It's interesting to hear that the creator of 90 Day Fiance took inspiration from Teen Mom, as it's definitely a juicy and dramatic reality show. After viewers watched teenagers deal with unexpected pregnancies and the early days of parenthood on 16 & Pregnant, MTV created their spin-offs Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2.
The stars are famous and dealing with a lot in their personal lives, and the shows are still going strong, with a new season of Teen Mom OG just wrapping up and its reunion episode airing on April 2oth.
Fans have seen the heartbreaking and wild moments on this show, but is it for real? Let's take a look at whether Teen Mom is real or fake.
All In The Editing
Chelsea Houska left Teen Mom 2 recently, and she has been honest about her time on the show.
Houska tweeted that her words have been "taken out of context": according to The Cinemaholic, she seems to suggest that the show isn't totally real because it's all in the editing.
In July 2017, Houska tweeted, "Just a little something that irked me about the show tonight. Theres a part where I say 'I feel like it's taking away from Cole's experience.'" She added, "And that was taken out of context from a different convo and added in that scene for some reason."
While fans of reality TV definitely know that every episode is edited, it's pretty surprising to hear that a piece of dialogue would be moved into a totally different scene.
Some fans took to Reddit to talk about editing that they have noticed on Teen Mom. One fan wrote that they can tell that clocks show different times in the same scene: they said, "in one scene with Maci and Taylor, I kept watching the clock jump. First it was 9 PM, then it was 7:30 PM, then it was around 8:45 PM. Hurt my head as I sat there and try to piece together the actual conversation that was had."
Jade Cline's Story
Teen Mom 2 star Jade Cline says that the show filmed her without telling her. She tweeted that she and her mom had a "private conversation" and she was upset that it was put on TV.
Jade tweeted, "What’s sooo [sic] funny about this is they secretly filmed all this without my knowledge. Basically lied to my face and said we were done filming and me and my mom we’re [sic] having a private conversation that they decided to take upon their self [sic] to record while I had no idea," according to In Touch Weekly.
In that scene, Jade told her mom that she was thinking of ending her relationship with Sean. They had a big argument and he said that while getting his GED, he wasn't planning on working.
The scene also showed Kloie, her daughter, having a tantrum.
Jade shared that she was upset that people said she wasn't a good mother based on that scene. She said, "I do everything for my kid. You guys see five minutes of a bad day and assume that’s my life every single second. Dumb.”
Jade also brought up a good point: that everyone struggles but not everyone has their lives shown on reality TV. She explained, "Moms are allowed to have bad days. Everyone has bad days, kids have bad days. Some days are harder than others" and said to anyone judging her, "Trust me, I know you people aren’t perfect either."
What's Definitely Real
While some scenes are edited, the core of the show is about the experiences that these young mothers have, and those are true.
According to NY Daily News, Amber Portwood hit Gary Shirley, her ex and the father of her daughter Leah, and it was caught on camera. Fans will remember this scene as it was shocking and difficult to watch.
According to E! News, Amber was given a five-year prison sentence in 2012 for violating probation and for having prescription drugs. If she went to rehab, she didn't have to go to jail. But that plea deal didn't work out and Amber agreed to go to prison for five years. She was in prison for under two years and was let out in November 2013.
The struggles surrounding pregnancy and young motherhood are also authentic. Fans of Catelynn and Tyler Baltierra remember watching the young couple decide to give their baby girl Carly up for adoption on 16 & Pregnant. That really did happen and Catelynn told E! News, "I think sometimes we think about how weird it would be to have an 11-year-old right now. That would be crazy. We know that we made the right decision. We don't ever second-guess that decision at all."
While some stars of Teen Mom have said that scenes were edited a certain way or they were painted in a less than positive light, the main storylines on this MTV reality franchise seem to be authentic. Fans get the chance to see what it's like for these young parents and that is still the point of the show.