‘Teen Mom 2’ Star Leah Messer Defends 13-Year Age Difference With Boyfriend Jason Jordan

Leah Messer may be dating a man more than a decade older than her, but it’s a perfect match for the Teen Mom 2 star.

On Monday’s Season 9 premiere of the MTV reality show, the 26-year-old mother-of-three introduced her beau of just a few months at that point, 39-year-old Jason Jordan.

“So far it’s going really well,” she said of her new relationship, adding that she was lucky her girls—Aleeah, Aliannah, and Adalynn—appeared to be as smitten with Jordan as she.

“So far it’s like we’re buddies,” Jordan told Messer of his relationship with her daughters, recalling that the first time the girls saw him kiss their mom, one shouted, “Don’t take my mommy’s kisses!”

“Which made me just do it again,” he joked.

Despite being more than a decade apart, Messer explained to a friend it’s actually not that big of a difference, “when you’re in my situation, because if I date someone my age, they don’t get my life. They don’t understand three kids, they don’t want any part of that, actually.”

Jordan, who has a son himself, and like Messer, two failed marriages, was a perfect fit, the MTV personality explained. Jordan, meanwhile, was slightly more reserved about beginning a relationship with the younger woman, telling her, “I know personally that I don’t want to fail again, so that’s why I was hesitant in the beginning.”

Moving forward with this relationship, Messer made sure to let exes Cory Simms and Jeremy Calvert know there would be a new man in their daughters’ lives.

“They trust my decision and know that I’m just not gonna have anyone around their kids,” she explained.

“I just wanna enjoy getting to know them,” he replied.

Off-screen, the couple has definitely had their ups and downs, splitting in October after just a few months dating.

“Some things are meant to happen, just not meant to be,” Messer wrote on social media after news of the split broke. “Some things are meant to come into your life, just not meant to stay.”

In November, however, the two started appearing on social media together once again, celebrating the holidays together as a blended family.

“Wouldn’t have brought the new year in any other way than with my baeee,” Messer captioned a photo of herself and Jordan cuddling up on New Year’s Day.

Teen Mom 2 airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.

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