Only days before the new season of Teen Mom OG is slated to start, MTV added another member to the cast, with Teen Mom 3 star Mackenzie McKee finally joining the series to replace Bristol Palin.
“Multiple sources” told Radar Online that McKee will join the show, after she previously lost a chance to join Teen Mom 2 to Briana DeJesus. She was also reportedly in the running for Teen Mom OG before Palin joined.
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“Mackenzie has been filming,” one source told Radar. “She will appear in a few episodes towards the end of the season.”
Another source told Radar McKee’s appearance will be a “trial run” to determine if she can “continue as an original girl.”
The news was not met with open arms by longtime Teen Mom OG star Catelynn Lowell. “If it’s not broke don’t fix it,” Lowell tweeted, adding the hashtag “Just Saying.”
Amber Portwood and Maci Bookout also told Us Weekly they were not interested in having another girl join the show. “No new friends,” Bookout told the magazine.
Last season, MTV hired Palin and Are You The One? star Cheyenne Floyd to replace Farrah Abraham. While Floyd fit in with the other stars, Palin quickly grew uncomfortable with the show. She frequently took to social media to complain about how they portrayed her family and announced plans to leave in April.
“Teen Mom OG wasn’t a fit for me, it took away my peace.. and honestly – my peace has a price tag that no one but God can afford,” Palin wrote on Instagram in April. “[Money] doesn’t impress me, I don’t entertain bs, and walking away from this show allows God to rebuild me (and my little fam) in the right direction… I have love for all the girls on the show, and wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavors!! xoxo, B.”
Teen Mom fans first met McKee, 24, in a 2012 episode of 16 and Pregnant. She later starred in Teen Mom 3, which only ran for a season in 2013.
McKee was in the running for Teen Mom 2 and Teen Mom OG in the past. In September 2018, she told Radar Online it was obvious to her that her mother’s cancer battle was not the kind of story MTV wanted before.
“It’s obvious what is going on right now and that’s okay,” she told Radar. “I have nothing bad to say about anyone. I am happy for them all. These girls have a great opportunity and I hope they use it in a positive way.”
Teen Mom OG Season 8 starts on Monday, June 10.
Photo credit: MTV
