I’M THERE FOR MY EX

After troubled MTV star Ryan Edwards enters rehab, ex Maci Bookout opens up to Life & Style about having his back — no matter what

Teen Mom OG star Maci Bookout has long since moved on from high school sweetheart Ryan Edwards. In 2016, she walked down the aisle with Taylor Mckinney, the father of her two youngest children. But Maci has spent much of Season 7 of the MTV series crying over the substance abuse problems of the father of her 8-year- old son Bentley. “I wonder if today’s gonna be the day that Ryan does something that he can’t come back from,” she’s said. “The hardest thing for me is to see Ryan not love himself.”

Now Ryan, 28, is finally getting help. After secretly tying the knot with fiancée Mackenzie Standifer on May 15, the troubled star entered rehab. And ex Maci is standing by him, and giving Life & Style the exclusive first update on his treatment. “We’re all just taking it one day at a time, one step at a time,” she admits. “Ryan is doing good. He’s doing what he needs to do and that’s all any of us can ask right now. We’re just trying to make sure he stays focused on himself.”

FAMILY FIRST

The journey to get help hasn’t been easy. On Teen Mom, Maci, 25, accused people around Ryan (who another ex, Dalis Connell, claims has struggled with prescription pill addiction) of delaying an intervention because they were afraid of how it would look. “It’s definitely been a roller coaster,” Maci tells Life & Style. “But in times like these, if you feel like you are running out of strength, you just have to keep digging deeper.”

She’s stuck by Ryan’s side for the sake of Bentley. And her supportive husband of eight months, Taylor, 28, has stuck by hers. “He’s my best friend and knows everything about me,” she raves of the father of Jayde, 2, and Maverick, 1. “It’s definitely nice to have him there with me to listen to me or to give me advice or to just be present. He is a great, great guy.”

A NEW WOMAN

Maci and Ryan’s contentious relationship has made headlines in the past, with the duo warring over Bentley on TV. Maci says she’s grown up, though. “I’m more patient with people,” says the mother of three. “I try to really get to know people and understand their opinions and their views instead of blocking them out immediately.”

More of the lessons she’s learned can be found in her new book, I Wasn’t Born Bulletproof, out June 27. “I realized there was a lot more I wanted to say than [ just] things about being a mom, so I decided to do a life-lessons type of book and go through everything from motherhood to friendships and your career,” she says. “It

“It’s been a tough time.” Maci tells Life&style Ryan’s struggles

was really fun to write. I’m excited about it.”

One thing she’s not so thrilled about? Having her mistakes be part of the public record. “Watching older episodes of the show or older interviews or anything I’ve done in the past, I remember thinking at that time, ‘ I’m a grown- up, I know what I’m doing, I have all the answers,’ ” she reveals. “I look back now and am like, ‘ Yeah, you definitely didn’t know what you were doing!’”