Ready to address the gossip surrounding her Teen Mom: The Next Chapter departure, Amber Portwood revealed the reason behind her Teen Mom spin-off exit.
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During her TikTok Live on Saturday, Mar. 15, Portwood addressed the rumors that she was fired from the show.
“Not only am I not being let go, I quit three days ago,” she explained. “I told Larry [Musnik], the producer, I quit. My mental health was one of the things I said other than the yelling and crying from being so damn hurt from stuff.”
Amber Portwood then shared that her mental health is “so much more important” to her right now than Teen Mom: The Next Chapter. She further stated it was “so weird” that the rumors were circulating based on alleged claims being heard “through the grapevine.”
Amber Portwood Has Been in the ‘Teen Mom’ Franchise Since 2009
Amber Portwood first hit the reality TV spotlight with her 2009 appearance on Teen Mom’s predecessor 16 and Pregnant. Her episode chronicled her first pregnancy with her then-boyfriend, Gary Shirley.
Portwood joined the cast of the show’s spin-off Teen Mom, which also premiered in 2009. The show followed her and Gary as they co-parented their daughter, Leah, who is now 16.
She continued in the Teen Mom franchise by starring in Teen Mom OG, which premiered in 2015. She was on the cast with Farrah Abraham, Katelynn Lowell, and Maci Bookout.
In 2022, Portwood, Lowell, Bookout, and several Teen Mom 2 stars signed on for Teen Mom: The Next Chapter. The show is currently in its second season.
However, Portwood’s reality TV experience hasn’t always been positive. After MTV aired footage of her being violent towards Shirley, she was charged with three counts of domestic violence, two of them felonies.
She later pleaded guilty to two felony counts of domestic battery and received a two-year suspended sentence and two-year probation.
Her legal woes didn’t stop there. In December 2011, Portwood was arrested for the Class D felony of possession of a controlled substance. She was also charged with violating her probation on her earlier domestic violence charges by breaching conditions. This included behaving well in society, obtaining a GED certificate, completing six months of anger-management training, paying her probation fees, and setting up a $10,000 college fund for her daughter.
In March 2012, she failed her required drug test and was given a five-year suspended sentence. In 2019, she was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic battery. She also received one count of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.