‘Teen Mom’ Star Gary Shirley Speaks: Why Is He Keeping Amber From Leah?

Teen Mom star Gary Shirley has taken care of his daughter Leah while Amber Portwood fought with her demons. Gary knew that Amber was struggling with drugs, and she chose to go to jail rather than go to anger management and rehab. And while Portwood was in jail, he did everything to get Leah back on track. Now, the two can’t seem to share custody, and Gary is edited to look like the bad guy.

According to a new Wetpaint Entertainment report, Teen Mom star Gary Shirley is now speaking out about his relationship with Amber, and he reveals that MTV edits the scenes to make it look like he’s keeping Leah from her mother.

“I don’t keep Leah from her, it’s played out worse than it is,” Gary revealed, adding, “Amber can see her anytime. The only reason I have issue with her getting her on school nights is Leah has perfect attendance and all A’s and Amber lives 50 plus min from school. We both don’t wanna jeopardize that.”

Of course, Gary may be very protective of his daughter now that Portwood is dating Matt Baier. Matt has told Amber that he has two kids, but Gary learned that Matt may have more than that. On Teen Mom, Shirley revealed that Amber’s boyfriend may have seven children that he’s not telling her about. And this could be a concern for Gary, who just wants to protect Leah.

“I have joint legal with Amber which is what we always had, I just have primary, meaning [Leah] lives with me,” Teen Mom star Gary Shirley reveals of their custody agreement, adding that he will “most def 100 percent” allow Amber to see Leah over the summer when she doesn’t have to go to school.

Amber may completely argue the opposite. She has revealed that Shirley often says no to keeping Leah overnight or even to spend more time with her. But if Portwood asks during the week, it makes sense that Gary wants to keep her. He wants to keep her attendance perfect, and he doesn’t want Amber to get her to school late.

Of course, another major issue that has been brought up is Matt himself. Gary Shirley did some digging and found out that Matt actually has a lot more children that he has admitted to. Gary found records that showed Matt was being sued by his exes for child support. And while he could have told her when the cameras were not around, Shirley just wanted Amber to know.

“I felt it was something Amber needed to know since Matt was in Leah’s life too,” Gary explains, revealing he didn’t do it in front of the cameras to call him out, adding, “Matt and I get along and after this reunion show hopefully you guys can see that I apologized to him for how things were handled. I think we’re all in a good place.”

According to Radar Online, Gary Shirley may be right about those extra children. The website claims that he actually has eight children – not seven. And he supposedly abandoned the children. So now the former girlfriends are standing together in hopes to get that support they so desperately want from him. Radar Online reports that his former fiancée, Kelli Maguire Nunn, has a daughter with him. But she isn’t on the massive list that Gary presented to Amber. She’s one of the mothers who didn’t go to court for child support. However, he owes more than $10,000 in child support. Amber may want to think twice before having a child with him. They haven’t talked about having children, but it is possible that she sees this in her future.

What do you think of Gary Shirley’s arguments? Do you think he’s keeping Leah from Amber, or do you think she’s being unreasonable?

[Image via Twitter]