“Kristina, you wanna keep secrets from me? I’m the mother,” Amber was heard saying to Gary’s wife off-camera as the reunion went off the rails.
Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley appeared to be in a good place when the most recent “Teen Mom OG” wrapped up last week. By the end of tonight’s reunion episode, however, that definitely was no longer the case.
All season long, Amber has been struggling to connect with her daughter Leah, who feels her mother abandoned her over men in her life and during her time behind bars. While she hoped to go to therapy with Leah, Gary was against it. Eventually, he at least agreed to go see a therapist with Amber, who filled Shirley in on his ex’s borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder diagnoses.
As a highlight reel of the season was shown, Amber appeared dejected, prompting Dr. Drew Pinksy to ask her why she looked “shut down.”
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“I’m shut down because I’m listening to my daughter say certain things that I see online,” said Portwood, after Leah questioned whether Amber’s tears over their fractured relationship were real Dr. Drew then reminded viewers that an emotional disconnect could be part of her borderline personality disorder diagnosis, with Amber explaining that’s why she wanted Gary to join her in therapy.
“I just don’t want [Leah] to write me off, like I did when I was young with my own mother. I know when I grew up, I regretted that, losing four years with my mom,” she added. Then, after Amber said things between her and Gary were “good,” he came out on stage … and it went downhill shortly after.
Gary explained that he did speak with Leah about what her mother’s borderline personality disorder means after he went to therapy with Amber. As he spoke, however, Amber again started to check out. When Dr. Drew then asked Gary whether he believes Leah should see somebody herself now, after being initially resistant to the idea, he dropped a bombshell.
“She is speaking to somebody now, a professional,” he said, before turning to Amber and adding, “You probably didn’t know this. Per Leah’s request, she didn’t want it to be talked about. I have her permission, to talk about it, make it known.”
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Amber was definitely caught off guard, saying that Leah seeing a therapist was good … “if I know about it.”
“Part of Leah going, she didn’t want anybody knowing. They’re working on different things she can do to help the communication start between her mom and her,” Gary continued. “She’s gone, I think, about 10 [times].”
Portwood couldn’t hold back her frustration any more at this point.
“Here’s the thing, I’m the mother of her, I need to understand what Leah is going through, so I believe the communication should be there for that,” she told her ex. “I also think that Leah is a child, she is not an adult, I am her mother. She doesn’t need to say anything, but you can tell me.”
“So I should break her trust and tell you what she doesn’t want you to know?” asked Gary, before Amber told him, “That’s not breaking trust, though.”
She then sarcastically thanked Gary for letting her know Leah was in treatment, “on this stage, here.” She added, “I don’t need a camera in front of my face for me to know something. This error or mistake has been going on for years. Every time I find out about something, it’s in front of a camera.”
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Dr. Drew tried to put a positive spin on the situation, telling Gary it sounded like Leah would let him keep Amber informed going forward. Portwood, however, didn’t believe that was the case — something Gary confirmed when he said that, too, would be up to Leah. The two then got into a shouting match, with Amber telling Gary not to yell at her while he told her not to put her finger in his face.
“You came out here with some bullcrap. I just found out, on camera, of course. Everything that you do is for television. Done. Everything he does it for television. I’m out, bye! Live your life,” she said, before getting off the couch and walking off the stage. She then doubled back and started shouting at Gary just off the platform. “And by your way, your first class ticket coming back, you’re not f—ing sitting with me,” she told him. “You can’t use me for s— for the rest of your f—ing life and for your money. How do you have your money today, Gary?”
“All because of you, thank you,” he replied, with a mocking tone. “I said thank you, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me, I appreciate it.”
As she then stormed backstage, she said, “You’re welcome. Garbage” — before venting to a producer. “He can keep making his money off me, this is ridiculous. You know damn well that Gary only does this when we have screens. I’m done. I’m done,” she said.
The camera then showed Gary’s wife in the studio, before the camera cut to a “To be continued …” slate as Amber was heard saying, “Kristina, you wanna keep secrets from me? I’m the mother. I would have just liked to know she was even going, that would have been nice.”
“Teen Mom OG” airs Tuesdays on MTV.
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