MTV Maci Bookout has been with "Teen Mom" for more than 13 years.
Maci Bookout has been with “Teen Mom” for more than 13 years, but some fans think her time on the MTV series should come to an end.
The network rebooted the series to create “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,” combining the remaining cast members from “Teen Mom OG” and “Teen Mom 2.” Instead of each of the eight cast members getting paid a set amount and getting the same amount of air time, the women are only paid if they appear in the episode.
The first episode of “The Next Chapter” mainly featured Cheyenne Floyd, Amber Portwood, Briana DeJesus and Bookout.
Bookout and her husband — Taylor McKinney — allowed for their son, 13-year-old Bentley, to watch their two kids: 7-year-old Jayde Carter and 6-year-old Maverick. The MTV stars told the kids they were going to a restaurant for dinner, but they secretly got takeout and watched what the kids were doing through a baby monitor while they were gone.
They pretended they couldn’t find a babysitter. “We want to see you, like, show a little responsibility,” McKinney told his stepson.
Bentley struggled to wrangle his siblings and Bookout told McKinney things didn’t look like they were going to end well.
At 13, Bentley is only a few years younger than Bookout was when she had him.
“The anxiety that I was feeling was the panic arising that like my kid was going through something that I had felt similarly being a teenager and becoming a parent,” Bookout told the cameras. “Bentley is not supposed to be a parent.”
Fans Said Bookout Was Struggling For a Storyline
Viewers claimed that Bookout’s storyline was lackluster on the “Teen Mom” premiere and wondered if her time in the series should come to an end.
“I cant believe how boring this looks wtf macis plot is that Bentley wants Instagram are you serious,” one person wrote. “She should be cut unless Ryan comes back.”
“She’s so boring and literally has nothing else going on in her life,” a second agreed. “She’s become very unrelatable in recent years.”
“I have a feeling it’s about to be her final season,” a third chimed in. “She’s so boring, and even her segment preview for this season is boring and since their screen time is based on drama, Maci ain’t it.”
Bookout isn’t sure how long she’ll continue with the series.
“Back in the day, I’d be like, you know, as long as I feel like I’m helping people — even if it’s just one person — showing them they are not alone or they’re not crazy, then I would keep doing it,” Bookout said on Kailyn Lowry’s “Baby Mamas No Drama” podcast, per People. “As the kids get older, especially Bentley, it’s definitely a season-by-season thing. Not to say that I don’t ever feel like, ‘Alright, my time is up. … [It’s time to] move on to the next chapter.'”
Bookout said “Teen Mom” is helping her grow.
“At this point, selfishly — and I say that not in a way that I think it’s selfish — I feel like the show opens my eyes to me [about] what I need to work on, what I need to face myself,” she continued. “It’s just a good reflective tool that most people don’t have.”
Bookout Praised Bentley As ‘Special’
As some of the “Teen Mom” kids enter their teenage years themselves, the MTV stars have been writing special messages for their kids.
Bookout told Bentley, the son she welcomed with her ex-boyfriend Ryan Edwards, that he was something special on his 13th birthday.
“You’ll probably never know a human as special as this one,” Bookout wrote on Instagram. “He’s truly one of a kind!”
To find out what happens next, don’t miss “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” when it airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.