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Amanda Conner<\/strong>\u00a0wasn’t the only one saying\u00a0yes<\/em>\u00a0when\u00a0Ryan Edwards<\/strong>\u00a0dropped to his bended knee this January.<\/p>\n Count his former fianc\u00e9e\u00a0Maci Bookout<\/strong>\u2014mom to their 16-year-old son\u00a0Bentley<\/p>\n <\/strong>\u2014among those thrilled to see the\u00a0soon-to-be dad of four\u00a0commit to forever\u00a0with her former high school classmate.<\/p>\n “She has been a game-changer, honestly,” the\u00a0Teen Mom<\/em>\u00a0star raved of Amanda in an exclusive interview with E! News. “We’re very close friends and she’s just got really great energy. She’s very authentic and she genuninely loves and cares about Ryan and Bentley so obviously that’s all I could ever ask for.”<\/p>\n And like her husband-to-be, Amanda\u2014who has a son from her previous marriage\u2014is enjoying her own sobriety journey.<\/p>\n “I got kicked out of public schools from drugs and fighting and getting in trouble, getting arrested at a young age,”\u00a0she shared last fall\u00a0on\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, she’s looking ahead to a future that includes\u00a0the spring arrival of their little girl\u00a0and making memories with their blended family.<\/p>\n “Bentley really enjoys her,” noted Maci, also mom to Jayde, 00, and Maverick, 00, with husband Taylor McKinney. “Even my other two kids, they love her and her son, so having her around has been wonderful.”<\/p>\n More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n Instead, she’s looking ahead to a future that includes\u00a0the spring arrival of her and Ryan’s little girl\u00a0and making memories with their blended family.<\/p>\n “Bentley really enjoys her,” noted Maci, also mom to\u00a0Jayde<\/strong>, 9, and\u00a0Maverick<\/strong>, 8, with husband\u00a0Taylor McKinney<\/strong>. “Even my other two kids, they love her and her son, so having her around has been wonderful.”<\/p>\n Maci Bookout\/Instagram<\/p>\n Though, while Bentley is prepared to exercise his considerable eldest sibling skills, Maci joked, “I think he is ready for this to be the last sibling.”<\/p>\n Nor is he looking to put his expertise to use\u00a0on any babies of his own at the moment.<\/p>\n “We’ve always had those open communications,” Maci explained of speaking to her teen about safe sex in the upcoming season of\u00a0Teen Mom: The Next Chapter<\/em>, which premieres on MTV Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. “So they’re definitely not as awkward as they were in the beginning. I know it sounds odd, but they’re normal.”<\/p>\n As is, remarkably,\u00a0her once-contentious\u00a0(as in\u00a0restraining order contentious<\/em>) relationship with ex Ryan.<\/p>\n Having\u00a0ironed out the considerable kinks\u00a0in their co-parenting partnership\u00a0back in 2023, “We are still doing really well,” Maci emphasized. “I honestly think it’s gotten here because there was no pressure. We’ve let it naturally take its course and just our communication’s better.”<\/p>\n And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that Ryan\u2014also dad to\u00a0Jagger<\/strong>, 6, and\u00a0Stella<\/strong>, 5, with first wife\u00a0Mackenzie Standifer<\/strong>\u2014has been working to improve himself\u00a0since his 2023 overdose.<\/p>\n “I think Ryan being sober and healthy has created a fresh air for us to breathe in,” acknowledged Maci. “But we also made a commitment to try and stay respectful and to maintain communication even if we’re feeling some type of way.”<\/p>\n Instagram\/Maci Bookout<\/p>\n As for how she handled Bentley feeling some type of way as he witnessed\u00a0Ryan’s various legal troubles, “Therapy,” Maci shared of their not-so-secret weapon. “Therapy and honestly doing work on\u00a0<\/p>\n These days, when it comes to her eldest son, “You can almost even physically see how much\u00a0<\/p>\n Because their happy quartet also includes Taylor,\u00a0Maci’s husband of eight years.<\/p>\n “Even when we’ve had a rough year together, I think at the end of the day, I still choose him,” she\u00a0previously explained to E! of her forever teammate. “I like him. And even if I want to punch him in the face sometimes, I’d rather argue with him or have a rough patch with him than never have a rough patch with anybody else.”<\/p>\n Earlier this year,\u00a0Todd Chrisley<\/strong>\u00a0received a pardon from the President. However,\u00a0Patricia Altschul<\/strong>\u00a0is a tougher sell. Unlike POTUS, this\u00a0Southern Charm\u00a0star refuses to absolve Todd of his verbal crimes. Instead, this queen honey bee is standing ten wealthy toes down, adamant that Charleston is not a place for a \u201cfelon\u201d like Todd.<\/p>\n Todd and Patricia are the reality feud I never saw coming.\u00a0Their tiny tit for tat\u00a0started after Todd\u2019s release from prison. \u201cDuring the [post-prison] press conference, I had stated that we are doing a hotel and it\u2019s going to be near Charleston, South Carolina,\u201d Todd explained. In response, Patricia said, \u201cWell, there goes the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, Todd did not like that. So, he made several jests about Patricia, which mainly focused on her older age and her finances. Overall, it was gross.<\/p>\n So, recently clapping back via\u00a0Decider, Pat quipped, \u201cHe\u2019s very irrelevant. I said four words\u2014there goes the neighborhood \u2014 and he went on, and he did a whole program about me. It was just a comment in passing.\u201d Nevertheless, Patricia stands by her original stance, saying, \u201cWe just don\u2019t need any more\u00a0felons in Charleston.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd and his wife,\u00a0Julie Chrisley, were indicted on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States back in 2019. They swore they were innocent. Yet, they were still found guilty. In all,\u00a0The Chrisleys: Back to Reality\u00a0stars received a combined 19 years in federal prison, but thanks to their pardons, they walked out of their prison cells for good in May of this year.<\/p>\n And now, Ms. Pat wants them to heed her words and not walk toward\u00a0her in Charleston.<\/p>\n Southern Charm Season 11 premieres on November 19, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET\/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock, or Hayu in Canada, the UK, and Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Amanda Conner\u00a0wasn’t the only one saying\u00a0yes\u00a0when\u00a0Ryan Edwards\u00a0dropped to his bended knee this January. Count his former fianc\u00e9e\u00a0Maci Bookout\u2014mom to their 16-year-old son\u00a0Bentley \u2014among those thrilled to see the\u00a0soon-to-be dad of four\u00a0commit to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n