Leah Messer, 27, needed to learn the opposite lesson of Scrooge. Handing out too much money “hurt” the Teen Mom 2 star, which she revealed on her podcast Pressing Pause to Reboot with guest star/co-star Kailyn Lowry, 27, on July 17 [LISTEN HERE]. While both ladies reflected on how they dealt with close ones who benefited off their Teen Mom paychecks, Leah especially had to learn this financial lesson the hard way.
“I would cut my own throat to hand money over to other people,” Leah admitted on her show. Before she discovered the newfound power of saying “no” to people, the mother of three explained that she didn’t want her MTV superstardom and the resulting money to “dictate” who she was. “I always want people to know I’m still that humble person and I felt [that in] giving to everyone, I would get in return,” she added. However, “in the end it still hurt” Leah.
Leah’s generosity not only hurt her, but her relationship with ex-husband Jeremy Calvert, 30: “It hurt me, like, it caused one of my divorces, with Jeremy, because I would be giving to everyone.” The parents of Adalynn Faith Calvert, 6, split after a three-year marriage in 2015. Some of Leah’s donations included giving $40,000 to her dad, Gary Lee Miller, “just to keep [him] around.” Leah also admitted to paying for “cars and houses and this and that” for her family, lest she be considered “this stuck-up” person from a television show. Now, Leah announced that if she’s not paid back, “you will never get a loan” from her “ever again.”
Despite Leah’s epiphany, Kailyn admitted to still being guilty of handing out money. The mother of three recalled that friends have asked her for $850, $1,000 and $1,700! But she and Leah are just spoiling themselves and their six kids combined right now (Leah’s daughter Addie and twins Aleeah and Aliannah, 9, in addition to Kailyn’s sons Isaac, 9, Lincoln, 5, Lux, 1), because the party of eight have been vacationing in Hawaii since July 2! And while Leah reflected on the end of her and Jeremy’s marriage, the parents actually sparked reconciliation rumors after Leah wrote a friendly caption about their recent night out on town.
