Between addiction issues, serving prison time and being filmed mocking 12-year-old son Bentley‘s feelings on Teen Mom OG, Ryan Edwards isn’t about to win any father of the year awards with his son by Maci Bookout. But the MTV star is determined that her oldest child forge a healthier relationship with his biological dad, even though Maci’s husband Taylor McKinney has been in the active role as a parent to Bentley since their Oct. 2016 nuptials. Maci is all for Bentley and Ryan going to therapy together to improve their father-son relationship, in Teen Mom OG’s season nine trailer.
In the promo for the upcoming season — which premieres Jan. 26, 2021 on MTV — Maci is seen asking her son if he “still wants to go to therapy” as Bentley looks at his mom with a concerned expression on his face. They are next seen in the car apparently on the way to an appointment, giving each other supportive fist bumps. In the accompanying press release, MTV notes that Maci “puts her personal feelings aside to support Bentley he takes the steps necessary to repair his relationship with his dad Ryan.”
Bentley is almost a teenager now, so he’s clearly becoming aware of his emotional needs. Plus, he’s literally able to watch his mom and dad’s drama play out on TV from the time he was born. Maci got pregnant with Bentley at 16, while she and Ryan were high school sweethearts. The 29-year-old first became famous when she appeared on MTV’s then-groundbreaking 16 and Pregnant reality series. Maci has since been a cast member on Teen Mom OG, which is entering it’s ninth season.
Maci has been married to husband Taylor McKinney since Oct. 2016, and they have two children: five-year-old daughter Jayde and four-year-old son Maverick. Ryan married wife Mackenzie Standifer in 2017 just before entering rehab. The pair has two young children, son Jagger born in 2018 and 11-month-old daughter Stella.
Sadly, Ryan was seen in a May 2020 Teen Mom OG episode mocking poor Bentley, who cried after he and his first girlfriend broke up. He was shown talking to Mackenzie and said “I feel like he’s going to be one of those guys that boo-hoo cries a little bit,” then added, “I feel like he’s going to be one of those guys where the chicks just break up with him on purpose just for a funny show.” That had to have hurt Bentley so much to have his dad dragging his pain on national TV.
Ryan has also had issues with drug addiction and prison stints. He was arrested on January 23, 2019 and charged with simple possession of heroin, violating his probation from a 2017 possession of heroin charge. In March 2018, he was arrested for petition to revoke after failing a drug test in January 2018, testing positive for opiates and morphine. He was arrested again in July 2018 for breaking probation. In between these arrests, Ryan attempted rehab twice, in May 2017 and Oct. 2018.
In a June 2019 Teen Mom OG episode, Maci shared how she feared how all of Ryan’s legal troubles would affect Bentley. She even vented to her husband Taylor about how Ryan should be calling his son more while he was behind bars. “Honestly, we don’t really co-parent,” Maci confessed in a March 21, 2020 EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife. “Taylor and I definitely co-parent. If anyone, it would be Jen and Larry,” Maci continued, referring to Ryan’s parents. Maci explained, “Yeah, we [she and Ryan] don’t have the relationship at all at this point.” In Teen Mom OG season nine, Maci appears to be putting the well being of Bentley first and trying to help him repair his broken relationship with Ryan.