On April 6, 2010 MTV fans were first introduced to Leah Messer and Corey Simms on their episode of 16 and Pregnant. Since then, fans have followed them for seven years now and they have had one heck of a story. Leah and Corey are the only parents on Teen Mom 2 who had multiple babies and it has been anything but easy. Along with their daughter Ali’s serious health problems, the pair went on a rollercoaster ride of a relationship before finally calling it quits for good. Since so many have become invested in their story, here are 10 things you never knew (or forgot) about Leah and Corey’s relationship!
10. Getting Together
16 and Pregnant gave viewers a very brief synopsis of each young couple expecting babies, and along with Leah being one of the few expecting twins, she and Corey also had one of the most jaw-dropping stories. The pair met and started dating in 2009 when Leah was 16 and Corey was almost 19. Only one month into their relationship, the two became pregnant — with twins! In their 16 and Pregnant episode Leah introduces him and then says “he drove me home from a party one night, and one thing led to another” before adding that at the point of filming the episode they were still “just trying to get to know one another.” She even admits at the beginning of the episode that Corey was only supposed to be a rebound for her because she had just gotten out of a three-year-long relationship.
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9. Rocky Relationship
Despite the young pair trying to work it out because of the quick pregnancy, things were rarely easy, and it didn’t take long for problems to arise. Although they worked things out during the pregnancy, after the girls were born in December of 2009, Corey and Leah split up in March 2010. Shortly after Leah was discovered to once again be dating her ex Robbie Kidd and soon rumors flew that she had cheated on Corey with Robbie causing the breakup.
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8. The Marriage and Split
By the fall of 2010, Corey and Leah once again tried to work things out for the sake of their family and decided to get married. The pair had a gorgeous country wedding on October 17, 2010, but only a few months later they split again and divorced in June 2011. Unfortunately, the split once again came when Leah admitted that she cheated on Corey with Robbie only two weeks before their October wedding. The ordeal was filmed for Teen Mom 2‘s season two episode “Love Comes and Goes,” and shortly after it aired Leah took to her Twitter to confirm what had happened. “Okay I cheated a week before my wedding people. I’m tired of hearing about it. At least I’m not a coward, and can admit my faults!” She continued, “It was one of my regrets in my life, stop accusing and pointing fingers. Things happen to different people different ways. #GodsMyJUDGE. I can not not change whats happened! I can only be proud of where I stand now, and learn from it. I’m in no way proud of my mistakes, but last I checked we aren’t proud of our mistakes.”
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7. Moving On
Through their entire 16 and Pregnant episode and Leah admits that since things moved so quickly for her and Corey she wasn’t sure if she even loved him, but they wanted to be together for their twins. Despite that not working out, it didn’t stop her from moving on just as quickly following their permanent split in June 2011. It may have seemed to Teen Mom 2 fans that her relationship with Jeremy began in record time, and that is because it did. Only one month later she began dating Jeremy Calvert in the summer of 2011 and became engaged only a few months after that. Just eight months after beginning their relationship, Leah and Jeremy got married in April 2012. After one miscarriage, the pair welcomed their daughter Adalyn on February 4, 2013, but in October of 2014 Jeremy moved out and the pair divorced. As for Corey, he began dating Miranda Patterson in 2012 and on June 7, 2013 they were married and welcomed their daughter, Remington “Remi” Monroe Simms in November 2015.
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6. The Affair
There was no doubt for any fan that followed Leah and Corey’s story from the beginning that the two weren’t really meant to be together, and they admitted that many times. Despite that it was still shocking to learn that Leah had cheated on Corey twice, but even more shocking was the admission the pair made that they had their own affair after their separation. On the season six reunion special with Dr. Drew, Corey’s wife Miranda made a rare appearance which led to the bombshell that Corey had cheated on her with Leah in the first few months of their marriage. After some bickering, Leah finally said, “Where were you at for the first few months of your marriage?” and when prodded by Dr. Drew she added, “Things happened that shouldn’t have happened and it was disrespectful to Miranda and I apologize.” The admission was stunning for many reasons including that meant Leah was also cheating on Jeremy and that Corey would even cheat after Leah’s cheating broke up their marriage. Luckily, Corey and Miranda have been able to work it out for the sake of their relationship and family.
