Maci Bookout is currently starring on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, alongside her husband Taylor McKinney and three kids. Her oldest son, Bentley, is once again being featured on the show, and Maci recently spoke to TooFab to reveal how the teen feels about continuing on with the franchise.
Maci also gave an update on the current status of her relationship with Bentley’s dad, Ryan Edwards, and his parents.
The Ashley has pulled out some of the most-interesting parts of Maci’s interview below!
On how Bentley feels about being on ‘The Next Chapter’:
Fans were critical of Maci during the last few seasons of ‘Teen Mom OG,’ accusing her of using her son Bentley’s therapy, as well as his issues with his dad Ryan, for a storyline. When she was asked how Bentley— who turns 14 next month— feels about continuing to have his life filmed for ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,’ Maci insists that he’s fine with it.
“Since he was born on TV, and has been on TV his whole life; even the crew…they’re just family now. So I think it will always hold that normalcy for him,” Maci said. “But I’m surprised by this, and I could be wrong— a year from now I could be like, ‘Yup, I totally read that wrong’…I feel like he’s actually becoming more appreciative of the platform and the work it takes to make a TV show, and the courage it takes for someone like me to put my whole life out there, and courage for him because he’s shared a lot of things on the show.
“But in all the conversations and things we talk about…he’s coming to appreciate it as much as he can.”
Maci admitted that Bentley is not always happy to be filming, though.
“It’s still annoying for him sometimes,” she said. “He knows he doesn’t have to film or even wear a microphone if he doesn’t want to.”
“That’s always been the case and production’s always done a really good job of letting the kids— no matter how big, small, old, young— if they don’t want to film they’re not filming and that’s it, and it’s OK.”
On where she and Ryan stand right now:
Maci said that the situation between her and Bentley’s dad, Ryan, has not changed since we last saw them on ‘Teen Mom OG.’
“Ryan and I have not had a relationship, truly at all, for years, probably four years. Like, I don’t have his phone number. I doubt he has mine,” Maci said. “We don’t see each other, don’t talk to each other.”
As The Ashley told you, Maci was instrumental in getting Ryan and his family booted from ‘Teen Mom OG’ last year. She told Too Fab that she didn’t enjoy talking about Ryan on the show when she doesn’t talk to him in “real life.”
“When we were filming the past few seasons, it just got to a point where it was like, I find it awkward that I’m talking about somebody that I don’t talk to,” Maci said. “And it remains that way; we do not have a relationship.”
On whether or not she gets along with Ryan’s parents Jen and Larry:
The Ashley broke the news in February 2021 that Maci’s husband Taylor and Larry nearly got into a physical fight on-stage during the taping of the Reunion episode. (In April 2021, fans got to watch things play out when the episode aired.) After that, Maci’s once-close relationship with Bentley’s grandparents was severed. However, she told TooFab that things between her and Jen and Larry have improved since then.
“The relationship with Jen and Larry is definitely not what it used to be in the past years, but definitely not…anywhere close to how we left the Reunion,” she said. “It’s cordial in a genuine way. It’s not a fake, ‘Hey, good to see you…oh my God I hate you.’ It’s a genuine— we can have small talk.
“I feel like we’re all comfortable with where it’s at right now,” she continued. “It’s not forced; it’s not bullcrap. It’s pleasant. It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, I have to see them.’ I feel like it’s in a good place. I feel like it’s in a comfortable space and I think we’re all good with where it’s at right now.”
On Jenelle making a cameo on ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’:
During last week’s episode of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,’ former ‘Teen Mom 2’ star Jenelle Evans made an appearance in scenes filmed at Briana DeJesus’ lawsuit party. While some of the ‘Next Chapter’ girls have expressed that are glad that they weren’t part of the scenes featuring Jenelle, Maci seemed indifferent.
“I’m not trying to be rude, truly, but I’m OK with not being a part of [those scenes], too, but not for any specific reason,” Maci said, before clarifying that she has no beef with Jenelle.
“Jenelle and I, I think we’ve only even met a couple of times. So it’s not like we were friends and something happened, or even worked together because we were on different casts the whole time.
“I don’t know, I just feel like I don’t even have a dog in that race,” Maci added.
