Maci Bookout on Her ‘Awkward’ Relationship with Jen & Larry Edwards Today

“Teen Mom” star Maci Bookout got candid about her relationship with Jen and Larry Edwards, the paternal grandparents of her 14-year-old son, Bentley. The last time viewers saw Bookout and the Edwards, they got gotten into a shouting match at the 2021 reunion. More than a year later, Bookout told Dr. Drew Pinsky on “The Next Chapter” reunion that things had changed.

Pinsky was direct when he asked for an update on Jen and Larry Edwards.

“It’s not where it was the last time you saw the four of us together,” Bookout told Pinsky. “I’m happy with where we are because it has not at all been forced or faked or alright, let’s just put it over there and pretend that it didn’t happen and pretend that we’re happy and it’s all great.

“It’s been a very natural sometimes awkward, sometimes weird — but natural — evolution,” Bookout added.

Pinsky then asked how Bentley’s relationship was with Ryan Edwards, his biological father. “Is Ryan in his life?” the celebrity psychologist asked.

Bookout and her husband, Taylor McKinney, gave each other a look. “He comes over sometimes to Jen and Larry’s,” McKinney answered.

“That doesn’t sound like him in his normal state to not want to be around Bentley,” Pinsky said. “So, hope he’s OK.”

Bookout shook her head up and down and said, “Right.”

In the past, Edwards has struggled with addition. The last time he did an interview, he told The Sun in April 2021 that he had three years of sobriety under his belt.

McKinney accused Edwards of being under the influence during the last season of “Teen Mom OG,” but Edwards said he was just tired.

“I can see why he made the comment, but really I was just exhausted 99 percent of the time,” he told The Sun.

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Bentley Appeared at the Reunion

For the first time in many years, Bentley joined his parents on “Teen Mom” reunion stage to answer some questions from Pinsky and co-host Nessa Diab.

Bentley said it was “weird” to be there, which garnered a laugh from Bookout and McKinney.

During season one of “The Next Chapter,” he babysat his two half-siblings: 7-year-old Jayde Carter and 6-year-old Maverick.

Bentley said it was a “terrible” experience.

“I wasn’t scared of anything I just knew Maverick was gonna be a problem,” he said, adding that the hardest part about being an older brother was having to “set an example.”

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Bentley Doesn’t Mind Being on TV

Bentley — who hasn’t had a strong relationship with his biological father,  has been in therapy.

“You feel, like, relaxed,” he said about going to counseling. “It feels like a weight is off your shoulders and all that.”

As far as being on reality TV goes, Bentley said that it’s “normal” to have cameras filming him and the kids at school don’t care that he’s on a show. “They don’t really say anything,” he told Pinsky.

Diab wanted to know what happened to Bentley’s mullet, which he sported during season one. He showed up to the reunion with a shorter haircut.

Bentley said he cut it off because it was “too long” and got in the way when he was playing golf.

He said he would have played “way better” if it was short.

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