Leah Messer set boundaries while supporting her father Gary as he entered a detox facility on Thursday's episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
The 32-year-old MTV star got a call from her sister Victoria who asked to speak with her in person about their father.
Leah revealed in a confessional that she has not seen her father in about 10 years.
'He became addicted to pain pills after an accident at work when I was a kid, and he's been struggling with addiction ever since. When I got addicted to pain pills myself as a teen, he enabled me,' Leah said. 'It's just been toxic my entire life.'
'After going to rehab and getting clean, I decided to create strong boundaries and distance myself from him,' she said. 'I'm not angry. I forgive him. I just think that I get to be firm in my boundaries.'
Leah Messer set boundaries while supporting her father Gary as he entered a detox facility on Thursday's episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter on MTV
Victoria surprised Leah by revealing that their father wanted to go into detox and was already there in West Virginia because he wanted to be close to family.
'What the f***, Victoria?,' Leah said. 'Why?'
'He wants to get help and do detox,' Victoria said. 'What do I do? Say no?'
'Yes,' Leah said. 'You tell him to go there. You tell him to go there.'
Victoria said she couldn't reject his request for help and acknowledged that it was going to take longer for Leah given her experiences with their father.
'I think that you need to be careful because there's a difference in supporting someone through this process and enabling,' Leah warned.
'If you have some sort of part of you that supports him, I think, one, he needs to know that. I accepted him coming here because something did feel different. He's wanting to go straight to detox,' Victoria said.
Victoria said it would be nice if she could support him since Leah can relate to what he's going through with addiction.
'He became addicted to pain pills after an accident at work when I was a kid, and he's been struggling with addiction ever since. When I got addicted to pain pills myself as a teen, he enabled me,' Leah said. 'It's just been toxic my entire life'
'If he commits and follows through, I will meet him at the entrance of the detox facility,' Leah said. 'And walk him through those doors.'
'But if he checks out of that detox facility, deuces. I do not have time for that s***,' Leah said.
Leah kept her promise and met her father before he headed into detox.
Gary climbed into the passenger seat of her vehicle and they both said hi to each other before he started crying.
Leah reached over and hugged him.
'I love you,' Gary said.
'I love you, but it's very hard,' Leah said.
Gary said he was sorry and Leah offered her support while advising him that it was 'going to be very difficult'.
Gary said he was sorry and Leah offered her support while advising him that it was 'going to be very difficult'
'I'm ready,' Gary said.
'When it comes to our past, I've already done the work that I've needed to do to overcome anything from the past. I hold no grudges. I forgive you for the past. Even with my childhood, I've done the work to do what I needed to do to make sure that it does not reflect on my daughters,' Leah said.
'And that's why boundaries are so important to me because there was a lot that I went through and didn't even speak on or didn't even know that bothered me until I went to treatment. And you can see it. Like, you can see it come to fruition in my kids' lives, in my own life. But I will not allow anything to come between that ...nothing. And I will not allow them to be exposed to the same trauma or pain that we were exposed to,' Leah said.
Gary said he understood and was determined to 'get back on the right path'.
Leah admitted in a confessional that she was expecting to get a call one day that her father had died.
'So this is, like, different than I expected. It's going to be a struggle. It's going to be hard. I think I gave him the best advice I had at the moment. And, you know, I hope that he pulls this through,' Leah said.
Leah starred on season two of 16 And Pregnant and later appeared on Teen Mom 2.
She has twins Ali and Aleeah, 14, with her ex Corey Simms and daughter Addie, 11, with ex Jeremy Calvert.
Gary said he understood her need for firm boundaries and was determined to 'get back on the right path'
Leah split with fiancé Jaylan Mobley in October 2022 just two months after getting engaged.
The season two episode titled 'Maybe This Is the Gary for You' opened with the women on a group video call.
Amber Portwood, 34, revealed that she had a new boyfriend named Gary after he was shown on the video call.
'Maybe this is the Gary for you,' quipped Jade Cline, 26, who got married on the season premiere to Sean Austin, 29.
Amber previously was in a relationship with Gary Shirley and the have 15-year-old daughter Leah together.
Leah was reluctant during the episode to invite Amber to her 15th birthday dinner.
Amber showed up typically late and argued with her ex Gary until Leah begged them to stop.
Leah after getting upset refused to open her presents and left the restaurant with her family leaving Amber alone in the restaurant.
The episode also showed Cheyenne Floyd, 31, and her husband Zach going to a fertility clinic together after he expressed a desire to have another child.
Mackenzie McKee during the episode also gushed about her new boyfriend Khesanio.
Catelynn Baltierra and her husband Tyler also were dealing with the ramifications of her mother drinking in front of her children.
She had a tearful talk with her daughter Novalee who admitted to missing her grandmother.
'I just miss her so much. I just want her back with me,' Novalee said.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter will return next week on MTV.
