The 16-year-old reveals the last time she saw her mom, and also accuses Amber of always playing the “victim,” saying,”I don’t even want to be near her at this point.”
Amber Portwood’s daughter, Leah Shirley, is opening up about their relationship, or lackthereof.
On Thursday’s episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Leah, 16, accused her mom of trying to put on a front for the cameras and claiming they have a good relationship despite their apparent estrangement, with the teen bluntly calling their relationship “fake.”
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While chatting with Teen Mom stars and Amber’s friends, Catelynn Lowell and Maci Bookout, Catelynn asked Leah for an update on where she stands with her mom.
“When’s the last time you’ve seen your mother?” Catelynn asked. “I heard you haven’t seen her since Maci and I have been out there.”
“Yeah that was it,” Leah confirmed, to which Catelynn noted that it was nine months prior, before asking if Amber reaches out to her via text or phone call.
“She reached out to me one time when she found out I had asthma,” Leah shared.
Catelynn noted that she and Maci have told Amber that she needs to “start showing consistency” if she wants a relationship with her daughter, to which Leah declared that she’s “just kind of, like, done.”
“It’s too much on me if she comes around every, like, year, once or twice, and then acts like everything’s perfect, and tells me that she’s loves me and hugs me and stuff, like I can’t do that,” she said.
“It’s fake. You don’t text me. You don’t see me,” she continued. “And then when you do see me, for the purposes of there being a camera in your face, you try to act like you’re the best mom ever.”
However, Leah clarified that she doesn’t “hate” her mother, who previously revealed she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.
“I understand that she has her own issues to deal with and it makes it difficult, but I just can’t handle it myself,” she explained to Catelynn and Maci. “She tells people we have a good relationship and I think she thinks it’s my dad’s fault, and I want to clear that up because it’s not fair for her to blame my dad for something that I want.”
Leah noted how her dad, Gary Shirley, has continued to encourage her to have a relationship with Amber.
The teen spoke to her father, who has primary custody of Leah, about Amber throughout the episode, including how she didn’t want her mom to tag along on their family trip to New York.
She went on to share more thoughts on Amber.
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“Obviously like, I was already not wanting a relationship with her before, because she hasn’t been there,” Leah said, “but after her recent activities, I don’t even want to be near her at this point.”
She also accused her mom of playing the “victim,” and seeking attention.
“My entire life, and probably before that too, she’s always been like this,” Leah said. “She’s always been out to get people and just to make sure all the attention’s on her or something, and always turns herself into the victim of everything.”
Gary pointed out that Amber may not know her daughter’s thoughts on their relationship, to which Leah agreed, saying, “Maybe she doesn’t even know that she’s treating people like crap. She needs to know though.”
“I think maybe she doesn’t really realize that I’m the one that has been actively not wanting a relationship with her,” she added. “I feel like maybe I need to text her or something and let her know.”
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Earlier in the season, Leah expressed her desire to be adopted by her stepmother, Kristina, which Amber later said left her devastated.
“I thought I was already dark and deep and in a hole from what happened to me, the incident in North Carolina and him leaving me in the mountains,” she said in an April episode, referring to ex Gary Wayt abandoning her by totally disappearing.
“But when I found out about my daughter saying she wanted to be adopted, it took over everything. I was really in bed for four months. I realized I just needed my mommy,” she said, as video of one of her social media rages about the Leah situation was shown on camera.
Amber met up with her mom, Tonya, and shared that being able to reconnect with her mother made her hopeful she’ll one day be able to do the same with Leah.
“I see how my relationship with my mom was completely tumultuous and today I’m with my mom, I love my mom so much,” she said to the camera. “This is why I have hope with Leah. It’s just gonna take me a while.”
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursdays on MTV.
