Ryan’s messy personal life took center stage on Teen Mom, as Maci reacted to his divorce and Edwards was grilled by producers on drugs, Mackenzie’s abuse allegations and his children.
Maci Bookout’s ex Ryan Edwards and his volatile split from wife Mackenize came to the forefront of this week’s Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
While the coparenting relationship between Ryan and Maci, who share son Bentley, has been better than it’s been in years, things in Edwards’ own home began to fall apart. At the top of the episode, Ryan was seen calling Maci, informing her that he and his wife were getting a divorce.
“Mackenzie is being an absolute pain in my ass. She don’t know why she left, it’s been everything under the sun. It’s because of my addiction, because I was outside in my garage,” he told Maci, who advised him to “keep focusing on you and all these crazy children and stay away from her.”
She also said she would tell Bentley what was going on, before talking about the split with her husband Taylor McKinney.
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“It’s not shocking to me. I know when we filmed the reunion and had that conversation about starting fresh with coparenting, she’s not gonna let this happen, she’s not,” said Maci. “And then she lost her mind anytime him and Bentley were gonna go do something because she couldn’t go, because it was supposed to be the two of them.”
“I do think this has everything to do with Ryan and Bentley’s relationship growing, me and Ryan trying to work together. I don’t think she can handle it,” Maci speculated. “Bentley is the one that pays for all of this, so we have to stay on the same team. I hope this divorce doesn’t get messy.”
She later said, in a confessional, that Bentley was “kind of shocked” to learn about the divorce — but added he didn’t seem “bothered by it or upset.” She then said his reaction didn’t surprise her, “because he’s never really been a big fan of Mackenzie’s” anyway.
While she hoped things wouldn’t get “messy,” they sure did.
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Ryan’s parents Jen and Larry were seen talking to one another about how the split was affecting their son mentally, saying he was “just really devastated” by the divorce. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that. It was a helpless feeling,” said Jen, who worried Ryan would “mess with his sobriety.”
The next morning, headlines broke about an order of protection petition Mackenzie filed, accusing Ryan of holding a knife to her back, among other alleged incidents of domestic violence.
“I want to know what happened,” Teen Mom producer Kiki said to Ryan as they showed up to film with him that day.
“She said I f—ing held a knife to her back or something like that … f— no, that’s so dumb,” he said, denying the allegations. “Everyone knows when I get angry, I get f—ing angry. So she’s gonna use that against me. But I ain’t never put my hands on a woman ever before.”
He also said he believed she was cheating on him, claiming she didn’t spend the night at their house when he took the kids to stay with his parents.
“I was like, she left this house last night and there was only one reason why she left this house,” he speculated. “She can’t lie very well, she’ll stumble over every word she says and I was like, ‘Where the f— did you stay last night?’ and she couldn’t come up with a good answer. So I started putting two and two together.”
While she hasn’t addressed his accusations head on, Edwards did later walk them back while speaking with The Sun — telling the outlet, “I was wrong. She isn’t that kind of person.”
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Speaking further with his producer, Ryan also theorized that his relationship with Maci was an issue for Mackenzie.
“I think that’s what kind of pissed Mackenzie off too, like really. I don’t think she ever wanted us to have a relationship,” he said, adding that Bentley also “didn’t like [Mackenzie] anyways.” When Kiki asked whether he felt his wife was “threatened” by his coparenting relationship, he then said, “Yeah, I think that really f—ing sent her over the edge.”
The producer then asked Ryan about his sobriety.
“You’re an addict, you are getting a divorce, can’t go back to your house, kids no longer live with you. That is a slippery slope,” she said, before he confirmed, “I done f—ed up, I ain’t gonna lie.”
When asked if he used in the midst of everything going on, he said, “Yeah.”
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“It was hard to stay sober after I found out we were getting a divorce. After a couple days of using drugs, it was not worth it. I did not want to go back down that road,” he explained in a confessional. “Drugs, it drags everybody down, not just the people using them, everybody. I got kids, Jagger and Stella, they’re about to go through a bunch of s— too.”
“Bentley, hell, that poor dude’s had to go through some f—ed up s—,” he said, before breaking down in tears. “I just feel bad for him, for Bentley.”
That’s where the episode ended, but a preview confirmed the saga will continue next week.
Edwards was sentenced to prison time back in April on harassment charges, following charges of possession of a controlled substance, DUI and violating the terms of his probation. According to The Sun, he’s set to be released from prison and sent to rehab.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Wednesdays on MTV.