Katie seemed to confirm that report in a blistering March 2013 social media post, apparently referencing the short fused coal mine worker: “When you say it's my fault for staying with him when he was abusive for over a year you're just being inconsiderate. Fear is powerful. Don't pretend like you know the sacrifices I've made and the shame that it has caused me. Rebuilding who you once were isn't easy…” She also re-tweeted messages of support from fans, replying to one by revealing “All the violence is followed with I love you'd and it'll never happen again and then somehow is blamed on you.” [sic]
Katie, once a competitive swimmer, told us she is contractually forbidden from giving interviews without permission from MTV. But we were able to track down several people close to the young mom, who say she landed in the hospital in late 2012 with serious bruising and several cracked ribs after a heated altercation with her ex. “That's when she moved out and left him,” a childhood friend reveals. “They are civil now.” Show sources hint Joey “will be a main focus of the show” as the season progresses.
Several people familiar with Katie and her family say she had a “pretty average” childhood - but things quickly became complicated by the time she started high school. She's the oldest of three children. Sister Blake was 16 and brother Riley was 14 at press time. Her mother, Luci, is a hairdresser; father, Russell Armstrong, races cars and runs an auto body shop in Green River, Wyoming. (Both of Katie's parents hate that she is part of Teen Mom 3 and will rarely be seen on camera.) The family temporarily relocated to a small town near Jackson Hole when Katie was 8, so her father could expand his business.
Katie - a self-described “social butterfly” - spent much of her youth in the pool. She attended swim practice twice each day and competed on two different teams in middle school. “She went to state (championships) each year and was highly ranked,” a friend says. The family moved to Green River when Katie was ready to begin high school, hoping she could secure a swimming scholarship. But just two weeks into her freshman year, Katie's life went off the rails when her father was arrested for “Conspiracy To Distribute” Methamphetamine. “[He] wasn't released until I was almost 17,” she shared on Instagram in early 2013. “We are just now slowly rebuilding our relationship and trust.”
Friends say Katie gave up swimming and started hanging out with “all the wrong kind of people” after her father was sent to lockup in El Paso, Texas. “All she wanted to do was party,” we're told. “She never experimented with drugs...but went through a phase where she would black out on Friday and wouldn't remember anything until Sunday.”
Making matters worse, she was also nursing a broken heart after her first boyfriend, Coleman, moved away. “He was the only guy I ever loved,” she told friends. Together they shared the heartache of losing their dads and the intimacy of losing their virginity. Coleman headed to Colorado, where he now attends culinary school and owns his own food truck. He has invited Katie to one day join him with the promise they would marry. But deep inside, Katie knows that will probably never happen.
As she lost control of her life, Katie began to sink into a deep depression. During her sophomore year, she started dating an older guy (whose name we have been asked to withhold). Friends say he tried to lead her down a path of drug abuse. On one particular night in December 2008, he invited Katie over to party with him and his best friend. Katie, at the time, was tending to her own best friend after a long night of drinking and declined the offer. A few hours later, her boyfriend's friend was pronounced dead from an overdose of heroin. “That was the night she stopped partying as much and started to focus on herself and school.”
Katie had known Joey for most of her life before they started dating. She would often spend summers with her grandparents who lived in the same town as his dad. During their junior year in high school, Joey was sent away to a drug and alcohol treatment center. He returned almost a year later and headed straight to her house. The relationship was casual at first -- mostly hanging out at parties and on the weekends. “It wasn't anything either of them saw going anywhere,” a friend remembers.
Katie was more focused on attending college - she was accepted to Denver University, Utah University, Colorado State and Boise State - and Joey planned to enlist in the military after graduation. But things became much more serious when Katie discovered she was pregnant. Almost overnight, she ditched her friends and began spending all of her time with Joey. Panicked and depressed, she concealed the pregnancy from almost everyone until a month before graduation.
