Maci Bookout will always care for her ex Ryan Edwards — particularly when he is dealing with significant mental health problems.
In a preview clip for the Wednesday, July 19, episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Maci, 31, sits down with her troubled ex after finding out he was on “suicide watch” following an arrest. (Ryan, 35 — who shares 14-year-old son Bentley with Maci — has been arrested numerous times for drug possession as well as other legal charges.)
“I never imagined we’d be in a place where this would be happening, but time and therapy — it does wonders,” Maci, whose rocky relationship with her ex has played out on MTV for more than a decade, tells the cameras in the clip.
As an emotional Ryan discusses his struggles with Maci, she confronts him about his suicide ideation.
“When you got arrested this last time, they said, ‘He has been on suicide watch.’ Then I was really worried,” she tells him. “You need to talk to somebody about that.”
Ryan replies, “What do you tell somebody?”
“That you’re struggling,” Maci says. “It would be devastating to a lot of people if you weren’t here. I’d rather you be a pain in my ass, and be here, then not,” she quipped, as Ryan laughed but wiped away tears.
She adds: “So next time, just call me.”
The Teen Mom: The Next Chapter preview comes days after Maci exclusively told Us Weekly that Ryan has grown closer to Bentley since spending time in jail. (Ryan was sentenced to jail in April after being booked for a DUI, possession of a controlled substance and on a harassment charge against estranged wife Mackenzie Edwards, who filed for divorce in February.)
“I think as crazy as it is, because he is in jail right now, he shows up and communicates with Bentley, I think, more consistently now than he ever has, which is mind-blowing,” Maci told Us on July 11.
She added: “Although Ryan made really bad decisions and is paying the consequences for them, I’m glad to see that that hasn’t stopped him from showing up or, like, calling and communicating because in the past that would’ve halted everything.”
Per The Sun, Ryan was released from jail on Tuesday, July 18, and ordered to rehab.
Ryan’s appearance on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter comes after he and his family were fired from the show in March 2021. He briefly appeared on a Teen Mom: Family Reunion episode earlier this year, crying over his strained relationship with Bentley and wanting to be closer to him.
In addition to Bentley, Ryan also shares two children with Mackenzie.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
