Former Teen Mom star Ryan Edwards, 35, returned to MTV for the Teen Mom Family Reunion reunion episode on Feb. 21 and got emotional when asked about his strained relationship with his and Maci Bookout‘s son, 14-year-old Bentley. In the emotional reunion episode, Ryan admitted to Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, also known as Coach B, that he regrets not being there for his son over the years. “I mean there was a lot of times I wasn’t there just to see him play ball, just putting myself first,” he recalled with tears rolling down his face. At that point, Maci, 31, was crying as well.
part 1️⃣ AND part 2️⃣ of #TeenMomFamilyReunion: The Aftermath air back-to-back tonight at 8/7c on @mtv, and you really DON’T want to miss it all go down 👀🥂 pic.twitter.com/XasqSzaOED
— Teen Mom (@TeenMom) February 21, 2023
“I just looked at him and I could see the pain and honestly I felt like I was staring at Bentley,” the clearly shaken mother of three responded. “It’s obviously bittersweet, but I really appreciate the vulnerability and the ownership, where he maybe came up short, what he could have done differently. Everything he was committing to, it just felt little by little, a breath of fresh air, because it would absolutely make Bentley’s heart so whole.”
“Ryan, there’s a part of Bentley that is hurting, he loves you so much and there is only one person who can help that hurt and it’s you,” she continued. “He wants a relationship with you more than anything else.”
Earlier in the episode, Coach B asked Ryan what his “vision for a healthy co-parenting relationship with Maci” looks like. He replied that he simply wants Maci, “to be okay with just being able to see him”. He added, “Hell, I haven’t got to spend any time with him just me in a long time.” Perhaps his invite to the reunion episode is one step closer to that happening.
Maci opened up about ways she believes she can help Bentley and Ryan cultivate their relationship during the conversation. “I think one of them is making sure that I’m keeping Ryan all the way in the loop as it pertains to anything Bentley has going on, so he as the option to support and be there,” she explained. She also acknowledged that she and Ryan had “trouble communicating with each other respectfully” in the past. Both Maci and Ryan admitted to saying “hurtful and disrespectful” things to each other over the years, which clearly did not help their situation.
“I also want to apologize for not putting in more of an effort to understand the battles you were fighting and struggles you were going through,” she added, possibly referring to Ryan’s substance abuse struggles. “I should have treated you more like a human being and if I could go back and do it different, I definitely would, but I’m going to do it different moving forward and I’m sorry.”
The father-of-three did not join the full season of Teen Mom Family Reunion, but their situation was covered on the show. During the Feb. 7 episode of the series, Maci participated in an exercise with Coach B to help her remove the weight she has been carrying from fractured relationships and other stressors in her life, including her disappointment with Ryan. “I think it’s anger, and exhaustion. Anger of Bentley not getting what he deserves. The exhaustion just comes from: I’m tired of the enabling,” Maci explained of her relationship with the father of her first child.
As fans know, Ryan has experienced several run-ins with the law and has struggled with substance abuse over the years. He was last arrested on Feb. 10 of this year for allegedly violating the order of protection his wife, Mackenzie Edwards, had been granted against him just one day before. Law enforcement became involved again on Feb. 10 when Jen brought them proof that Ryan had posted a revealing and personal photo of her on his Instagram account as well as made offensive comments about her, such as calling her a “spineless s***”. Furthermore, authorities realized “Ryan had an active warrant for Harassment which was taken out by the Chattanooga Police Department,” according to a press release. The victim was named as Mackenzie.
When authorities learned of the outstanding warrant, they searched Ryan at his place of work and found him to be “in possession of drug paraphernalia and two bags of suspected narcotics.” Ryan was therefore booked into the Silverdale Detention Center on three charges: Harassment (Warrant), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
During the above-mentioned Feb. 7 episode of Teen Mom Family Reunion, Maci also spoke about the broken relationship she has with Ryan’s parents, Larry and Jen. She admitted she had not spoken to them since their blowout fight at the last Teen Mom OG reunion, and decided with Coach B that it would be best to reach out. She texted Jen to ask if she would be interested in joining her in Oregon while she filmed Teen Mom: Family Reunion. It appears things went well, as Jen was spotted crying off-stage during the reunion.