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Teen Mom's Amber Portwood Reveals Where She Stands With Gary Shirley After Reunion Drama

In an exclusive interview with E! News, Teen Mom Family Reunion star Amber Portwood explains why she invited ex Gary Shirley as her plus one on the new series.

By Mike Vulpo Jan 11, 2022 7:07 PMTags
Watch: Amber Portwood Shares Her Relationship With Ex Gary Shirley

There's nothing quite like a Teen Mom reunion!

Back in November, viewers watched Amber Portwood walk off the MTV show after her ex, Gary Shirley, shared new information about their 12-year-old daughter, Leah, starting therapy. 

The news caught Amber off guard, causing her to leave the taping after explaining that she would have liked a heads up as a parent. 

But as the Teen Mom Family Reunion kicks off Jan. 11 on MTV, fans will watch Amber invite Gary as her plus-one to the gathering in San Diego, Calif., where they'll spend quality time with cast members from the entire franchise. So how did the getaway go?

"It shouldn't be surprising. He had the right to be there, you know?" Amber exclusively told E! News. "With me and Gary together, we like to have fun. Half of the time we just talk crap to each other or we get into fights or we are friends with each other. We never know, honestly. It depends on how he wakes up or I wake up—or maybe just how I wake up. I don't know."

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The Never Too Late author added, "He likes to poke at me a lot and I've known him for 16 years, so he knows exactly what to do."

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Ultimately, when Teen Mom OG co-stars Maci Bookout McKinney and Cheynne Floyd invited Amber on the trip, she was thrilled to accept.

"It meant a lot though for Maci and Cheyenne to get everybody together. Gary is a really big part of this franchise," she explained. "For me, it's been 14 years. I'm 31 and we have fun together, but at a distance. But our relationship is good. It's a family now, so we treat it as a family more than anything else." 

Amber continued, "I think as a plus one, there couldn't have been anybody more fitting to come, actually."

MTV

Teen Mom Family Reunion will play out over eight weeks on MTV and allow cast members from Teen Mom OG and Teen Mom 2 to connect with one another and celebrate their unique bonds. 

Leah Messer, Jade Cline, Briana Dejesus and Ashley Siren will also be part of the new special. And while some moms won't see eye to eye during the trip, Amber said she really connected with Leah.

"I kind of always rotated around her at the beginning because I felt like when I made her laugh, she just came out a little more," she said. "It was great to meet her and actually spend time after all these years."

Teen Mom Family Vacation airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on MTV, followed by Teen Mom: Girls' Night In.

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