Maci Bookout is sharing a positive update on her relationship with ex Ryan Edwards after celebrating Easter together.
“Ryan is doing really well,” Bookout, 32, exclusively shared with Us Weekly on Monday, April 1, while promoting season 3 of Teen Mom: Family Reunion. “I believe in a week, he’ll be a year sober, which I have never seen since his act of addiction really began. But he’s doing really well, doing the work.”
Over the weekend, the MTV reality star and her husband, Taylor McKinney, spent time with Edwards and his rumored girlfriend Amanda Conner for an Easter celebration. Joining in on the festivities was Edwards, 36, and Bookout’s 15-year-old son, Bentley.
“I feel like him and Bentley are in a really good place,” Bookout shared. “All I say is hope and expectations are two different things. I’m still very, very hopeful every day. But I will also say that over the last year, I think expectations have changed a little bit too. He’s doing really well. It was really nice being able to have — for Bentley — all of his family in one spot. It was cool. It was great.”
Teen Mom viewers have had a front-row seat as Edwards struggled with addiction and tried to maintain a strong relationship with his son. On the show, Bentley revealed that he entered therapy in hopes of improving the bond with his birth father.
Through the ups and downs, Bookout remains grateful that McKinney, 34, is a stable father figure in Bentley’s life as he grows up in the spotlight and navigates changing family dynamics.
“I feel like Bentley especially wouldn’t have had the courage to really keep pursuing and stay hopeful in certain situations, but I think Taylor provides that constant for Bentley and for me,” Bookout explained. “We can kind of dip our toe in the water here even if it’s scary because we always know this guy’s gonna be there. And it’s a lot of pressure on him, but he’s always there.”
These days, Bentley continues to thrive in high school as he balances school work, wrestling, baseball and learning how to drive.
The high school freshman is also taking a break from therapy, but can easily text his therapist if he needs a session.
“He’s always got that to reach out to at any time,” Bookout explained. “I feel like he still is very confident in therapy and knows it’s there when he needs it and I think that’s the healthiest space to be when it comes to therapy, especially at his age.”
Nearly 15 years after Bentley made his MTV debut on 16 and Pregnant, both Bookout and McKinney remain proud of the child they raised in front of the world.
“Even through the rough times he’s been through in his life with Ryan and all that, he’s always just kind of handled himself accordingly and true to himself and stayed true to who he was,” McKinney — who founded the lifestyle company Things That Matter — said. “He’s had reasons where he could have acted out, but he never has.”
Bookout added, “It’s just his ability to show up for other people and be there for other people. …He’s the same ole Bentley, just maybe a little taller and maybe a little deeper voice.”
While Bentley receives plenty of praise from his immediate family, it doesn’t mean Bookout didn’t worry about him when she was filming Teen Mom: Family Reunion in Colombia.
While on location with her husband and costars, Bookout joked that she worried about what was going on back home.
“We’re in the phase with him where we really have to trust him to make his own decisions and to deal with any consequences that may come from those decisions,” she said. “Being gone for Family Reunion, it was one of those like, ‘Oh my god. It’s his freshman year of high school. We’re going to be gone. I hope everything is gonna be okay.’”
Teen Mom: Family Reunion airs on MTV Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
