Gary Shirley made a shocking revelation during a guys’ night out: his teenage daughter Leah, who was with his ex Amber Portwood, wanted to be adopted by his wife Kristina.
Thursday’s season two episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter saw Gary, 37, get candid during a ski vacation to Michigan with all the guys from the MTV franchise.
During a conversation about their children, Gary opened up about his daughter Leah, 15, and Amber, 34,’s relationship, saying they hadn’t spoken since Leah’s birthday, which ended awkwardly.
“I think it can still be saved, but Leah needs the constant presence of her mother more than anything,” Gary said.
Gary said his wife Kristina was the “best thing” that ever happened to Leah and Tyler Baltierra, 32, agreed, calling her a “savior.”
Gary Shirley made a shocking revelation during a guys’ night out: his teenage daughter Leah with her ex Amber Portwood wanted to be adopted by his wife Kristina
“Yes, and Leah would like to be adopted by Kristina,” Gary said.
The other boys were shocked and asked if Amber knew about it, but Gary shook his head no.
While the boys were playing beer pong, Tyler called his wife Catelynn, 32, and told her that Gary had said Leah wanted to be adopted and that Amber didn’t know about it yet.
“Gary has to tell her,” Catelynn said.
She added: ‘You can’t just throw her off guard. If she finds out, it’s going to really upset her. She might need some extra support.’
Tyler assured Catelynn that Amber was a “grown woman” and that she could handle it.
Catelynn called Maci Bookout, 32, to share what she had discovered about Leah’s desire for Kristina to adopt her.
“I love Gary to bits, but it makes me angry because Gary shouldn’t be telling people this kind of crap. It’s not fair. This is a hard and questionable situation,” Maci said.
Kristina was called the ‘best thing’ that ever happened to his daughter Leah by Gary
“Yes, and Leah wants to be adopted by Kristina,” Gary said, shocking the boys.
While the boys were playing beer pong, Tyler called his wife Catelynn, 32, and told her about Gary saying Leah wanted to be adopted and Amber didn’t know about it yet.
“I love Gary to bits, but it makes me angry because Gary shouldn’t be telling people this kind of crap. It’s not fair. This is a hard and questionable situation,” Maci Bookout told Catelynn upon learning of the development.
They both agreed that the development would have consequences for Amber’s mental health.
Maci said in a confessional that she and Catelynn would be the ones to tell Amber.
Gary was previously shown in the kitchen, talking to Kristina about Leah and Amber’s strained relationship. A flashback showed Leah lamenting the loss of contact with her mother due to Amber’s new boyfriend, Gary Wayt.
Gary shared a message that Amber had sent him with Kristina, in which she claimed that she had begged Leah multiple times to spend time with her, but was repeatedly rejected.
Gary said that Amber had to make an effort to reach out, even though Leah was pushing her away. Kristina agreed that Amber had to be persistent.
“I do all the motherly things for Leah. I go to all her cross country races. I do all her schooling. But unfortunately, I can’t fill that void in her heart from Amber. I can be the mother figure, but she still has that hole,” Kristina said.
“I think she’ll have this for the rest of her life,” Gary said.
The episode also showed how Briana DeJesus dealt with challenges at home after her mother went to rehab, struggling to balance work and home while pulling her daughters, Nova and Stella, out of school.
Maci said in a confessional that she and Catelynn should be the ones to tell Amber
Gary was previously shown speaking to Kristina about Leah and Amber’s strained relationship
He shared a text Amber had sent him, in which she claimed she had contacted Leah multiple times and begged her to spend time with her, but had been rejected.
“Like, I do all the motherly things for Leah. I go to all her cross-country rides. I do all her schooling. But unfortunately, I can’t fill that void in her heart from Amber. I can be the mother figure, but she still has that hole,” Kristina said.
She approached Nova’s father Devoin to help pick up the kids from school and he admitted that he would become homeless if he didn’t go to work.
Briana considered alternative options and the girls thought it would be a good idea to move to a school closer to home.
They went on a tour of the school and Briana asked her daughters while filling out a registration form if there was anyone they didn’t want her to pick up. Stella replied that she didn’t want her father, Luis, to pick her up and later admitted that she hadn’t seen him in a long time and didn’t want to communicate with him.
Briana later found a note in which Stella expressed her negative feelings about her father and his absence. Briana confided in her sister Brittany about the note, acknowledging that both she and her daughter had issues with rejection from her father.
Cheyenne Floyd, 31, called her husband Zach Davis, 33, during the episode while he was traveling with the men after a disturbing incident with their daughter Ryder, six, at a playground.
Zach invited Ryder’s father Cory Wharton, 33, to join the conversation after Cheyenne said her daughter was crying.
Cheyenne said her mother confronted a man after a boy called Ryder the n-word and the man told his son to apologize.
“So the little boy apologized, but he kept saying, ‘No, she’s a liar, she’s a liar,’” Cheyenne said through tears.
Cheyenne said they walked away, but Ryder was still upset and she admitted that Zach and Cory felt defeated as mothers.
The episode also showed how Briana DeJesus dealt with challenges at home after her mother went to rehab
She approached Nova’s father Devoin to help pick up the kids from school and he admitted that missing work would leave him homeless
Cheyenne Floyd, 31, called her husband Zach Davis, 33, during the episode while he was traveling with the boys after a disturbing incident with their daughter Ryder, six, at a playground
Zach invited Ryder’s father Cory Wharton, 33, to join the conversation after Cheyenne said her daughter was crying
They were both supportive and Cory said they needed to talk about how they would deal with this in the future because it would probably happen again.
“That’s what I’ve been called my whole life. If a white person saw me and wanted to hurt my feelings, what do you think they called me? If someone wants to hurt me, that’s where they go,” Cory said.
“I dealt with it at her age. I dealt with it young, and I’ve dealt with it my whole life,” Zach said.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter returns to MTV next week.