Teen Mom OG lost two of its stars. Ryan Edwards and Mackenzie Standifer, who are expecting their first child together, announced on Friday, July 20, that they have quit the MTV reality series.
“We’re not returning to Teen Mom this season. The network told us they don’t want to show Ryan as a recovering addict,” Standifier, 21, claimed to E! News. “But they did want to enter a contract with our unborn baby and have the baby film with Ryan’s parents so it would look like someone else is raising it.”
Edwards, 30, alleged to the website that his ex Maci Bookout, with whom he shares 9-year-old son Bentley, “said she’s not going to film unless I enter rehab again and quit the show.” He previously sought treatment in May 2017 for substance abuse issues, but insisted that he is now sober.
“They’re writing us out of the show right now and making it seem like we dipped out on our baby, on Bentley and on everyone. And that’s just not the case,” Standifier claimed.
The pregnant reality star, who announced in March that she is expecting, said she and her husband were informed about MTV’s decision last week. (She also shares son Hudson, 4, with ex Zachary Stephens.)
“The show had been paying for my health care and for the baby so they could film the visits, and then a week ago they let me know that would no longer be the case,” she claimed. “They’re not going to film the birth. We’re not going to be on at all. Maci can’t speak to Ryan and Ryan can’t speak to Maci – that was a mutual decision. But she doesn’t know what’s going on in our lives.”
The couple added that they do not plan on returning to the show ever again should the opportunity arise. “If they don’t want to film now, then we don’t want to film later,” Standifer told E! News.
The news comes one day after Us Weekly confirmed that Bristol Palin is joining the cast of Teen Mom OG. She is the mother of Tripp, 9, Sailor, 2, and Atlee, 14 months. The 27-year-old abstinence advocate, whose mother is former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, confirmed her upcoming role via Instagram earlier on Friday. “I am excited to join MTV’s Teen Mom OG,” she wrote. “I look forward to sharing my experiences and hope that I can help others on their journey.”
Us Weekly has reached out to MTV for comment.
