From chatting about cutting off parents, to chatting online about bad parents, it’s been a busy week for the stars/former stars of the Teen Mom franchise! In an effort to bring you up-to-date on the latest Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 news, The Ashley brings you the Teen Mom News Pile.
Here are some of the major (and minor but interesting) ‘Teen Mom’-related things that happened over the last week or so…
Farrah Abraham Talks About Her Reasons For Distancing Herself From Her Parents & the ‘Teen Mom’ Franchise
The Backdoor Teen Mom hit up The Hopeaholics Podcast this week to talk about the time she spent in a trauma recovery center, as well as her decision to cut her parents, Debra Danielsen and Micahel Abraham out of her life. Farrah also discussed why she has resisted coming back to the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise following her release from the treatment facility.
(The Ashley can confirm that Farrah and her mom Deb were, indeed, contacted to potentially appear on Teen Mom Family Reunion Season 2, which featured mothers and daughters.)
“I have definitely separated myself for a couple of years from the franchise,” Farrah said on the podcast episode, which was released on Thursday. “…I know everyone’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a dream to get a [TV] contract, and it’s a dream to just go live your life and make money from that.’ We can sensationalize those things so much. But my identity was lost in that. That’s not a good place for an identity.”
Farrah also spoke about how being on ‘Teen Mom’ made her be around people (including her own family members) whom she claims are toxic.
“It also just kept me around trauma bonds,” Farrah said (using that phrase for the first of about 500 times in the nearly two-hour podcast). “Twelve Steps is about not being in trauma bonds, it’s about flourishing. It’s about moving past those things. So I kind of kept myself separate.”
Farrah— who appeared (briefly) on the first season of ‘Family Reunion’– said she quickly realized it was a mistake to return to the franchise.
“I did try to go back to work [on ‘Teen Mom’] on, like a Family [Reunion] show a couple years ago,” Farrah– who used surprisingly less “Farrah Speak Word Salad” than usual during this podcast– said. “And it just wasn’t happening. It was just filled with trauma-bonding friendships, and bringing back your old family members….
“People look at it like you’re failing or you’re doing something wrong for a career. But I don’t know; when God says something you just really need to go with that, whatever that is. So that’s why I kind of pay tribute to, against all odds, I’m a great mom and sometimes it’s not, like, following the crowd. You’ve got to go do what’s right for you with the 12 steps.”
Farrah also discussed her decision to boot her mom and dad out of her and her daughter Sophia’s life.
“My mom was undiagnosed bipolar, I don’t know which one. Anyone can watch and choose whichever [form of] bipolar [they think she has]…”
Farrah revealed that the last time she had any contact with Debz OG was on Mother’s Day. (The mother/daughter duo had been estranged and without contact for years before this.)
“I was at church, and they brought up Debra. My mom’s name is Debra…I just texted her like, ‘I’m at church for Mother’s Day and they’re bringing up your name.’ “It’s like, sometimes when you distance yourself from people, no matter their hardships, you love your family. But you know how toxic it is…”
Farrah said that her family– including her mom, dad and her grandma— is full of people who are very “abusive, manipulative, controlling.”
The Big F addressed the comments she’s received over the years from fans who have criticized her for treating her mom and dad so poorly on the show.
“People are like, ‘Oh, you’re so mean to your parents.’ I’ve heard it so much, but it’s also really not OK to not take care of your mental health for generations,” she said. “Bipolar-ness ran in my family.” (No, that’s not a typo. She did say ‘bipolar-ness.’)
“And I just wanted to say to my daughter, ‘What you’re seeing is not OK. And I can only bear so much. And if this ever gets to the point where this affects you, let me know and we’re just not going to be around it,'” Farrah said, adding that it was Sophia who made the choice to cut Deb and Michael out of her life.
“So, my daughter has kind of said, ‘I don’t want to be around these grandparents. I don’t want to be around these people,'” Farrah said. “And, thank God for having a daughter…who is open and honest. They don’t know how to mask things yet so they just say it. Otherwise, I would have probably just kept going with this dysfunctional pattern and cycle that really doesn’t help anyone.”
Farrah went on to say that she probably wouldn’t have cut off her parents had she not had Sophia to think about.
“I had a show paying me to be around dysfunction, so I probably wouldn’t have [cut them off],” she said.
