Amber Portwood straight-up called Gary Shirley‘s wife, Kristina, “absolutely horrible” during the explosive Teen Mom OG reunion, which aired part one on April 20. Amber dissed her ex’s wife since she was convinced that Kristina is driving a wedge between Amber and her 12-year-old daughter, Leah, whom she shares with Gary. Amber even had harsh words to say about Gary before she started her rant against Kristina (and eventually walked off the reunion set).
Let's just say things get pretty intense on tonight's #TeenMomOG Reunion… pic.twitter.com/Pb7oN4FKpC
— Teen Mom (@TeenMom) April 20, 2021
Amber’s segment of the reunion began with a discussion with the reunion hosts, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Nessa Diab, about her tense relationship with Leah (Amber and the co-hosts filmed in different states due to the pandemic). Amber said she has “been trying to get a hold” of her daughter and accused Gary and his wife of making such efforts difficult. Gary eventually joins Amber, in-person, on the set. The reunion goes sour when Gary recalled a time he went over to Amber’s house to support her.
“I literally felt that he was trying to be genuinely nice at first and it turned into touch here and a touch there and it was feeling a bit off. He even said to me 100 percent don’t tell Kristina that I’m doing this,” Amber claimed, which Gary immediately denied and insisted “nothing inappropriate” happened. “I have a wonderful wife that I absolutely love. If I wanted somebody else other than my wife it wouldn’t be Amber,” Gary also said.
Dr. Drew jumped in at this point and sided with Gary, telling Amber that she was “trying to start a sh-t storm.” Amber called that remark “bulls–t.”
Gary Shirley with his and Amber Portwood’s daughter Leah, his wife Kristina and their daughter Emily. [Instagram/@itsgarytime]
However, Amber’s attitude towards Gary softens after watching a clip of her ex telling their daughter to spend time with Amber. It came from the March 30 episode of Teen Mom OG; in the clip, Leah was hesitant to hang out with Amber, but Gary had said he doesn’t want their daughter “missing out” on a bond with her mom. Amber was touched by Gary’s support.
Kristina also insisted she was merely a “bonus mom” to Leah during this Teen Mom OG clip. Regardless, Amber couldn’t also muster up kind words for Gary’s wife. “I’m going to stop this right now because — I’m going to end this on a positive note. Thank you Gary so much for that, I really enjoyed seeing that, that was amazing to actually hear you sticking up for me, but, your wife is absolutely horrible,” Amber said while sitting by Gary on the reunion couch.
Gary tried to cut in by saying “no” repeatedly, but Amber wasn’t having it. After recalling how she and Gary have “known each other for 15 years now,” the MTV star continued, “You are a great person, you have always been there for me when I have asked you to be there for me, you said I could trust you and I did trust you, but I can’t trust your wife. And she has sat there and sat there and got in the way of me and my daughter over and over again as you have tried to push me towards my daughter.”
“I try to invest time with Leah all the time, all the time. It’s all I ever do. [Kristina] doesn’t take care of my daughter. No, Gary does not clothe her, feed her,” Amber claimed during a heated Instagram Live session on March 31. She added, “Gary wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for me in the very beginning.”