Maci Bookout Defends Herself For Putting Son Bentley, 11, On ‘Very Strict Diet’ To Achieve Wrestling Dream

Maci Bookout took to Twitter following Tuesday night’s episode of ‘Teen Mom OG,’ after fans criticized Maci for putting her son, Bentley, on a diet. In response, she assured fans that she will ‘never convince Bentley to ‘cut’ weight.’

Maci Bookout responded to fan backlash after it was revealed she had put her 11-year-old son, Bentley, on a diet in order to help him achieve his wrestling goals. Following the Tuesday, May 26 episode of Teen Mom OG, the reality TV star, 28, took to her Twitter account to issue the following statement: “In reference to tonight’s episode — I have never and will never convince Bentley to ‘cut’ weight. After wrestling his first 2 tournaments in the 75lb class weighing in at 72-he came to me & said he wanted to wrestle at 70. I told him that’s fine, but you WILL NOT ‘cut’ weight,” Maci explained in her first tweet.

The mother-of-three went on to detail that she told her son, “I will lay out a healthy scheduled diet for u, u can eat salads, grilled chicken, veggies, good carbs-instead of pizza, doritos & candybars. Through the season, he decided he didn’t like it-I told him that’s okay! U can go back to usual and wrestle at 75 which is what he did.”

During the recent episode, Maci revealed that wrestling has been “a great outlet” for Bentley, as the newly-graduated fifth grader continues to deal with family struggles between his mom and biological father, Ryan Edwards. However, fans became concerned for the 11-year-old once Maci revealed she would be putting her son on a “strict diet” that she explained in the episode would help him “achieve his goal” of making it to the regional wrestling tournament.

At one point in the episode, Maci even told Bentley that he had “lost [his] mind” after saying he wanted grilled chicken for dinner. “He weighs like 74-75 pounds so he’s on a very strict, good, healthy calorie diet,” Maci explained in the episode. “Lots of water and workouts to actually cut out weight.” Even Bentley’s father, Ryan, and step-mother, Mackenzie Edwards, voiced their own concerns that the diet would cause Bentley to become a “late-bloomer” in terms of his development.

But it was fans who were far more pressed about the diet. Some of Maci’s long-time fans took to her Instagram account to issue scathing remarks directed to the young mom. “I have a son the same age as Bentley and I could not imagine telling him it is okay to lose weight at his age. He’s a growing boy and his body needs those calories and nutrients. Let him be little,” one fan commented. Another Instagram user told Maci that the episode “just makes me so sick. He’s 11. No 11 year old should be on a diet.” Those comments led to Maci’s above statement on Twitter.

The season finale of Teen Mom OG airs Tuesday, June 2 at 8pm on MTV.