Courtesy Ryan Edwards/Instagram; MTV (2)
‘TMOG’ Star Ryan Edwards’ Parents Blame Maci for Strained Relationship With Bentley: She’s a ‘Trigger’
Taking a toll. Ryan Edwards‘ parents worried about his strained relationship with son Bentley in the new Tuesday, February 2, episode of Teen Mom OG, accusing his ex Maci Bookout McKinney of being the “biggest trigger.”
Ryan’s mother and father, Jen and Larry, sat down and discussed their bond with Bentley, saying they just wished everything could be “normal” so they could visit him more often. “We haven’t seen him in over a month,” Larry said.
Larry agreed that counseling could improve Ryan’s dynamic with Bentley, 12, as long as Ryan is “honest” and explains “what has been happening all these years.” Jen noted how their son is very much “on board” with going to therapy because he truly adores and values their connection. “I think he feels defeated,” she added.
Larry got the same impression and said it gave him an epiphany. “I understand Ryan more now than I have ever understood him before about how important it is for him to focus on what he has and just get away from those triggers because we’ve been to the counseling … and the triggers are across the river,” he declared.
The former flames first appeared on 16 & Pregnant when they were preparing to welcome their son, Bentley, in October 2008. Maci, 29, and Ryan, 33, were previously engaged, but ultimately broke up and have since struggled to coparent. Ryan is now married to wife Mackenzie Edwards (née Standifer) and Maci is still going strong with husband Taylor McKinney.
“If Ryan is going to have a healthy life, then he needs to separate him from that,” Larry continued. “We were putting a lot of pressure on Ryan all the time.”
Jen was overcome with emotions during the conversation and said she felt guilty for possibly “setting off” those triggers. “I probably pushed him harder,” she tearfully admitted. In hindsight, Larry and Jen said they felt differently about the situation. “We were wrong Ryan. We apologize,” he told cameras.
Earlier in the episode, Ryan expressed his own concerns to Mackenzie about things getting “worse” amid his turmoil with Maci, adding, “I feel sorry for Bentley that he has to grow up like that.”
Maci previously opened up to In Touch exclusively about Bentley’s “uncomfortable” relationship with Ryan and revealed her take on the coparenting animosity. The MTV star explained, “Bentley started therapy with the ultimate goal that [he] and Ryan would go to therapy together, just the two of them to have their own safe space, you know, to talk and build the relationship or do whatever they wanted to or needed to do.”
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