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5. Corey’s Issues
While all the stars of Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 have rarely been able to keep anything private because of their lives being documented by MTV, there were apparently many things about Corey and Leah’s relationship the cameras didn’t catch. According to the book Teen Mom Confidential, written by Sean Daly and Ashley Majeski who seemingly did very telling interviews with those close to the stars, Corey hid some serious issues. In the book the authors allege that Leah’s close friend Amy revealed that a big problem in Leah and Corey’s relationship was because he was not affectionate towards her and had an addiction to porn and refused to be intimate with Leah. According to the friend, Corey even turned violent after Leah caught him watching adult movies one night. “He threw a remote through the wall and put his hands on her neck because she caught him watching porn after not having sex with her,” Amy said in the book. Even more alarming are Amy’s claims it was’t the first time he was violent with Leah. “I had seen bruises on her neck before that. She tried to play it off as a hickey or whatever, but we all knew that wasn’t the case.”
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4. The Cheating
As well as Amy’s shocking revelations about the pair’s relationship behind the scenes, Leah’s mother Dawn also revealed a bombshell in the book. According to an interview the authors did with Dawn, even though Leah was made out to be a cheater who broke Corey’s heart, he was also cheating. “Corey was cheating just as much as her. He wouldn’t admit it on camera, so they couldn’t present it on the show. They were both cheating. Leah knew about it, but he wouldn’t let them film it… He let Leah take the blame when in reality he was just as bad. Leah told me, ‘I may be the one who has to go down for this, but I’m going to tell the truth,'” Dawn said in the book.
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3. Custody Battle
Teen Mom 2 has well documented the seemingly constant custody battle between Leah and Corey, and while things seem to be settled for now, it has become confusing over the years. Leah has always had primary custody of the twins and while Corey tried to change that multiple times, it hasn’t been without a fight. Corey had many arguments against Leah and after taking Leah to court again and she went to rehab to treat her mental illness, Corey eventually won primary custody in October 2015. It didn’t take long however for Leah to file a response and she once again regained primary custody. In early 2016 the two finally came to an agreement that gives each of them almost equal time with their twins.
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2. Taking the Show to Court
Over its many seasons, and in many instances fans have wondered how the Teen Mom 2 star’s actions on TV haven’t played a part in their custody cases or in Jenelle Evan’s case her other court appearances, and there is a reason for that. During their custody battle in 2015, Corey actually tried to use MTV evidence in his case against Leah as, fans will agree, she had been show engaging in questionable parenting methods including not giving her daughters dinner until midnight and driving seemingly half asleep while texting. Once Corey tried to submit the footage as evidence however it was immediately rejected by the judge. “Legally, Corey can’t use the footage from the show against Leah, no matter how damning. Nothing in the show can be used in court by parties that have signed contracts. The reason is because in the contracts it says that MTV has the right to portray however they want,” a source told Ashley’s Reality Roundup. “The contracts state that the show may not depict the whole truth. So when Corey tried to use it as evidence in court, the judge said no right off the bat.”
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1. Filming Issues
It may seem that MTV follows the star’s every move, but there are in fact times when they women and their families are not filmed and in that time new contracts are arranged and new filming schedules are planned out. As it turns out, despite Leah downplaying the accusations that she was addicted to drugs following the events of season five, it did cause issues with filming. Before filming season six, Leah’s alleged drug problem and her failing marriage with Jeremy caused a delay in filming as plans were put in place to get Leah into rehab. Meanwhile, Corey has been threatening to quit the show for several seasons and prior to season seven, he and Miranda seriously considered it but have been held back because of their contracts. “Right now they can’t really quit, but they would surely like to leave behind all of the drama that the show brings,” a source reported.