Farrah also implied that she has refused to go back to ‘Teen Mom’ because she’ll have to film with her parents.
“I’ve said that if I’m forced to be around dysfunction again to come back to work [for ‘Teen Mom’], I guess I’m better off just not working,” Farrah said.
Farrah also spoke about cutting her dad off, adding that he was the one who dropped her off in early 2022 the trauma center she went to.
“He had such a hard time and started arguing with me before I went it. He was just like, ‘Well, Farrah, you’re having a control problem.'”
Farrah claimed Michael “wasn’t really receptive” to the letters she wrote him while she was in treatment, and that he refused to read the 12-Step books she wanted him to.
“It’s like he was just kind of having a personal breakdown around me going and using these things in my life and bettering it, she said, adding that she does have occasional contact with her dad. “It’s at the point where he’ll chime in and text me sometimes and he’ll be like, ‘OK, go off and be successful,’ just checking in.”
Farrah stated that her relationship with her daughter Sophia is currently “amazing.”
“It’s the relationship I always wanted with my mom, for sure,” she said. “It’s good to know that your child’s not scared to tell you things. It’s good to know that she can come to you because you’re educated and you can help her see through anything, get through anything, and communicate and talk it through.
“I think that’s super-important because I used to be just scared to tell my parents anything,” she added.
You can watch the full (very long) podcast episode below!
Jade Cline Gives Her Thoughts on Amber Portwood’s Lack of Relationship with Daughter Leah Shirley
Jade is offering up her thoughts on Amber Portwood’s (lack of) relationship with her daughter Leah, just days after her ‘Next Chapter’ co-star, Taylor Selfridge took the couch enthusiast to task on social media for her poor parenting.
As ‘Next Chapter’ fans have seen over the last few episodes, Amber’s relationship with Leah is more strained than a pair of skinny jeans after a ‘Teen Mom’ girl tried to squeeze her Dr. Miami-amplified butt into them. Last week, it was revealed on social media by Gary Shirley that Amber has not seen Leah since June, when Amber’s engagement to Gary “Gary 2.0” Wayt ended. (This is after another seven-month stretch that Amber had failed to see Leah.)
On X, Jade provided her thoughts on the situation, adding that, due to her own mother Christy Smith‘s less-than-stellar parenting, she can relate to how Leah is probably feeling about Amber.
“Feeling like you’re not loved or good enough takes a toll on a child,” Jade wrote on X on Thursday. “Especially when it happens for years on end. It makes the relationship even harder to salvage. I’ve been on the side Leah has and can empathize with the situation. It’s painful.”
Jade also offered her opinion on Amber choosing not to see Leah for months at a time.
“Being distant from your child puts a strain on the relationship,” Jade wrote. “Time is so valuable & missing out on time puts a permanent strain between a child & a parent. I’m literally going through the same thing right now. My heart breaks for Leah bc I understand that pain & disappointment.”
Later, Jade made it clear that she wasn’t criticizing those behind the show for how they portrayed the Amber/Leah situation. She also stated that she was not concerned if her words made anyone (particularly anyone who has been known to carry machetes) angry.
“I’m not here to talk s**t on tonight’s episode, I’m simply stating my opinions on how I feel due to being through a similar situation. Anyone can be mad idc,” she wrote.
On Thursday’s episode of ‘Next Chapter,’ Leah was seen telling Gary and her stepmom Kristina that she has no interest in speaking to Amber.
“If she don’t want to talk to her mom, she don’t have to,” Gary says.
Later, Amber got angry at Gary during a phone call.
“This is my daughter!” Amber says, only to be told by Gary, “That you aren’t there for.”
“What the f—-!?” Amber says exploding.
You can watch the clip below.
Coming upppppp‼️‼️‼️🥹 https://t.co/NmMRhbtEvf
— Jade Cline (@jade_desere) September 5, 2024
Corey Simms Shares Wholesome Co-parenting Content from the Holler
Corey Simms, the (first) former husband of ‘Teen Mom’ star Leah Messer, made his TikTok debut this week with several wholesome videos, including one on coparenting.
