After nine years and seven seasons it is hard to believe that MTV’s Teen Mom OG is still going strong. A lot can change, and a lot can stay the same in that time, but season eight is going to see the show’s biggest shakeup yet. After the exit of original star Farrah Abraham, Teen Mom OG producers banded together to cast not one but two new stars including MTV star Cheyenne Floyd. Many Teen Mom OG fans were very surprised by the casting, and her story is sure to add a new dynamic to the group of stars and the show as a whole. Here is everything you need to know about Cheyenne Floyd:
12. Are You The One?
The casting of Cheynne Floyd for season eight of Teen Mom OG seems completely random, but her name came up because she is part of the MTV family. MTV audiences were first introduced to Cheyenne when she appeared on season three of MTV’s dating reality show Are You The One? While Cheyenne didn’t end up finding her perfect match on the show, she did make an enemy in fellow contestant Devin Walker, which would start her path to even more MTV stardom.
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11. The Challenge
Following her stint on Are You The One? Cheyenne joined MTV’s The Challenge: Rivals III in 2015 thanks to the rivalry she made with Devin Walker on Are You The One? Despite a lot of drama, Cheyenne and Devin ended up doing very well in their first season on the series and placed third, but Cheyenne got a lot more out of it than that. While filming The Challenge, she met fellow competitor Cory Wharton, who has made himself a reputation as one of The Challenge’s biggest flirts and womanizers. Although Cory was very interested in Cheyenne she made it clear she wasn’t going to just hook up with him, which made Cory try even harder. Following the show, there was never any indication that a relationship between the pair continued, but Teen Mom OG will explain how it did, and the pair are now parents to Ryder.
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10. Not Actually a Teen Mom
Although many Teen Mom fans are unhappy that when Teen Mom OG decided to add two new members to its cast who were not part of show’s predecessor 16 and Pregnant, they expected them to at least have been teen moms at one point. While the other new cast member, Bristol Palin, was in fact one of America’s most famous teen moms at the time she welcomed her son Tripp back in 2008, Cheyenne was never a teen mom. She welcomed her first and only child, daughter Ryder, on April 7, 2017 when she was 24-years-old.
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9. Her Life Now
Following her appearance on The Challenge, Cheyenne disappeared from the spotlight. While more often than not many Challenge competitors, especially those who did as well as she did in her rookie season come back, she decided not to return to the series. She apparently worked on becoming a sportswear designer, and now of course focuses on being a mom to Ryder. In 2014, she started the online clothing boutique called TheRuu which was named after Cheyenne’s grandmother, Ruby, and the description read: “As a child I would play in her closet, and pretend to be a supermodel. Wearing her timeless pieces I felt invincible. I have always attributed my love for fashion and design stemming from her. theRUU is a collection of fitness wear and intimates. The brand will cater to both women and men. The pieces are [gorgeous] and affordable, yet classy. The store will also feature essential items. theRUU will continue to grow and evolve, so make sure to check in often!” It seems the boutique is no more however as the website is now nonexistent.
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8. Complicated Cory
Although Cheyenne and Ryder’s father Cory Wharton are committed to co-parenting their daughter together, it took a while for the pair to get there, because for starters, Cory had no idea he had a daughter! It might be surprising but following Ryder’s birth, it took Cheyenne six months before she told Cory that Ryder was his daughter. In December, 2017 Cory took to his Instagram to reveal the big news, sharing, “I’ve been off of social media for a while now… for many reasons. Most importantly God has given me the biggest blessing in my life, my daughter Ryder K Wharton,” he captioned a photo of himself, Cheyenne and their daughter. He continued, “I want to say thank you Cheyenne for being such an amazing mother. I look forward to co-parenting with you and giving Ryder all the love in the world. I can’t wait to watch you grow up and be there for you every step of the way, love you Moochie!!!” Obviously there is more to the story, but that will all be part of Cheyenne’s Teen Mom OG story, and it has been confirmed that Cory will also be appearing on the series alongside her. In a trailer for the new season dedicated to Cheyenne, Cory is seen telling his friends that months after The Challenge: Rivals III was over, the cast came back for the reunion show and while staying at the same hotel things heated up between the two and he now knows that is when their daughter was conceived.