Single motherhood is never easy, but Katie seems to be making the best of it. She finished her first year of school with a 3.5 GPA. In October 2012, Katie shared an update on her life via Twitter: "Ima mother, work two jobs, going back to college full time, taking online classes to be a certified pharm. tech until I finish school," she wrote. "Taking 2 month pharm tech course so I can make $ while I'm working on my masters." [sic]
She also appears to have finally found love again. In March 2013, Katie posted a shirtless photo of her new man Scott Eversull. “He thinks he's so cute sending me pictures of him in MY favorite pants he stole,” she wrote. Scott, too, has been sharing online about the red-hot romance, tweeting: “I still remember the first time we kissed.” On his official page (discovered by Wetpaint.com), Scott reveals: “ive been in trouble for about 3 years now and im not proud if any of it. i recently graduated from red top meadows in wilson. ive learned alot and ive learned to help others." [sic]
According to the school's official website, Red Top Meadows “provides residential treatment and therapeutic wilderness programs for adolescent males with behavioral, emotional and/or mental health issues.” Sounds like Katie's new man could add some real spice to her life - but we'll have to wait to see that during season two.
* * * *
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT KATIE FROM TWITTER
* She wants to home school her daughter.
After the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Katie told her more than 20,000 followers the tragedy was "one of the many reasons why Molli will be home-schooled. Who shoots kids? Why do we live in a world like this? #PrayForNewtown.” She later followed up, adding: "Makes me sick to my stomach. Whatever happened to schools being a safe place for children to learn."
* She was the original Honey Boo Boo.
"#DidYouKnow I did pageants from the time that I was 2 until I was 16," she shared on October 19, 2012. "Yeah I was the original #ToddlersInTiaras." In another post, shared: “I did pageants for so many years that the smell of some hairsprays makes me sick.”
* She has a great sense of humor.
In February 2013, she wrote: "Baby you're the reason I get up in the morning! Just kidding I need to pee."
* You don't want to cross her.
After allegedly catching Joey in the act with a girl named Brigette, she gave him a public dressing down: “No, I'm not jealous of your new girlfriend. I feel sorry for her, because she's dating an unfaithful selfish assh0le.”
MACKENZIE DOUTHIT
Miami, Oklahoma
(b. October 17, 1994)
Baby: Gannon Dwayne McKee (b. September 12, 2011)
Baby Daddy: Joshua McKee
Episode 401: March 27, 2012
The perky, blonde cheerleader had a hard time keeping her boyfriend, Josh, off the rodeo horse. During her episode, she even considered leaving him due to his refusal to stop riding and get a job to help support their son.
Since we last saw Mackenzie, she's gone back to high school and cheerleading, and she and Josh have had their share of relationship drama. The couple got engaged shortly after their 16 and Pregnant episode aired, only to call it off the following year and just “go back to dating.” In January 2013, Mackenzie announced on her Facebook page that Josh had proposed again and that they were planning to marry in April. Josh was planning on joining the military and Mackenzie and Gannon were planning to go with him to California, where he'd be stationed.
&nbs
p; Although she had already bought her wedding gown, Mackenzie announced in March 2013 that the wedding was off and she and Josh were over, due to Josh being “too much like his dad,” whom Mackenzie does not get along with. However, the couple was back together by the end of the month.
What We'll See On Teen Mom 3: Mackenzie and Josh attend their high school prom. We'll watch as Mackenzie tries to juggle motherhood, high school, her relationship and cosmetology school. We will also see Mackenzie attempt to deal with the drama between her and Josh, some of which stands from past infidelities, according to an inside source. In addition, Mackenzie, who was still not on birth control during the filming of the first season, is rumored to have a pregnancy scare. Mackenzie also deals with issues relating to her Type I diabetes.
BRIANA DEJESUS
Orlando, Florida
(b. May 24, 1994)
Baby: Nova Star DeJesus (b. September 9, 2011)
Baby Daddy: Devoin Austin II
Episode 403: April 3, 2012
Briana's episode of 16 and Pregnant centered on Briana and her sister, Brittany, both of whom found themselves pregnant as teenagers but ended up making very different choices. Brittany chose to have an abortion, while Briana gave birth to a daughter, Nova, despite the fact that the baby's father wanted nothing to do with Briana or their kid.