While Corey, who shares girlseses twins Ali and Aleeah with Leah and daughter Remi with wife Miranda, is typically a man of few twang-laced words, he hopped on the social media platform with a lengthy message on coparenting/custody done right, sharing with fans an example of what this looks like.
“ … It’s my week with the girls this week and Ali has therapy today and I wasn’t able to get off work and Miranda was working and my dad was out of town … all my support system was occupied today,” he said. “So I reached out to Leah and she was able to take Ali to her appointment today and get Aleeah from school and all of that. So that was a really big key thing of flexibility and communication to get what we needed done.
“We put all of our differences aside and really just kind of make it work for the kids,” he continued.
Corey went on to recognize that, while everybody “has a different situation” and this kind of arrangement doesn’t always “work for everyone,” putting in the effort certainly makes it more feasible.
“ … Hopefully, with communication and understanding of what the kids need and their mental health and physical health, it can help someone,” he said. “That’s my goal, to maybe help just one child. If we can make it easier for one [child], like I said, everybody’s different, but [this will] hopefully give you a different outlook.”
As fans of the show know, Leah and Corey haven’t always been civil with one another, which Corey also acknowledged in his intro to influencing video, noting that his personal journey was “aired all over national television.”
“ … Y’all got to see all of that, so you know it wasn’t always peachy keen and I know that,” he said. “It took a lot of work and communication to get to that point, so hopefully this helps.”
Corey encouraged those struggling with their own coparenting situations to keep working at it and keep putting the kids first.
Corey ended his video by sharing a bible verse and a song recommendation. However, he unfortunately did NOT tag Leah’s other baby daddy, Jeremy Calvert, who, based on what fans have seen on the current season of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ could very much benefit from his advice.
Watch Corey’s TikTok below.
@csimms52 Coparenting
To catch up on more recent ‘Teen Mom’ news, click here!
(Photos: WEtv; MTV; Instagram; TikTok)
7 Responses
GO COREY! Co-parenting for the win!
Farrah is literally parroting what you are taught in an addiction rehab center, because we all know that’s actually where she was and not some trauma recovery center. The 12 steps, the identity, etc…those are all things you are taught in rehab as a way to not only take charge and accountability for your own actions that contribute(d) to your addiction(s) but also better help you understand them. It’s literally in the paperwork, almost word for word, in many of the, we’ll say more costly, centers. She doesn’t actually comprehend any of what she said, people give her way too much credit when she sounds somewhat coherent, lol.
You can hear the rest of the typical word salad creep in when she isn’t parroting the pamphlets and counselors. She isn’t capable of holding down an actual coherent conversation unless she’s being fed what to say. It’s been this way for a long time for her, it’s why she uses so many buzzwords and phrases that are “current and viral”. She doesn’t know what they mean, she just knows people smarter, more important or more popular than her have said them.
Wait, did Farrah actually say that she was intelligent enough for Sophia to come to her?! That kid doesn’t stand a chance….
Farrah sounds coherent, which is great.
“But my identity was lost in that. That’s not a good place for an identity.”
That’s actually a valid point. Farrah was 16 or 17 years old when she went on TV. It wasn’t a brief appearance or just an episode. She was on for many years.
I saw Farrah and her parents on “Marriage Boot Camp” years ago. While Farrah is far from perfect, you can also see a lot of toxicity from her parents. She’s probably better off not talking to either parent.
I totally agree! She has been a lot more clearer when she speaks, sticking to her point and it’s so nice to see that.
The 12 steps are a cult. The WORST thing farrah could possibly do for her mental health.
This is a common misconception… Usually the programs in which the 12 steps use, are often cult-like- if you allow them to be. I go to AA and I have gone through the steps and continue to as they are not a “one time” type of thing. The 12 steps truly do help and CAN help ANYONE. Not just Addicts but addicts/alcoholics, such as myself, they offer a sense of freedom and a way to try to be a better person. That is what they are all about. You do have to be careful though. While I am in AA, I don’t allow it to BE my ENTIRE life. In that manner, they can absolutely become “cult-like” and just an extension of the addiction you are trying to free yourself from. AA/NA/CODA etcetera, can very well become a whole other addiction in itself. But the actual 12-steps are important and a great way to take personal accountability and actually put action behind trying to right your wrongs- past and present. You just have to be a person that is open to seeing YOUR part and a lot of people have issues with that,