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7. Telling Her Story
Cheyenne is well aware that many are very confused by her story, especially why Cory didn’t know he had a daughter until she was six months old, but she revealed that she is ready to explain it all. “I think that there was a lot of questions regarding my pregnancy from the beginning when I got pregnant,” Cheyenne said after her casting was announced. “It will be interesting to now tell people what actually happened. Everybody knows that Cory didn’t find out about Ryder until she was 6 months and now everyone’s questions will get answered as to what actually happened.” She continued: “We’re not hiding anything. We’re being completely honest and open with our situation. We’re finally going to be able to tell our story and how Ryder got here.” The trailer featuring Cheyenne showed that part of her secrecy around it all could have been because she was upset that things weren’t more serious with Cory when she slept with him. From an old clip of The Challenge, she is seen saying, “Cory is nice to look at, but that doesn’t mean I am going to lose all my morals.” That is followed by a Teen Mom OG clip in which she says, “I never thought I would have a baby before I got married,” which then cuts to Cory sharing with his friends how he and Cheyenne ended up becoming intimate during the reunion. “Reunion time comes around. I’m in the hotel like ‘hayyyy.’ Yeah, we’re drinking, we’re about to go out and um…that’s when Ryder K comes into play,” Cory says in the clip, followed by a shot of Cheyenne crying and saying, “I did everything by the book except this.”
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6. Ryder’s VCLAD
Although Cheyenne is ready to tell her story surrounding her pregnancy, her life with her daughter, and her complicated relationship with Cory, she is also participating in Teen Mom OG to share Ryder’s story as well. Ryder was born with a rare genetic disease called VCLAD (Very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency) which means she is unable to break down certain fats and convert them into energy. Cheyenne found about that her daughter had VLCAD two days after her birth when she got a terrifying phone call to take Ryder to the hospital immediately. Although Ryder’s condition is serious, it isn’t necessarily life-threatening but is something that will have to be monitored throughout her life.
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5. New Man
Although it seems there will always be chemistry between Cheyenne and Cory, they are just co-parenting because Cheyenne has another serious man in her life. In the trailer for the upcoming season, the topic of her relationship with Zack comes up quite a bit because Cory feels threatened that Zack lives with Cheyenne and Ryder, while Zack seems to think at any given moment Cheyenne is going to decide she wants to be with Cory. Regardless, and like with any other Teen Mom star, Cheyenne’s segments are going to be cholk-full of relationship drama.
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4. Vlog
While Cheyenne may have stepped away from the MTV spotlight for some time, she did continue to share her story in her own way before being signed on to Teen Mom OG. She actually began her own Vlog on YouTube that documented some of her pregnancy and giving birth to Ryder. She also continued on after reconnecting with Cory and documented the first time they took Ryder to Michigan to meet Cory’s family.
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3. Controversy
Following the exit of Farrah Abraham from Teen Mom OG, many rumors circulated about how producers would fill her spot. At first the top contenders seemed to be Teen Mom 3 star Mackenzie McKee and part-time star Mackenzie Edwards, the wife of Ryan Edwards, but then in June 2018 it was reported that talks with both had “fizzled out” and MTV was actually going with Cheyenne Floyd. The news of Cheyenne’s casting wasn’t officially announced by MTV until nearly three months later however and that is reportedly because MTV second-guessed the casting after some of Cheyenne’s alleged tweets came to their attention. In multiple tweets seemingly from 2011 to 2012, an account appearing to be Cheyenne’s wrote things like, “this little white kid told me I looked like a cat today. I shoulda kicked in his head,” and, “My mom said I can’t see The Help, she knows I already have a problem with white people.” The Hollywood Gossip shared additional tweets that appeared to be similarly aggressive and disturbing, and the publication claimed that Cheyenne was in danger of losing the gig over the tweets and that was the reason MTV took so long to make an official announcement. While the network confirmed she is joining the show, no mention has been made of the tweets.
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2. Cheyenne’s Background
Cheyenne was actually born Kristyn Cheyenne Floyd, but it seems she dropped her official first name years ago, preferring to go by Cheyenne, and for those who watched The Challenge, they know she hates when someone mispronounces her name and her Instagram handle is even cheynotshy. She also has a Bachelor’s Degree from Hampton University in Public Relations and headed to Are You The One? almost immediately after graduation.
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1. Drama, Drama, Drama
While co-parenting always has its challenges, Cory and Cheyenne seem to be handling it quite well and always come together for Ryder’s big events, but there is a lot more that audiences are going to see. A source close to the couple said, “Their co-parenting relationship is nowhere near as happy as they try to make it out to be on social media. They will fit in perfectly on Teen Mom.” Also the Teen Mom OG trailer all about Cheyenne showed Cory asking her “Why she can’t just be single?” and Cheyenne getting into a huge fight with Zack seemingly over Cory. It certainly seems Farrah’s dramatics aren’t going to be missed in the slightest.