“I mean, it’s fine with me,” Maci said of Jenelle’s return. “I don’t care. It doesn’t change my life in any way.”
You can watch Maci’s full interview with Too Fab below!
(Photos: MTV)
15 Responses
Maci is low key sly. Ryan, terrible, selfish parent but what she does is the same. All this nonsense about how he has a choice in being filmed. They like to think that, but in reality he is a minor, the program is about his family, filmed in his house and if he does not film the mtv, non one is watching Maci decide to have a shower beer or not so the money tap stops and the life they live now will be gone. Maci has never worked a job and that tee shirt business must make about £3 a quarter.
Bentley is a lovely boy, and a credit to Maci, but he is not stupid.
Gary and Kristina are probably the only ones who would listen to the child. They live modestly for the money coming in, work and although I might be wrong don’t seem as if they would go bankrupt as soon as the show ends, that goes to Briana as well. The others will go OF then bankruptcy court.
However, this all needs to stop, no matter how good they are at parenting they have exploited the children for too long.
She is no better than Ryan, she exploits her kids for a paycheck.
I don’t believe for a second Bentley likes being filmed. He is going through puberty, all those hormones and having a camera behind your back at all times?! I think he only does it to please his mom, which is wrong, he’s 14 almost, let him speak for himself.
Uh..wha..sorry, even Maci’s interviews are boring, so boring that I fell asleep reading this article!! ?
I didn’t even read the article. But I did say after reading the title, I said “of course she talked about everything! No one is safe, not even her own kid”
Poor Bentley. If Maci was a good parent she’d realize her son wants nothing to do with tv and wants a private life. No wonder he’s in therapy, she just wants more money and the only reason she is on the show is her son who suffers for her decision to continue to drag the poor guy through this fiasco. If she wants to be on fine, but leave him off like she swore she would do years back if Farrah was going to be on the show after her adult film. She never kept her word then either.
Oh hell no she didn’t keep her word, she is pushing 40 and has never had a real job, pathetic. She turned Bently against Ryan and when he turns 18 that is going to blow up in her face.
More like pushing 30. If she was pushing 40, she’d have been 25/26 when she had Bentley. She was 15 or 16 IIRC.
If Maci was such a good parent, then she would have pulled her kids off of this show years ago. She uses her kids as a paycheck. Her sins are no greater than Ryan’s, she needs to stop playing Mother Teresa and get a REAL job. And actually be a Mother and genuinely show concern for her kids and their mental health. Another thing she needs to remember is that one day, all of her kids (not just Bentley) are going to be old enough and smart enough to see what parent is the problem. They will all eventually resent her for having them on a show that blatantly exploited them. Besides that, I am so tired of hearing her cry about PCOS. I have endometriosis, and I can promise you that I don’t go around crying to everyone I know about it, especially at my children’s expense. PCOS is fairly common, you don’t have brain cancer, shut the f**k up, Maci!!!
Ryan is not a good parent but I think Maci’s parenting should be criticized more. It’s funny how often Maci would point to Ryan’s drug problem while sitting back and guzzling Bud Lights. Think of how often she is filmed drinking with her useless husband. Now imagine, what she is drinking off cameras.
Drinking is so normalized that I doubt anyone will say much about her drinking, because then they would have to admit drinking consistently around kids is bad (it is). Maci is not a great parent by any means.
All that being said, few people are. Dealing with an addict isn’t easy; we see that with Gary too. Additionally, I think Ryan was 20 and Maci was 16 when they got pregnant, which really creeps me out. I cannot imagine even hanging out with 16 year olds when I was 20. I think it was the same with Gary and Leah
A few of the girls were dating guys older than them. Maci, Amber and Jenelle are the ones who come to mind.
Yeah I think Jenelle and Andrew had the biggest age gap, pretty disturbing… it checks out though, I read somewhere that men between the ages of 20 and 29 father 39 percent of babies born to 15 year old girls
You’d like to think if a 25yo guy was sniffing around a 15yo girl that the parents would say something…..but look at Jenelle’s dysfunctional upbringing that she’s repeating with her own kids.
So sad.
That Bentley was the cutest TM baby of all time!