‘Teen Mom’ Preview: Jenelle Says She Feels a ‘Huge Weight’ off Her Shoulders After Leaving David

Jenelle Evans is back on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter. After being fired from the show in 2019 following then-husband David Eason’s controversies, the reality star will return to the franchise on the Thursday, June 13, episode. In an exclusive preview, she opens up about her decision to finally leave David.

“It took me some time to realize it wasn’t a healthy relationship,” Jenelle, 32, admits in the clip. “But I finally got the courage to walk away for good.”

While reflecting on why she left, the North Carolina native explains, “I felt like I was walking on eggshells with David. I felt like I was being reprimanded like a child all the time. I just feel like he didn’t treat me like I was his wife. He belittled me a lot. I was sick of it. Mentally abusive. Not happy at all.”

Jenelle and David, 35, met in 2015. At the time, she was already a mom to sons Jace, whom she shares with ex Andrew Lewis, and Kaiser, whom she shares with ex Nathan Griffith. Jenelle and David welcomed their daughter, Ensley, in January 2017 and got married later that year. In March, she filed paperwork to separate from her husband.

“From the moment I left David, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders,” Jenelle admits in her Teen Mom return. “It’s felt really good. Right now, all I want for my life is I want the kids to have a fresh start and I think I just need to move as soon as possible.”

Because of the laws in North Carolina, Jenelle has not filed to officially divorce David yet. “I would’ve skipped straight to divorce, but I couldn’t because in the state of North Carolina, you have to be legally separated for a year, and you have to prove you have two separate addresses,” she previously explained on TikTok. “The problem with that is that neither of us wanted to leave, so whenever I had the window of opportunity that I was able to file for separation, I filed something called separation by bed and board.”

While this will mark Jenelle’s official return to the Teen Mom franchise, she previously appeared on an episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter in September 2022. At the time, she joined Briana DeJesus and Jade Cline at a party to celebrate Briana’s legal victory against Kailyn Lowry.

“Me and David, we haven’t been getting along lately,” she said during the episode. “I mean, it’s just on and off and it’s just the fact that — I don’t care if I share this with any of you either — it’s just the fact that he doesn’t — which everyone knows — he doesn’t have a job and I’m sitting here providing for everyone for years and it’s still the same way.”

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs on MTV Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.