Teen Mom OG star Gary Shirley came under fire by viewers who don’t agree with how he handled his daughter Leah’s relationship with her mom, Amber Portwood.
In the last episode of Teen Mom OG, Gary enlisted the help of a parenting coach when he saw that Leah was struggling in her broken mother-daughter relationship with Amber.
Amber Portwood and daughter Leah Shirley’s broken relationship
Amber has been largely absent from Leah’s life, stemming from her run-ins with the law and drug abuse.
Because of her arrests due to domestic violence and drug possession, Amber served jail time and consequently lost custody of Leah.
Amber’s baby daddy, Gary Shirley, has full custody of Leah, and his wife, Kristina Shirley, has stepped up in as Leah’s stepmom.
Previously, Amber accepted Gary’s offer to join them for dinner at his house so she could also spend some time with Leah. But Teen Mom OG viewers cringed as they watched the awkward encounter in which Amber and Leah barely interacted.
Gary confided in his wife, Kristina, telling her, “Am I doing the right thing by letting Leah take some space? I don’t know. I have been looking for, like, some kind of therapist to talk to for myself.”
So Gary invited the parenting coach over after admitting that his first job is “being a father” to Leah.
The coach told Gary that he might be “overlooking” Leah’s suffering and told him, “You might be overlooking the trauma that Leah has gone through. I think if you force her into that relationship then you’re basically saying, ‘All these feelings you have, they’re not that important.'”
Teen Mom OG viewers bash Gary Shirley’s parenting
After watching the scene, some Teen Mom OG fans took to Reddit where they were critical of how Gary handled the situation with Leah.
In a Reddit post titled, “Gary and the Parenting Coach,” Teen Mom OG viewers flocked to the comments where they gave their opinions about how Gary handled the touchy topic.
One Teen Mom OG fan felt as though Gary, along with his wife Kristina, help Amber way too much and in the process, are hurting Leah.
Their comment read, “Gary and Kristina are way too accommodating to that piece of s**t, and meanwhile Leah’s wants fall on deaf ears from them both.”
Another Teen Mom OG fan resorted to name-calling in their comment which read, “This idiot needed everyone to tell him to do the right thing. Let that sink in.”
Is Gary helping Leah in order to keep Amber in his life? One commenter thought so and wrote, “I honestly think he’s doing it for himself. Even Kristina is worried about him wanting Amber, she’s ‘jokingly’ said she’s worried about him sneaking out to see her.”
During last season’s Teen Mom OG reunion, Amber accused Gary of coming on to her when Kristina wasn’t around. Gary denied the allegations and their segment ended in Amber walking off, telling Gary, “Your wife is absolutely horrible.”
“They also need to not film or discuss Leah seeing a therapist-if Leah chooses to do so,” commented a Redditor who felt that such personal topics should be left off Teen Mom OG altogether.
Teen Mom OG airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on MTV.