REALITY TV'I'm Done!': Amber Portwood's Daughter Leah Shirley Admits She 'Can't Handle' Relationship With Her Mom
Amber Portwood's daughter, Leah Shirley, revealed she's 'done' trying to have a relationship with her mother.
Amber Portwood’s daughter, Leah Shirley, opened up to Catelynn Lowell about her relationship with Portwood on the May 1 episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
Shirley told Lowell and Maci Bookout she was “done” with wanting a relationship with Portwood due to her being an inconsistent presence in her life and for how she’s blamed her dad, Gary Shirley, for their troubled relationship. She also shared she hadn’t seen Amber in nine months and, aside from when Amber reached out after Leah was diagnosed with asthma, Amber hadn’t attempted to contact her whatsoever.
Leah Shirley said it's too much' to have Amber Portwood come in and out of her life.
“Me and Maci have told her if she wanted to ever have a relationship with you that she needed to start showing consistency,” Catelynn told Leah, acknowledging that, while she and Maci are friends with Amber, they’re aware of her issues in terms of being a parent.
Leah noted it’s “too much” to have Amber come in and out of her life and, when appearing, act like “everything’s perfect.”
“She tells me that she loves me and hugs me and stuff and I can’t do that,” Leah elaborated, calling it “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.”
Catelynn Lowell told Leah Shirley it's 'huge' to see her 'setting boundaries' to 'protect' her own 'mental health and peace.'
She added she “doesn’t hate” her mother, but is dealing with her “own issues” and “can’t handle it.”
As far as Amber blaming Gary for their estranged relationship, Leah stated she wanted to “clear that up because it’s not fair for her to blame my dad for something that I want.”
She said Gary has consistently pushed for Leah to have a relationship with Amber, even pressing Leah to invite her to her birthday party — but Amber didn't end up coming.
Catelynn told Leah it was “huge” to see her “setting boundaries” to “protect” her own “mental health and peace” at such a young age, something Catelynn acknowledged she struggled to do with her own mother. When Catelynn added she doesn’t think she’ll ever have a “normal” relationship with her mother, Leah said she felt the same regarding her relationship with Amber.
As OK! reported, after the March 27 episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Amber broke down, insisting she was pushed out of Leah’s life.
- 'Emotional' Amber Portwood Breaks Down Over Daughter Leah Shirley, Insists She Was 'Pushed Out' of Her Life
- Amber Portwood's Daughter 'Scared' Stepmom Kristina Shirley Will Leave Due to 'Abandonment' Issues Related to MTV Star
- 'Teen Mom' Star Amber Portwood Reveals Her Relationship With Her Daughter Leah Is 'So Much Better' Now
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Leah Shirley defended Gary Shirley for always trying to encourage her to have a relationship with Amber Portwood.
“I’m feeling emotional when it comes to things I just saw… those aren’t boundaries,” Amber shared on a TikTok Live at the time. “I’m her mother. It’s disrespect. What did I, beat her? Did I do bad? Is that what I did? Is that what you’re saying? Nobody’s told me to be accountable, darling. Did you do time in prison? Did you sit and talk with my daughter and let her know that you’re an addict and everything that happened to you? Were you in my shoes? Were you paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to be in your children’s life? I don’t think you could. I don’t even think you could dare walk a mile in my shoes. I’ve done nothing in my life, darling, than try to be in my daughter’s life and was pushed out like a cancer.”
Amber advised people not to “play with” her, insisting she never chose a man over her children. “You caught me on a really bad moment and it can get worse,” she stated. “Don’t mess with me.”
In another TikTok Live, the long-standing reality starlet broke down in tears, claiming she’s done “exactly” what her daughter wanted.
“I came when the cameras weren’t there when she brought that up,” Amber said. “I promise. I got so many pictures and so many videos that I’ve never posted of us just to keep her from not feeling embarrassed or something.”
Leah Shirley claimed Amber Portwood hasn't seen her in nine months.
Amber also addressed Leah, telling her she’s “so proud” of her and that she “wouldn’t be” who she was today if “it wasn’t for the fact that I was gone sometimes back then.”
“I’ve changed so much and you haven’t been able to see,” Amber continued sharing while crying. “But I’ve never lied to you. You were my first love… the first time I felt love. And if it takes this for you to see since I can’t text you, call you or even… guys, there’s legal stuff but I just can’t anymore.”
When one critic noted this “didn’t seem genuine,” Amber insisted those type of remarks are “pushing” Leah “farther away.”
“She sees what you say and she listens to it,” she elaborated. “[There's] so much I can’t say. I say this in the nicest way — I’ll pray for the day when I’m not pushed away because somebody was angry at me. I can’t do anything about that, though, from the past. But just stop hurting me with the one thing you know you can hurt me with.”