After her episode aired, Briana enrolled in community college and got a job at a clothing store. She continues to raise her daughter on her own, with the help of her mother and sister. She has kept a relatively low online profile since her 16 and Pregnant episode aired. She did, however, share the struggles she faced as a teen mom on her Twitter account in March 2013.
"Some people just don't understand that I'm a mother, not a regular teenager… Being a mother has turned me into this freak, like I enjoy doing things just to see a smile... That smile is so rewarding...Being a mother has taught me to be so caring and loving.... I sometimes feel obligated to do too much for others...not good at all!!"
What We'll See On Teen Mom 3: Devoin makes an appearance at Nova's first birthday party, despite having been absent for most of his daughter's first year of life. Briana will attempt to venture back into the dating scene, without much success.
ALEXANDRIA SEKELLA
Neffs, Pennsylvania
(b. December 4, 1993)
Baby: Arabella Elizabeth Sekella-McCann (b. July 18, 2011)
Baby Daddy: Matthew McCann
Episode 405: April 17, 2012
When we last saw her, Alex, who blames faulty birth control for her pregnancy, was faced with having nowhere to live, and dealing with a boyfriend that was more into getting high than taking care of their daughter. (Who could forget the scene in her 16 and Pregnant episode in which she goes to his house, in labor, and begs him to come to the hospital with her?)
Since her episode aired, life has gotten better for Alexandria, who has moved back in with her mother, and is teaching at a dance school. Her baby's father, Matt, is no longer involved in Arabella's life. (In February 2013, she posted on her Facebook page that it had been over a year since Matt had seen his daughter.)
In December 2012, Matt was with friends at a local Pennsylvania party spot known as “The Knob,” when he walked off a cliff and broke his neck and back. After a stay in the intensive care unit, he made a full recovery.
What We'll See On Teen Mom 3: Alex struggles to raise her daughter alone, while dealing with Matt's antics. Although they are no longer together, Matt continues to make life hard for Alex. His rumored continued drug use will make Alex pursue - and get - full custody of their daughter. Alex tries to balance work, school and single motherhood.
Katie, Teen Mom 3 Girls Can Turn the Franchise Around
Producers were wise to pick girls, like Katie, that are on “the right track” for Teen Mom 3. Their past decisions to choose the most volatile and provocative girls (Hello, Jenelle!) pretty much backfired if you ask me. Although a good smack down or custody battle is great for ratings, they also create heaps of legal problems and bad publicity.
Katie seems like a girl that could have gone off the rails, given everything she has been through. But she managed to keep her head on straight and make a better life for herself and her daughter. I don't believe the girls on these shows should be looked up to as role models, but we can't pretend that young girls don't watch these shows and look up to their stars. I'm happy to see that MTV finally realized this and appears to be attempting to bring the brand back to its original purpose-showing the trials and tribulations of young motherhood.
EBONY JACKSON HAS A MENTAL BREAKDOWN, THEN A BABY!
Ebony Jackson-Rendon didn't have much to say after her shocking September 2011 arrest for endangering the welfare of a minor, possession of drug paraphernalia, maintaining a drug premise, and unauthorized use of another's property to facilitate a crime. Her daughter Jocelyn, just two, had been hauled off by Child Protective Services after the young mom and husband Joshua were discovered living in a house reportedly covered in flies and feces. “Many people wanted to do an interview with us,” she remembers. “But we didn't want to.” Until now.
For the first time ever, Ebony is opening up about the dark times and personal demons she faced in the years after her appearance on 16 and Pregnant. “I was diagnosed with manic depression,” she reveals. “I am fine now. They have me on medication. I was on depression medication for a while and it just made everything completely worse. It was just a downhill spiral for me.”
