Amber Portwood & Gary Shirley Reportedly Disagreeing Over Amber’s Child Support Payments for Daughter Leah While Filming New Season of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’

The coparenting relationship between exes Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley is reportedly on the rocks…again. 

The Teen Mom stars, who are parents to 16-year-old daughter Leah, have reportedly been filming a new season of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, and, while viewers last saw the exes seemingly getting along, they are currently not seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to child support for their daughter, Us Weekly reports. 

“For a long time, they had a great relationship and considered each other to be extended family,” a source told the outlet. “But now, it’s getting rocky again.” 

The source went on to state that Gary is accusing Amber of not paying him child support for Leah “for years,” and that he’s now considering taking Amber to court for back payments. 

As fans of ‘Teen Mom’ may remember, Gary and Amber called it quits two years after Leah was born. Gary ultimately became the primary parent, with Leah living with him the majority of the time. (Leah continues to live full-time with Gary and Gary’s wife, Kristina Shirley, today.)  

“Because [Gary and Amber’s] relationship was so long ago, Gary and Amber never set up formal protocols for payments,” the source for Us Weekly explained.

However, this is not entirely true. According to court records pulled by The Ashley, Gary and Amber settled their custody dispute in court in 2016. On May 13, 2016, it was decided that Amber and Gary would share joint legal custody of Leah, but that Gary would maintain primary physical custody. Amber was ordered to pay Gary $1200 a month in child support. 

While Gary is accusing his former fiancée of skipping child support payments, a source close to Amber told Us Weekly that Amber has been paying Gary via cashier’s checks and cash over the years as she was supposed to be doing. 

“ … She has some receipts,” the source said. “She’s been open with her struggles and it’s devastating this is happening with the father of her child.” 

While the source didn’t elaborate on Amber’s “struggles,” fans of the show know that Amber and Leah have had a strained relationship over the years, one that arguably reached a new low last season when a family birthday dinner for Leah ended with the teen in tears after Amber called her a “d**k.”

While the mom and daughter went on to reunite later last season during some get togethers that included Amber’s then-fiancé Gary Wayt, Gary (aka OG Gary) revealed on TikTok in August that Amber hadn’t seen their daughter since June– the month that Gary 2.0 “went missing” after attending the wedding of Amber’s brother, Shawn Portwood, in North Carolina. 

In addition to her relationship with Leah, Amber reportedly hopes to improve things between her and OG Gary moving forward. 

“She’s worked so hard to overcome her challenges and she’s hoping things can turn around with Gary,” a source claimed.

Amber and Gary have not commented on the claims regarding the alleged child support discrepancy, nor has MTV officially announced a new season of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.’