Why ‘Teen Mom’s Kailyn Lowry Felt ‘Pigeonholed’ Before Exiting the MTV Show

Kailyn Lowry is opening up about her decision to leave the world of Teen Mom behind 15 years after making her 16 and Pregnant debut.

The Teen Mom 2 alum, who exited the series in 2022 after getting pregnant with her fifth son, Rio, opened up about feeling “pigeonholed” by the show in a new interview with PEOPLE.

Lowry, 33, explained that by the time she was ready to leave Teen Mom, she had become very selective about what she shared with viewers in response to how her story was edited and received by fans.

“I think closer to the time that I decided to leave the franchise, it was more of [me feeling] like, ‘I am making very calculated decisions and sharing only certain things or making myself available at certain times for certain reasons,’” she told the outlet in an interview published Monday.

“It made it very difficult for production to create a full picture and full story for me on the show,” Lowry contrinued. “At that point it was like, ‘I have to think about how it’s going to play out for the viewers and that is how people will perceive whatever it is that I’m going through or doing.’ And that was really, really hard for me because I wasn’t the same person that I was when I started.”

Lowry said by the time she announced to viewers that she would not be returning, she felt like her time on the show “had run its course” as she found success in podcasting.

“I had just built this house and we were on to different things that we would not be able to tell the full story the way that we wanted to and the way that it really happened,” she said. “You’re edited down to four minutes a cast member, and I didn’t want certain things to not be shown. I wanted more of a full picture.”

Lowry was also influenced to leave by her new relationship with now-fiancé Elijah Scott. “He had never been on TV. He’s never been a teen dad. And so, for us, I had felt like it was time for us to move on,” she shared. “I’m thankful that I was on it. I don’t have many regrets about it. To this day, I think it was the right decision.”