VH1 star Daisy De La Hoya who ended up homeless and applying for jobs at McDonald’s opens up about ‘losing everything’

A former reality star who once partied with the biggest names in music is now broke, homeless, and unable to find work. 

Daisy De La Hoya first shot to fame in 2008 as the breakout star of VH1’s Rock of Love, which followed 25 women competing to become the girlfriend of Poison frontman Bret Michaels.

She was so popular that she landed her own spin-off series, making her one of the biggest names from VH1’s mid-2000s reality TV boom alongside Tiffany ‘New York’ Pollard, Flava Flav, and Brigitte Nielsen.

De La Hoya, an aspiring singer and actress, soon found herself rubbing shoulders with rockstars like Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee and Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, but substance abuse and mental health issues derailed her budding career almost as quickly as it had started.

She eventually got sober in 2024 after a decade of turmoil and is now on medication for anxiety and bipolar disorder, but despite getting her health under control, the 42-year-old tells the Daily Mail that she’s now couch surfing and can’t find a job.

‘It’s embarrassing and it’s very hard but I keep searching,’ said De La Hoya, who recently applied for jobs at McDonald’s and Del Taco.

Former reality star Daisy De La Hoya tells the Daily Mail that she’s now broke, homeless and unable to find a job; pictured in 2009

Daisy De La Hoya first shot to fame in 2008 as the breakout star of VH1’s Rock of Love with Poison frontman Bret Michaels before landing her own spin-off show

‘I don’t know what it is about me but I guess god does not want me to have a job.’

De La Hoya says that at one point things got so bad for her that she ended up on the streets, where she was seriously assaulted and left with PTSD.

‘You have a different perspective after hitting rock bottom and losing everything,’ she said.

‘And I was lucky, but I’ve had to crawl my way back and I’m still crawling my way back up.’

The former reality star admits that she ‘does not have a lot of experience’ outside of the arts and entertainment, but says that she previously worked as a waitress, dishwasher, and at the clothing store Hot Topic as a teenager.

She was also an exotic dancer in Denver, where she was raised, but she left that life behind after getting cast on TV.

‘I don’t think of myself as being famous or being somebody, I just think of myself as a person who did a thing and wants to continue to be part of the entertainment industry,’ she explained. 

‘But sometimes I think I need to just give up on entertainment because at this point I just need a job.’

The 42-year-old has started applying for jobs at McDonald’s and Del Taco but says she hasn’t been able to find work

De La Hoya was left with PTSD after being assaulted on the street, telling the Daily Mail that she ‘hit rock bottom’ and has been ‘crawling her way back up’ ever since

The former reality star still dreams of becoming a serious musician, but she says that she’s open to doing any kind of work right now

She briefly found employment doing door-to-door fundraising for a nonprofit, but says she was heartbroken when they fired her for ‘not being good enough’.

Outside of her job search, De La Hoya’s been studying musical theatre in the hopes of getting back into the entertainment industry, but she insists that she’s open to doing any kind of work right now.

‘I’d work at McDonald’s, Starbucks, anything. Maybe I’m overqualified or maybe I’m underqualified, I don’t know,’ she sighed.

She also cleared up the misconception that she got rich from reality TV, revealing that she was paid a flat rate of $50,000 for her 2009 spin-off Daisy of Love and that she receives no residuals from reruns or streaming. 

‘It’s still there on streaming platforms but I don’t get any of that money,’ she said.

‘The good news is that I’m still getting fans and people can watch it, but I don’t get any money from it. I’m poor and homeless, that’s the truth.’

De La Hoya said that most of her old celebrity pals have slipped away over the years, although she’s still incredibly close with former child star Corey Feldman. 

‘He’s my only celebrity friend and one of my best friends,’ she said. 

‘He helps me all the time, but not with money or anything. He helps me morally and does what he can for me, but he tells me that I have to do it on my own,’ she continued.

‘I’m not his nepo baby or anything, but he gives me suggestions of things I can do.’

At the height of her fame, De La Hoya partied with iconic rockstars like Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro; pictured in 2008

De La Hoya was a fixture on red carpets and well on her way to becoming an artist in her own right, but substance abuse issues derailed her budding music career

One of Feldman’s suggestions was for De La Hoya to start a GoFundMe page, but she admits that she’s hesitant to ‘beg people for money’.

‘That to me is weird,’ she said. ‘I don’t want people to be like, “Oh poor her.” Because big deal, other people are hurting and suffering all the time.’

She also didn’t hold back when asked if she still speaks to Bret Michaels, who inadvertently helped make her famous on Rock of Love.

‘No, no, no, no,’ she said. ‘I don’t talk to him whatsoever. No, no, no!’

Despite the hardships she’s faced, De La Hoya still dreams of one day becoming a ‘respectable working actress’ and wants to be ‘taken seriously’ in the music business.

‘I want to do it full time. It’s my craft and that’s what I came here to do. I studied music,’ she said. 

De La Hoya has been studying musical theatre and is still hoping to work professionally in the entertainment industry 

The former Daisy of Love star is now sober and officially graduated from The Mcalister Institute last year, which is an addiction treatment center based in San Diego

Despite her struggles, De La Hoya is hopeful for the future and says that she’s focused on her sobriety, mental health, and finding a job

She also wants to use her voice to become an advocate for other people who are struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues, specifically when it comes to suicide prevention.

But for now, De La Hoya is sleeping on a friend’s couch and job hunting daily in a bid to get back on her feet.

‘I’m staying with a friend but it’s a temporary thing, and I’m in school and looking for a freakin’ job,’ she said. 

She’s also focused on maintaining her sobriety, which she admits is a lifelong struggle.

‘I do everything that the treatment centers and the therapist and everyone tells me to do because it’s important,’ she said.

‘This is something that you do for the rest of your life. It’s not something that you do once a week or for a weekend retreat and you’re done.

‘For me, this is my entire life, my every day. This does not go away and everything is hard. It’s like learning to relive your life.’

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