Teen Mom Confidential: Secrets & Scandals From MTV's Most Controversial Shows

This book is protected under the copyright laws of The United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without written permission except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.

For more information, contact [email protected]

First printing: April, 2013

Printed in The United States of America

ASIN: B00CGTWKPQ

Think you know everything about
Amber Portwood
,
Jenelle Evans
,
Kailyn Lowry
,
Maci Bookout
,
Farrah Abraham
,
Catelynn Lowell
,
Chelsea Houska
,
Leah Messer
and the rest of MTV's famous young moms?

Think again! From how the girls of
16 and Pregnant
were cast to the
Teen Mom
stars' outrageous diva demands and the touching letter from
Stormie Clark
to the granddaughter Farrah won't let her see, these are the true, behind-the-scenes stories of TV's most fascinating and controversial shows.

Forget the rumors.
Teen Mom Confidential
is packed with first hand memories, newly published photos and updated interview with the cast members everyone is talking about.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank
Farrah Abraham
,
Daniel Alvarez
Butch Baltierra
,
Jamie Blackwell
Cleondra Carter
,
Stormie Clark
Tyler Cooksey
,
Casey Cunningham
Danielle Cunningham
,
Ashley Danielson
Nicole Fokos
,
Hope Harbert
John Hidalgo
,
Jordan Howard
Andrew Lewis
,
Kailyn Lowry
Amy LaDawn Nichols
,
Ebony Jackson-Rendon
Jamie McKay
,
Alethea Montante
Sarah Roberts
,
Gary Shirley
Josh Smith
,
Katie Stack
Sabrina Solares
,
Dawn Spears
Robert Thompson
,
Toni Ziegler

and the many other family, crew and cast members

who agreed to be interviewed for this book.

By Ashley Majeski

My name is Ashley and I am a reality TV junkie. I'm the first to admit I have a strange life: I spend my nights on the couch watching cheesy “unscripted” shows and my days blogging about them for
TheAshleysRealityRoundup.com.
Never could I have imagined how much of my website - and my life - would be taken up by MTV's controversial docu-series
16 and Pregnant
and
Teen Mom
.

For the past three years I have been learning everything I can about Amber Portwood, Maci Bookout, Catelynn Lowell, Jenelle Evans, Chelsea Houska, Kailyn Lowry, Farrah Abraham, Leah Messer and the rest of basic cable's most notorious young mothers. Writing about this bunch can be a full time job. There are arrests, weddings, divorces, daddy dramas...

In just the first few weeks of 2013:

* Leah had a baby.

* Jenelle suffered a miscarriage, dumped husband Courtland Rogers (after just 53 days!) and filed assault charges against him.

* Kail revealed she was pregnant again and suffers from bipolar disorder.

* Farrah was arrested for D.U.I., appeared in her first adult film - and was blasted on social media for waxing her three year-old daughter's unibrow.

* Catelynn and fiancé Tyler Baltierra began filming episodes of an upcoming reality series called
Couples Therapy
- just months before their planned wedding.

As you can see, it's tough to keep up! Luckily, I have help. Back in 2011, I met Sean Daly, a reporter for the
New York Post
. He needed some information for a story about the new season of
16 and Pregnant
. I had never thought of myself as any kind of authority on the subject, but then it hit me. Perhaps after years of documenting these girls' dramatic journeys from small town obscurity to the front page of
TMZ
, I had in fact become an expert on the new MTV: “Maternity Television.”

Sean and I ended up working together on several projects and eventually decided to collaborate on this book. Our goal was to tell the complete - and uncensored - stories of these shows and their stars: the good, the bad and what got left on the cutting room floor. We spent a full year reaching out to everyone we could find who had ever been associated with the productions: crew, family members and especially the girls themselves. We dug up shocking details MTV never wanted anyone to see - like how some important events (including one
Teen Mom 2
girl's scandalous hookup) were completely staged or recreated.

MTV basically invented the genre of reality television back in 1992 with
The Real World
. But these shows have been groundbreaking in a completely different way. Not too many years ago - (before Bristol Palin and Jamie Lynn Spears) - girls who got pregnant in high school were sent to “visit their aunt in the country” to prevent bringing shame on their families. Now they're welcomed into our living rooms as unwitting role models - baby bellies in full view - to share their polarizing stories of what happens when you get knocked up before you can vote.

Each year, almost 370,000 American teens incur an unplanned pregnancy. Only a dozen or so make it to MTV. This is the true story of those girls, and how three shows changed their lives - and reality television - forever.

The Great Debate: Does MTV Glamorize Pregnancy?

“The message that I take from the shows is that it's cool to become pregnant… Being a teenage mother is making them famous.”

- LaToya Hagins
,
Examiner.com

“Anyone who has seen even one episode of either of these shows can see that these girls' lives have been completely turned upside-down by their pregnancies. Most struggle just to keep their baby's father in the picture on top of trying to finish high school and scraping together enough money to feed, clothe, and otherwise care for a newborn.”

- Melanie Boysaw
,
Berkeley Political Review

“I had an abortion when I was 16. Because that's what I should have done. Otherwise I would now have a 20-year-old kid. Anyway, those are the things that people shouldn't be dishonest about.
16 and Pregnant
? Getting rewarded for being pregnant when you're a teenager? Are you serious? I mean, that makes me want to kill somebody.”

- Chelsea Handler
, talk show host

“I'm so tired of hearing that
Teen Mom
glamorizes teen pregnancy. I've been on my own and a single parent since I was 17. Is that glamorous? I don't have relationships with either of my parents and I struggle dealing with teenage emotions and adult responsibilities. That's glamorous?”

- Kailyn Lowry
,
Teen Mom 2
, via
Twitter