of ‘Twenty4k’, which is her online business.   

Hockey

Laden started playing hockey at the age of 8 or 9. She was already playing for her high school’s varsity team by the seventh grade. Laden’s father was a former goaltender at Bethel University and had helped her get into hockey clinics. 

Laden is a three-time USA National Camp participant, and she was a full scholarship Division I ice hockey goalie at Quinnipiac University. She also played NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey for the Quinnipiac Bobcats of ECAC Hockey from 2011 to 2015, starting goalkeeper for the women’s hockey team in her junior and senior seasons.

She was also a professional player in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), where she played from September 2015- June 2016. Laden played for the Premier Hockey Federation’s Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters.

Optician/Optometrist 

Laden is a graduate of Illinois College of Optometry. She had previously worked as an optician in Wink Family Eye Care from August 2016 to July 2017 before joining Illinois College of Optometry. 

Her other clinical experiences include interning at Yale St. Raphael’s Hospital and volunteering at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Laden is also a certified personal care assistant and was a research associate at St. Vincent’s hospital.

Does Chelsea Laden Have a Boyfriend?

Laden isn’t married and does not have a husband. However, she is in a relationship with her boyfriend, Jake Rancic. Although there isn’t much information about the couple’s history, it is known that they initially met while studying at Illinois College of Optometry. 

They have been together since February 2019. Jake is an Optometrist at Pearle Vision in Red Wing, Minnesota.