Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley’s daughter Leah has been a fixture on MTV since birth, and while she didn’t initially have a say in appearing on TV, the 16-year-old says the experience has “been a blessing.”
In a new interview with People, Leah– whose strained relationship with Amber has been a been a recurring storyline on the last few seasons of Teen Mom– admitted that watching her parents “go through their journey” on TV can be “embarrassing,” hinting at the tumultuous moments the former couple shared on TV beginning with 16 and Pregnant in 2009.
“ … they had a lot of ups and downs– mostly downs from what I’ve seen,” Leah said. “It’s weird to see what they were like at my age, when they had a completely different life and were just starting off on TV.”
As for sharing her own story with viewers, Leah said being on TV has allowed her the opportunity to help others who may relate to her experience.
“For me, having my life captured on TV has been a blessing,” Leah said. “I like being able to share my story and help other people who have gone through some of the things I’ve been through.”
Many of those “things” Leah’s been through relate to her estrangement from her mom (whom she refers to as Amber), including her struggles with “abandonment issues” and wanting her stepmom, Kristina Shirley, to legally adopt her– both of which, Leah has opened up about on episodes of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
In her interview with People, Leah announced that she still very much intends to have Kristina adopt her, likely after Leah turns 18 and Amber won’t be able to interfere with the adoption.
“I’m also excited to get officially adopted in the upcoming year or so,” she told the magazine.
While Leah considers it a “blessing” to be able to share her experience on TV, she revealed on a February episode of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ that watching old clips from the MTV series can be “painful,” particularly the scenes that captured how poorly Amber treated both Gary and baby Leah.
(As fans of ‘Teen Mom’ may remember, Amber was filmed multiple times in the early seasons physically assaulting Gary, sometimes when baby Leah was in the room. Amber even received elevated charges because of this during one of her arrests for domestic violence against Gary.)
“I see the older ones, from when I was like, two, and it’s just weird to watch because it’s always, like, Amber screaming at you and you leave,” Leah told her dad. “And then there’s one clip where [Amber] is like, ‘Why is Leah crying?’ when she is in a complete opposite room, just leaving me.
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“It’s just weird,” Leah continued. “I think those ones are kind of painful to watch because it’s little me.”
During the episode, Gary apologized to Leah for not getting her out of the toxic environment with Amber sooner and Leah accepted his apology, before going on to tell her dad that she wanted to begin therapy to “overcome” the trauma of her past.
On last week’s episode of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,’ Leah also called out Amber for not reaching out to her for extended periods of time and then pretending “everything’s perfect” between them with the cameras are rolling.
“She tells me that she loves me and hugs me and stuff and I can’t do that,” Leah shared with cast members Catelynn Lowell and Maci Bookout. “ … It’s fake. Like, you don’t text me, you don’t see me, and then when you do see me– for purposes of there being a camera in your face– you try to act like you’re the best mom ever.”
In his own recent interview with People, Gary stated that he and Leah sometimes are subjected to fans’ opinions, which he said are sometimes formed without the fans having all the real-life details.
“I have people messaging me saying, ‘You need to be nicer to Amber,’ or ‘Leah needs to forgive her mom, it’s not Amber’s fault.’ And you guys see what you see, but we’re talking about several years of trying for a relationship that someone else isn’t putting the time and effort into,” Gary said.
“I get where people are coming from, and they’re not the majority,” Gary continued. “They might just be in a similar situation, or share something with Amber and that’s why they’re defending her for certain things. That’s how it goes, but overall, our interactions are very positive.”
New episodes of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ air Thursdays on MTV.
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