‘Teen Mom’s Maci Bookout Defends Friendship With Amber Portwood

Maci Bookout won’t turn on Amber Portwood. Portwood has been under scrutiny as of late for her estranged relationship with her daughter, Leah Shirley.

Things have played out on the current season of Teen Mom, and Portwood has Bookout by her side. 

“Anyone’s opinion on the type of friend I am or how I show up as a friend doesn’t matter to me,” Bookout, 33, shared on the Thursday, April 3, episode of the Barely Famous podcast. “I’m not going to stop caring and showing up for anyone that I love because you disagree with it.”

Bookout made it known that she doesn’t care about the backlash about her support of Portwood. “With Cate [Lowell], Amber and I, we are more than friends. We get things that other people could never understand,” Bookout shared with podcast host and Teen Mom 2 alum Kailyn Lowry. “There are so many things that I could talk to you about, and you 100 percent understand, and you know where I’m coming from.”

She added: “At this point, me and Catelynn and Amber have known each other longer than we haven’t.”

She says despite Portwood’s struggles, she will always be a good friend to Portwood. “Between the three of us — me, Cate and Amber — we will always be there for each other and support each other but we are also the first people to check each other and be like, ‘Hey, you have to do something about this’ or, ‘That’s not right. What are we doing?’” she said. “It’s almost never shown and honestly, it could be because it doesn’t happen on camera.”

The three starred in the first season of 16 and Pregnant before being cast on the spinoff. The current spinoff airing is Teen Mom: The Next Chapter as they navigate the highs and lows of parenting and relationships as adults.