'Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant': Brianna Jaramillo Opens up About Healing From Her Relationship With Ex Briggs (Exclusive)
Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant star Brianna Jaramillo is working on herself as she recovers from a traumatic breakup with her ex-boyfriend Briggs. Ahead of Tuesday's all-new episode of the MTV show, Brianna opened up about her healing process in an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, reflecting on all the ups and downs of her journey as a single mom to her 4-year-old son Braeson.
"It's been a battle. It has ups and downs," Brianna said of working through the infidelity and betrayal in her previous relationship with Briggs. "One day I feel like I'm doing a ton better, and then I feel like I'm back to square one sometimes, so I don't know." While the reality TV personality is open to love eventually, she's first working on her relationship with herself.
"I feel like I do want to date again," she told PopCulture. "I just feel like, in order to be happy in a relationship, I need to be happy by myself and with myself. And I feel like I have not had that, so a lot of this season is me working on myself, and I'm really happy with that." One big motivation is Braeson, who is starting to pick up on what's happening around him.
"I think that before it was kind of like, 'Oh, he's young, it's fine,' but I think that it's a lot of learning it's not fine anymore and he knows," Brianna shared. "And if I'm hurting, I can't be there for him." On her journey of self-love has been plenty of success as well, including moving out of her mom's house to take care of Braeson in her own home.
"I am so proud of myself for how far I've come and Braeson [has come]," she gushed. "I feel like a lot of the issues that I was having last season have gotten better since we've moved out. I've seen a lot of growth in him – not only myself, but Braeson, too – with us being on our own." Allowing her mom to embrace her role as grandma instead of "the second parent" has improved Brianna and Jessica's relationship as well. "I feel like it's changed a lot," the MTV star shared. "We're not perfect, but I'm definitely excited to have the viewers see the growth." Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.