Before the two met up amid Maci’s coparenting journey with Ryan, Bookout revealed she and his girlfriend not only went to high school together — but Amanda even appeared on ’16 and Pregnant’ with her!
Maci Bookout and Ryan Edwards are continuing to take the steps to mend their relationship as co-parents.
On Thursday’s all-new Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Maci got to know Ryan’s new girlfriend, Amanda, and while this was their first time really getting to know each other, it wasn’t truly their first meeting — with Maci revealing that Amanda was actually there at the start of her 16 and Pregnant journey, making this a bit of a full circle moment.
“She was in my class. She was in the 16 and Pregnant episode,” Maci tells husband Taylor McKinney.
While Amanda has had a bit of past — which includes a stint in rehab and a criminal record — Maci wanted to give her a fair shake, with Amanda equally to determined to prove herself as she integrates herself into Ryan’s life.
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And all that couldn’t be more important with Ryan working on his relationship with Maci, and their teenage son, Bentley, following his own rehab stay — where he met Amanda.
“Ryan and I have worked really hard over the last couple of years to have just a more stable co-parenting relationship,” Maci tells the cameras before heading to lunch with Amanda and Ryan’s mom Jen. “And therapy and Al-Anon has made me confident in creating new relationships. So, I’m going to lunch.”
During sit down, Maci discussed how Amanda ended up at the adult high school, where she was sent as a result of getting pregnant as a teen, and what put Amanda on a path to sobriety following her own tough up bringing.
“I got kicked out of public schools just from drugs, and fighting, and getting in trouble, getting arrested at a young age,” Amanda explains. “I don’t know why it took so long to learn, but I went through the rringer. I’m not going back out there.”
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While she was sober for almost two years before her recent trip to rehab, Amanda tells Maci she relapsed when her parents died.
“My mom was related to drugs. She always in active addiction, and then she started using with me. I don’t want to make out like she was a bad parent. She was young. And then shortly after, my father got bone cancer, Stage 4, and passed away,” she shared. “Which is also not an excuse to go back out, but it was very hard.”
Amanda’s been sober, however, for over a year, something Maci tells her she should be proud of — and her journey is something she doesn’t judge her for.
“I wouldn’t want somebody to judge me based off anything I’ve done on my past,” Maci says. “And that’s been big for me the last few years — especially with me and Ryan, just like trying to co-parent and trying to get in a more healthy co-parenting relationship. I can’t holding any of the bulls–t against anybody.”
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While Amanda says she was admittedly nervous to reunite with Maci, there was an energy there — for both parties — that made them comfortable meeting and opening the doors for a relationship.
“I know we’ve known each other since high school, and even reuniting with you, I was like, so nervous. I didn’t know how your energy was gonna be, but I was like, ‘She makes me feel so comfortable,” Amanda tells Maci.
“For me, I don’t know, it was your energy, but I just feel like you can’t really move forward or start anywhere if you’re just thinking about listening to other people,” Maci shares.
Ryan’s mom, meanwhile, says she was admittedly hesitant about the relationship and went as far to say as she didn’t want Ryan and Amanda to date — something Maci slyly agreed to — before coming around to the idea.
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“I understand, if it was my son, I would be like, ‘Hold on.’ So I get it,” Amanda tells Jen and Maci, before sharing the conditions she and Ryan have placed on their relationship. “We had a serious talk about it and he has told me and I have told him, ‘If you relapse, you need to leave, and vice versa,’ and we agreed upon that.”
With consistency and following what the pair both learned in their programs, they’re hopeful they can make this relationship — and this big, blended family — work.
Keep up with all the drama when Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on MTV.