Things began to unravel in May 2011, when Ebony developed an ectopic pregnancy and suffered a painful miscarriage. “We were trying to have another kid at that time, so losing the baby was really hard on me,” she admits. A month later, Ebony and Josh - a member of the United States Air Force - held a small, private funeral for their unborn child, “but it wasn't the closure I thought it would be,” she says. Ebony continued to grieve privately for months, becoming more and more despondent and neglecting simple tasks like cleaning the home they shared on a Little Rock, Arkansas military base. “What my doctor explained to me is that when I would have a manic episode, everything in my day-to-day life would just not seem the way that it was,” she explains. “I just stopped doing the dishes every day.”
Eventually state health investigators came knocking. Per their official report:
“During the search, Detectives located approximately 1 gram of synthetic marijuana along with several empty packages of synthetic marijuana. Paraphernalia in the form of a variety of smoking devices (pipes) and deplorable conditions in the house. Every room inside the residence had human and dog feces on the floors, walls and clothing. The house was full of flies, and in some areas, maggots. Animal control was called to retrieve 3 dogs that had been inside the house.”
“There was just a lot that was on our plate at the time,” Ebony admits. “But nothing that was said about our daughter not being taken care of... that was in no way true.” Ebony insists that media reports were strongly exaggerated and says her daughter even got a clean bill of health from her doctor the very morning authorities arrived at the home. She also offers some new and more detailed insight into the what the family's living conditions were really like. “The fact that they said there was dog feces everywhere on the carpet was not true,” Ebony tells us. “There was stains from the puppies. They said there was human feces on the wall. In part that was true. But it was because my daughter was a toddler and she had taken off her diaper. I don't know what her fascination was with pooping... Of course we did clean it up. What they did was they pulled her dresser away from the wall. And we put it there for a reason. Because she had dug [her poop] into the wall with a stick or something. Like a popsicle stick. And it was just... We didn't have the paint to cover it up and we tried to wash it away, but it was taking off the paint on the wall... And they just made it seem way worse than it actually was.”
Ebony says her story was leaked to the media by someone who was pretending to be her friend. “She wanted to get everything
she could out of the story,” Ebony says. “They ended up finding the synthetic marijuana in the house - it was actually hers! She brought it over to our house because her husband came home from Korea and she decided that 'I am just gonna leave this over here.' The paraphernalia that was in the house was hers too. It ended up all on our plate. We couldn't really say it was hers, though [because] nobody would have believed it.”
Despite Ebony's objections and explanations, Jocelyn was sent to live with a foster family 30 minutes away for the next six months. “Everybody thought the worst of us - that we were just awful parents,” she remembers. “But in fact, we were such good parents to Jocelyn, we had her back in six months. Even Jocelyn's lawyer said she was so proud of us for how we had grown up and taken responsibility for our actions.”
But the road to recovery wasn't easy. Just weeks after Jocelyn was taken away, Ebony hit rock bottom. “I was in a hospital for having a mental breakdown,” she admits. “It wasn't for drugs. My father said that to a newspaper for some reason. I have no idea what his problem was. But it was a real hospital. I just needed to feel better and what they were giving me just wasn't right, so... I got the counseling I needed and I am still seeing a counselor to this day.”
Now, one piece at a time, Ebony's life is slowly coming together. In October 2012, she welcomed another baby, Jayda Jewell. “It was kind of an accident that we got pregnant again,” she confesses. “I was very scared at the beginning. We had a scare because my stomach started hurting like it did when I had the miscarriage. It just felt like it was going to happen all over again. I started crying, but then they did an ultrasound. And they said the baby was exactly where she was supposed to be and she was a very healthy little girl when she was born. Very healthy. I think she overcooked! She came out eight pounds, two ounces.” The couple were hoping for a boy, she admits, but Jocelyn has quickly grown fond of her new baby sister. “The next time -- which will be in like five years -- it will be a boy,” she says.
Teen Mom Confidential: Secrets & Scandals From MTV's Most Controversial Shows Page 15
