Mackenzie McKee “never thought” she would find love following her divorce from ex-husband Josh McKee. The Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star, who announced Wednesday that she was engaged to Khesanio Hall, opened up about her second shot at love to PopCulture.com ahead of Thursday’s Season 2 premiere of the MTV series.
“I never thought I would find love after divorce,” said Mackenzie, who shared photos of Hall’s beachside proposal on Instagram Wednesday, almost two years after announcing her divorce from her ex-husband. The 16 and Pregnant alum continued, “I had never dated as an adult, so I didn’t know how to do that or what it looked like. I had to find a lot of myself before starting to date.”
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The MTV personality met and began dating Hall while she wasn’t being filmed for Teen Mom, but fans got to know the soccer player on the most recent season of Teen Mom: Family Reunion. Mackenzie told PopCulture she hopes that viewers tuning into The Next Chapter will see a new side of her outside of her first marriage.
“I think people just thought I was a cowgirl wife. I feel like I was robbed a lot of getting to show who I am because it was always all about that relationship [with Josh],” she said. “As soon as I was set free to get to be who I am, I promised myself whoever I’m with from here on, he has to allow me to be myself because people have to get to know Mackenzie. I want to get to know Mackenzie and who she is and just have fun again in life. That’s what I was looking for in a partner.”
Josh and Hall are “completely day and night different people,” Mackenzie continued, “but I met Josh at 15 and we got pregnant and then tried to work it out. So there was never a ‘Who do I belong with? Who is my person?’ It was like, ‘Let’s try to work it out for the kid because [in] all of my family, no one has seen [a] stepmom, stepdad, split up families, any of that.”
Now, as she looks toward building a future with Hall, Teen Mom: The Next Chapter viewers will see Mackenzie think about adding a new member to the family. Mackenzie and Josh are parents to Gannon, Jaxie and Broncs, whom they welcomed in 2011, 2014 and 2016, but the thought of having a baby with her husband-to-be is a tempting one.
“Last time I had a kid was eight years ago, so it’s like, do I want to do this? Do I want to risk it?” asked Mackenzie, who has Type 1 diabetes and previously underwent a tubal ligation. “So, we’re looking at all the options. I can’t even believe I was crazy enough to even consider that [with] how busy I am, but I think we all thrive off of chaos. What does it look like without chaos? So what’s more chaos?”
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter Season 2 premieres Thursday, May 30 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.