TEEN Mom Jenelle Evans’ ex Nathan Griffith opened up about how being on the reality show ruined his life and that it put a target on his back, as he struggles with PTSD.
The 33-year-old father of two exclusively opened up to The Sun about how he says MTV portrays the families who are involved in the long running reality series.
He said: “They want to show the struggles of these moms, but they don’t care about what they do to the fathers, or the siblings or anything really- as long as they can show what these moms are going through.
“How they wanted to portray me as a person, isn’t who I really am, and it made my life so difficult because of it.
“I used to work out with cops, politicians, lawyers, but because of the media, I’ve lost a lot of friends and my reputation.”
“I lived in Myrtle Beach for seven or eight years and I was never in trouble once before I met Jenelle Evans,” he added.
“And it’s not because of Jenelle Evans, it’s because reality TV puts this stigma on a these celebrities.”
Nathan says that while Teen Mom started out as a pseudo-documentary with some seeming educational value- focusing on the struggles of actual teenage mothers- it turned into a full-blown reality show.
He said that by the time he was on the show, production gave newcomers whatever treatment would fit their narrative.
“Because I was this gym jockey, they had to make me look stupid.”
Plus, Nathan, who was an up and coming model, said that he lost what could have been lucrative deals because of his involvement on the show.
LOST DEALS
“I lost two modeling contracts, one with Jockey and one with 2(X)IST. They both came back to me and said that due to the ‘potential negative publicity’ we cannot move forward with your contract right now.”
Nathan, who previously opened up to The Sun about his struggles with PTSD said that if MTV really wanted to make a difference and do some good- as he feels may have been the initial intention with Teen Mom, they should focus on the lives of soldiers.
“If MTV really wanted to help people, they should focus on the stories of the men and women overseas and what they go through once they come home.”
He also said that his involvement in the series exacerbated his PTSD since living in the spotlight garnered him unwanted attention from the police.
“I was dating Jenelle and I was in the spotlight. I would get pulled over all the time. I also have Traumatic Brain Injury on top of PTSD.”
Nathan said that the police confrontations were triggering.
“I would feel threatened, and any military man out there would feel this way, when someone has a gun, your life feels threatened. Especially when the cop puts his hand on the gun- it’s fight or flight.”
CO-PARENTING BETTER
Nathan is now living in Florida but returns to North Carolina for visits with his children.
He recently told The Sun that his formerly contentious relationship with his reality star ex is in a better place as they navigate co-parenting.
Nathan has been enjoying the visitation schedule that he and Jenelle finally agreed to in an out of court settlement in October of 2020.
As part of their agreement, Nathan gets Kaiser for several weeks at the beginning of the summer, and every other weekend, along with a holiday schedule.
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