TEEN Mom 2 star Ashley Jones has revealed she was homeless and working as a stripper before joining the MTV franchise.
The reality mom of Holly, 3, opened up about her past struggles on her costar Kailyn Lowry’s Coffee Convos podcast.
The reality TV star typically posts videos of her dancing during nights out and even has a stripper pole in her garage.
During this week’s episode of Coffee Convos with Kail Lowry and Lindsie Chrisley, Ashley opened up about her time before she was an MTV star.
Ashley first appeared on Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant and was then promoted to Teen Mom 2 with Kailyn.
When the mom of four asked her co-star how she and Bar Smith were doing, Ashley told her: “You know what, people don’t understand Bar and I but Bar and I have been homeless together – we’ve been through so much together that we are just trying to make it f**king work.
“We both grew up without biological fathers, so that’s why – even though we go through so much crazy shit – we push to give our daughter something better.”
Bar and Ashley – who are now engaged after many ups and downs – share a three-year-old daughter, Holly.
Lindsie then asked her to elaborate more about her time being homeless with Bar, to which she said: “People know when I got pregnant, we were living in a trap house.
“There was no running water. And he was doing his best entrepreneurial things to keep us going but I just had to tell my mom, I couldn’t even warm up food and my mom was like ‘You guys gotta come back.’
“But there was a point when Bar and I were in our lowest of lows, in the cold together because we didn’t even have heat. So we were together, trying to get the body heat between us and that’s what kept us going and no one knows about that.
“That’s why we have something deep. When I couldn’t do it, when I was pregnant, he was doing it. He was taking me to school, still making it work and we didn’t even have a roof over our heads.
“He told me to go to school and he was like ‘You are going to be who you want to be, even if I have to sacrifice myself for you to get yours.'”
She then continued: “People don’t know this but when I was stripping, I felt so low, I was like ‘This is who you are.’ I come from, my grandfather is a psychology professor, my grandma was the first Black woman to work in Major League sports, and my family was pro-Black, pro-education, and me stripping, oh my god, with the hood rat from the hood?
“My grandparents literally were like ‘You’re out of our will, good luck, b**ch.’ And when I was stripping, I wasn’t even talking to my family and we were in Vegas with his mom, and things were crazy and it was Bar who kept me going.
“He’d tell me, ‘You’re somebody and if you wanna quit’ and it was him who was there. He was there for the darkest time of my life and so just because you see things about Bar doesn’t mean I have to put him in the disposal. We’ve been through the f**king ringer.”
Sadly, it now seems like Bar is the one going through his darkest moments as The Celeb Report revealed he had been arrested in May for “wilful discharge of firearm.”
According to a police report shared by the Instagram account TeenMom.Tea, Bar was arrested for “willful discharge of firearm in negligent manner” at 9:35 AM.
He was held at Merced County Sheriff’s Main Jail, while the MTV star’s bond was set at $25,000.
The Celeb Report confirmed his arrest, while Bar was already released from jail by Monday.
Ashley, 24, and Bar share three-year-old daughter Holly together.
Back in April, Ashley shared the exciting news that she would be replacing Chelsea Houska on Teen Mom 2 for the next season.
Ashley and Bar have had a tumultuous relationship, while she accused her baby daddy of domestic abuse during their early years on MTV’s Young & Pregnant.
The two have been off and on consistently, but seem to be moving forward seriously at this stage of their relationship as they are currently engaged.
Ashley may have already taken the next step with Bar despite only announcing their engagement thus far.
The MTV star previously shared a photo with her man while enjoying a boat day out on the water, as the couple cuddled close in the sun.
In April, Ashley formally announced her spot on Teen Mom 2 by sharing a preview clip of her on-and-off-again boyfriend proposing.
The reality star recently spoke out about her decision to leave Young & Pregnant and move on to Teen Mom 2.
The young mom admitted she no longer “felt a connection” with her co-stars and was ready to move on to the next phase of her career.
She confessed: “I always said that I felt a special connection with Young & Pregnant because that’s where I started and where I wanted to finish.
“After the last reunion and a few other situations played out, I no longer feel that connection or need to hold on.
“So when the opportunity presented itself this time around, I took it.”
