Amidst the ongoing drama surrounding Ryan Edwards, Maci Bookout, and their son Bentley, Teen Mom 2 star Kailyn Lowry weighed in on the situation, as InTouch Weekly noted. On Lowry’s podcast, Baby Mamas No Drama, she said that Edwards has seemingly been an “absent” parent when it comes to Bentley’s life. Bookout, being the guest on the podcast episode in question, which dropped on Tuesday, then responded to Lowry’s statements with a message of her own.
“I don’t want to say Bentley’s dad is absent, but for lack of better words, absent, not really involved,” Lowry said about the situation concerning Edwards and his eldest son. “I don’t know the situation. I haven’t watched Teen Mom OG because I never know what’s twisted, what’s not twisted.” She then asked Bookout, “So what advice can you give to stepparents?” In turn, the Teen Mom OG star that the biggest thing that stepparents can do is to simply be present.
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“Be present but don’t be pushy. Just be a positive adult in their life. Especially with a personality like Bentley,” Bookout said. “He’s a studier. He’s a sponge, he’s paying attention all the time. He’s like me, he doesn’t like to be pressured into anything, to feel a certain way … They know that you’re there, you don’t even have to verbalize it. Even the shiest and quietest of kids will bring up things if they want to talk about them. Be on their side. Be on their team.” In addition to being a mom to 12-year-old Bentley, Bookout shares daughter Jayde, 5, and son Maverick, 4, with her husband, Taylor McKinney.
Bookout’s latest statement on the situation between Bentley and her ex comes as the father and son pair’s issues have been highlighted on the current season of Teen Mom OG. During the course of the season, Bentley frequently opened up to his mother about the struggles that he’s been having with Edwards. As a result of their conversations, Bookout decided to seek out therapy for Bentley. The ultimate goal for Bentley is to have his father come with him to one of his sessions in order for them to work through their issues. Of course, this podcast episode was released days after it was reported that Edwards, his wife Mackenzie Edwards, and his parents, Jen and Larry Edwards, were fired from Teen Mom OG. So, it’s unclear whether fans will be able to see Bentley get to a better place with Edwards on the show. Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.
