Jenelle Evans returns to Teen Mom in hopes of starting fresh after split from David Eason

Jenelle Evans made him come back to Teen mom Thursday in the all-new episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter after being fired from the franchise in 2019.

Eager to start fresh after announcing her separation from her ex-husband, David EisonIn March, Jenelle traveled to Orlando, Florida to meet her bandmate, Briana DeJesushoping to start again.

Debating between moving to the Sunshine State and Las Vegas — where she has a friend and potential love interest — Jenelle spoke to Briana about a “fresh start” and what made her want to end things with David for good after a series of ups and downs during their tumultuous six-year marriage.

The final straw came after Jenelle's teenage son Jace ran away and accused David of strangling him. Jace made the decision to return home, but with the intervention of Child Protective Services and criminal charges against David for child abuse and strangulation, Jenelle was forced to choose between her son and her husband .

“I was like, ‘David, he’s coming home and you have to leave. I'm sorry,'” Jenelle recalled. “It was all just a blessing in disguise because it put a no contact order between David and Jace.”

Previously, Jenelle obtained a restraining order against her ex after he was allegedly emotionally and physically abusive – would have damaging their home and injuring his collarbone during an altercation in 2018. The couple's firing from the series came a year later when David shot and killed their French bulldog after claiming it bit their daughter.

“I definitely need to make a fresh start and get out of North Carolina, that's why I'm here,” Jenelle explained.

While it's unclear whether she'll land in Florida, Nevada, or stay in her North Carolina home, Jenelle is leaving David and moving forward as she raises her three children as a single mother. In addition to Jace, Jenelle shares son Kaiser, 9, with former fiancé Nathan Griffith, and daughter Ensley, 7, with David.

Speaking with E! NewsJenelle gave more insight into what made her finally split from her ex.

“I was done with it for a while and I was telling my friends that I'm done with it and I'm going to leave. But at the same time, it's hard to leave when you're both on the “I had a while to have a little window of opportunity to leave, to drop off everything I had to drop off,” Jenelle told the outlet.

She said she officially filed for separation when David left the 10-acre North Carolina property they once shared to crash in their nearby boat after Jace returned home.

“There are detractors who say, 'Why didn't she just leave and file for separation when she could?'” she explained, recalling the law of North Carolina that spouses must be separated for one year before they can have what the state considers a separation. “an absolute divorce”. However, she continued, “you both have to be at two different physical addresses to file for separation, so one of us had to leave and we both clashed. It was very difficult because that you both have to agree to part ways and most of the time that doesn’t happen.”

Even though the split was a long time coming, Jenelle said she did what she could to get away from him before filing the paperwork.

“I always had to walk away. I would either walk away from my house to my room or I would have to take the kids and drive somewhere away from him, just separating myself from someone who is that negative,” Jenelle explained. “It was the only thing that could help me calm down.”

With a return to the show – her second time since she made a brief appearance in 2022 while attending an event for Briana – Jenelle has a new outlook on life and is ready to leave the past in the past .

“I feel like so much has happened here that it's like I have to get out and move and make a fresh start, leave all the bad memories behind me,” she added .

While Briana welcomed Jenelle, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the cast reacts to her return.

Both Mackenzie McKee And Maci Reservation voiced their support for Jenelle ahead of this season's premiere, with Maci tells TooFabin part: “Being back on the show, with everything she's been through and is going through now, her story can really help a lot of people; especially people who have gone through something similar or are going through something similar and who can relate to it.

She continued, “I feel like this is going to make a difference for people who need to see this and see how she got away. I hate to use these words, but I just feel like that it's important for some people – men and women – to see his story because they relate to it.

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.