MTV (1); Courtesy of Mackenzie Edwards/Instagram (2)
Teen Mom’s Ryan Edwards Discusses Divorce from Estranged Wife Mackenzie: ‘Pain In My Ass’
Teen Mom star Ryan Edwards discussed his divorce from his estranged wife, Mackenzie Edwards (née Standifer), during an emotional conversation with his ex Maci Bookout.
The Wednesday, August 2, episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter kicked off with Ryan, 35, calling Maci, 31, to reveal his divorce from Mackenzie, 26.
“Mackenzie is being an absolute pain in my ass. She don’t know why she left, it’s been everything under the sun,” Ryan said. “It’s because of my addiction, because I was outside in my garage.”
Maci advised her ex to “keep focusing on you and all these crazy children and stay away from her,” while she also said she would tell their son Bentley, 14, what’s going on.
“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,” Maci said. “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.”
The mother of three added that she thinks Ryan and Mackenzie’s troubles were likely linked to his and Bentley’s “relationship growing” and the exes “trying to work together.” She continued, “I don’t think she can handle it. Bentley is the one that pays for all of this, so we have to stay on the same team.”
Later in the episode, Maci said that Bentley was “kind of shocked” by the news but didn’t seem “bothered by it or upset.” The MTV star added said her eldest son’s reaction didn’t surprise her “because he’s never really been a big fan of Mackenzie’s.”
Ryan’s parents, Jen Edwards and Larry Edwards, shared more insight about how Ryan was handling the divorce, explaining that he was “really devastated.” Jen, 57, added that she worried the situation would mess with his sobriety.
The next morning, Mackenzie filed a protection petition and claimed Ryan held a knife to her back, as well as other alleged incidents of domestic violence. However, Ryan denied her claims.
“She said I f–king held a knife to her back or something like that … f–k no, that’s so dumb,” he told producers. “Everyone knows when I get angry, I get f–king angry. So she’s gonna use that against me. But I ain’t never put my hands on a woman ever before.”
He then accused Mackenzie of cheating on him and claimed she didn’t spend the night at their house when he took their kids – Jagger, 4, and Stella, 3 – to stay with his parents.
“She left this house last night and there was only one reason why she left this house,” he said. “She can’t lie very well, she’ll stumble over every word she says and I was like, ‘Where the f–k did you stay last night?’ and she couldn’t come up with a good answer. So I started putting two and two together.”
Mackenzie filed for divorce from Ryan in February after six years of marriage. The filing came 18 days after Ryan was arrested and charged with violating a protective order she filed against him, according to online records viewed by In Touch. In addition to the divorce filing, the Tennessee native was granted a restraining order and temporary custody.
The father of three was served with an order of protection by Hamilton County Sheriff two weeks before the filing. According to police officers in Hamilton County, Ryan made threats against Mackenzie during a heated phone conversation prior to his arrest.
Most of his charges stemming from the arrests were dropped during a March court hearing. Ryan was ordered to complete six months in rehab after he was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which was eventually dismissed. He checked himself out of a rehab center after two weeks of treatment and was arrested again on April 7 when he was found unresponsive in his truck.
Ryan was sentenced to serve nearly one year in prison during a court hearing in April, though Judge Starnes later announced he was given a furlough to complete an inpatient rehab program after he served three months behind bars.
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