Amber Portwood’s rise to TV stardom has largely been for all the wrong reasons. As far as a rough life goes, Amber Portwood’s young life has been full of ups and downs, and it almost sounds unbelievable that she has finally kicked all of her bad habits. The teenage mom has appeared on several popular shows where she has opened up about her tumultuous life. She became very famous when she appeared on MTV’s 16 and Pregnant. She also featured on other popular shows such as Dr. Phil and Teen Mom, and her story has always been intriguing every time. However, in spite of how popular Amber Portwood is, there are certain facts about her that most people do not know. Here are ten facts that you didn’t know about the teenage mom TV star.
She was a drug addict
Like most teenage mums, Amber Portwood has had her share of experience with drugs. In many of her interviews with Teen Mom, Dr. Phil, and 16 and Pregnant, Amber opened up about her addiction problem and revealed that she began abusing drugs at a tender age of only 9 years old. In fact, her drug addiction was so severe that she admitted on Dr. Phil that she used to get high before attending her show on Teen Mom.
She had anger management issues
Expectedly, Amber Portwood has had her fair share of anger management issues considering all of the tragedies and hardships that she has faced at such a young age. This was always clear especially in her attitude when she aired on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. According to Amber, she was only able to control her anger after she attended anger management classes. In fact, her anger management classes were so successful that she used the lessons that she learnt on her fellow inmates.
She did time
Amber Portwood’s tragic life became even grimmer in 2012 when she was served with a 5-year prison sentence. However, she made the most out of the time behind bars and was finally able to kick her drug habit and adopt a positive attitude. What’s more, she nurtured good behavior and responsibility, and her good manners saw her sentence cut by more than half to just 17 months; her involvement in helping her fellow inmates with anger management issues gave her merit worked largely in her favor. When she was released, Amber surprised many people as she had clearly reformed.
She turned down a vivid offer
Amber Portwood received an offer of $500,000 from Vivid to star in her own adult film. The sum offered seemed enticing enough, but Amber turned it down to many people’s surprise. Fortunately for her, her decision prevented her from ruining her life further considering the cases of other teen mums who took adult companies on their offers. Considering the fact that people from her home town have been criticizing her for appearing on the TV shows, starring in an adult film would have likely shattered her social life.
She is not popular with most of her neighbors
Amber Portwood’s tragic story touched many people when she featured on TV shows, but most of the people in her hometown greeted it with hostility. Her critics felt that she gave her hometown a bad reputation for her reckless lifestyle, and they did not shy away from letting her know. To this end, Amber experienced public harassment through vandalism and verbal abuses. What’s more, her critics took to the media to express their discontent and point out that most of the girls in their town lived positively, went to college, and settled down decently.
She attempted suicide
It comes as no surprise that with all the hardships in her life and all the negative attention she received for it, Amber Portwood attempted suicide at least twice. On the first attempt, Amber called Gary and let him know beforehand that she was taking her life. Fortunately, Gary responded immediately and called the police, who found her limp body with a noose around her neck. On the second attempt, she took 30 suboxone pills, but fortunately they were not enough to kill her. According to Amber, it was the combination of depression, social rejection, and ‘mental illness’ (as she put it) that led her to attempted suicide.
She preferred prison to rehab
In 2012, Amber Portwood was arraigned in court and offered to choose between rehab and time in prison. Surprisingly, the dejected Amber chose the latter and, as mentioned, was served with a five-year prison sentence. And, as it turns out, the decision may have been one of the best in her life as the confinement not only helped her kick her addition but also compose herself to change for the best.
She has lost several loved ones
Amber Portwood’s tragic life started out at a very young age, unfortunately. Her first loss came when she was only five years old after her younger sister, Candace, died as a result of sudden infant death syndrome. Although she was young at the time, Amber still clearly remembers her parents’ heart-breaking reaction after her sister’s death. Amber Portwood’s second loss came in 2014 when her father, Shawn Portwood Sr., passed away at the age of 50 after he underwent liver surgery.
She made quite a lot on her TV shows
Many people have always wondered why so many girls are always willing to feature on TV shows such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. That is, why apart from a hefty pay. Well, as it turns out, Amber and other teen moms that appear on the show get paid handsomely. During her court hearing in 2012, Amber confessed under legal oath that she made $140,000 for every 6- month contract with MTV’s show 16 and Pregnant. And, although she squandered much of the money at first, she was prudent enough to pay for her daughter’s entire college fee and save more to turn her life around.
She found love, again
Amber Portwood has not only transformed for the better but also decided to try her luck with love, again. Since her nasty breakup with Gary, Amber largely remained single until she was released from prison. However, her choice of a boyfriend has been questions as her current lover, Matt Baier, is 43 years old. This, however, does not seem to matter to the lovebirds as they have been spotted getting tattoos together.
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