Hunter Johnson‘s stepmom is speaking out after it was portrayed on a recent episode of Unexpected that Hunter’s dad, Casey Johnson, ditched his son so that he could have a barbecue with his other family.
As fans saw on the show, Hunter appeared angry that his dad stood him up for a visit at the batting cages and seemingly told his son that he couldn’t make it because he was having a cookout. Hunter’s dad Casey does not appear on the show and, according to Casey’s wife Brettney, that’s the reason he’s being portrayed as a villain during this season. (In a previous episode, Hunter’s mom Stacie claimed Casey basically abandoned Hunter when he found out that his son— then only 12 years old— impregnated his 14-year-old girlfriend Bella Vaughn.)
According to Brettney, Casey is being portrayed as a bad dad because he refused to film for ‘Unexpected,’ and tried to keep Hunter from appearing on the show.
(As The Ashley exclusively reported yesterday, Casey filed for full custody of Hunter in April 2025— one month after Hunter and Bella’s son Wesley was born— and has been fighting in court ever since. In November, Hunter’s parents were each awarded 50/50 temporary custody of Hunter.)
“Hunter has come a long way since the show,” Bretteny wrote earlier this week in the comment section of a post about Hunter on the TLC Unexpected: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’s Facebook page. “We have been to court since he filmed for the show. They were alienating him from his father and trying to manipulate [Casey] into being on the show by holding his son over his head.”
Bretteny went on to explain that Hunter lived with her and Casey “for years” up until the summer he got Bella pregnant (which was in 2024). She also added that she and Hunter’s mother Stacie “had a great relationship” up until that point.
“We took trips together. In the show she acts like she doesn’t know me,” Hunter’s stepmom wrote, adding that Stacie and some of her family even moved in with her and Casey briefly, before Bella became pregnant.
“We were so supportive to her and co-parented great we even took family vacations together,” Bretteny wrote. “Through the whole pregnancy both moms [Hunter’s and Bella’s] bullied the hell out of me and posted crap on Facebook about me… They would always invite my husband to events but make it clear I wasn’t allowed. I have never done anything to either of these women. They just decided they didn’t want me around.
“I have been his stepmother for 9 years and Hunter has always had a room in our home,” she continued. “Our door is always open to him. We had Hunter on our phone plan when all this went down and they shut his phone off and got him a new one and blocked us on everything.”
Bretteny said that she and Casey did not want to be on ‘Unexpected,’ which caused problems between them and Hunter’s mom.
“We had to fight in court just to see him without cameras being shoved in our face,” she claimed. “We have an 8-year-old daughter that we would rather not glorify teen pregnancy with. My husband never missed a child support payment even when the whole family lived with us. We have always tried our best to do right by Hunter.”
Bretteny also tried to set the record straight on what she says really went down regarding Hunter getting “ditched” by his dad for a cookout.
@cynthia75645 Part 9: The 13-year-old Hunter excitedly went to find his dad, but his dad said he was busy barbecuing at the new house and didn’t have time to deal with him. #teenmom #youngmom #america #tlc #16andpregnant ♬ original sound – Cynthia
“The whole cookout seen was absurd because my husband let them know the night before he did not feel comfortable filming,” she wrote. “Nobody replied to the text or calls until this call was made. They knew my husband wasn’t going [to]. IDK why they got in the car and filmed this part and cut out a lot of the phone conversation.
She clarified that Casey offered to take Hunter to the batting cages— without cameras— and also invited both Hunter and Bella to the cookout, but Hunter’s mom said no.
“Casey did not want Hunter on the show,” Bretteny stressed. “Him and his father have an amazing relationship since we have gotten custody and Hunter loves being here. I have always had a good relationship with Hunter and he has always been respectful to me. When we got custody in December he had missed 55 days of school in the first 2 semesters. He now has much better attendance and all his grades are up.”
(As The Ashley reported on Tuesday, part of the temporary custody agreement that Hunter’s parents have for him now states that Hunter must remain enrolled in a particular school district. The order also forbids Hunter from spending the night at Bella’s house anymore.)
“We let [Hunter] visit his son [Wesley] while here on our weeks and encourage him to be a good father,” Bretteny wrote. “We just feel they need better adult supervision and guidance.”
“We will always support Hunter no matter of the issue at hand, but I just had to watch my husband fight in almost a yearlong battle just to see his son again. We dropped thousands on a lawyer and would have dropped thousands more.”
Bretteny claimed that Casey has only met baby Wesley– who is almost a year old— once, and that she has still not been allowed to meet him.
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“I have [sent] several text messages reaching out to repair our relationship with them and every time Bella’s mom has told me not to contact them again,” she wrote. “We have been in a custody battle for over a year and I have proof of everything I’m saying or, trust me, I wouldn’t say it. His mother even went as far as sending a letter to Hunter’s grandparents saying if they reached out to him again she was pressing charges.
“Hunter was very close with his dad’s whole family and they tried to keep him away from everyone,” she continued. “Hunter, despite all the drama, has been a very good father and even at 13 he stayed and that’s a big decision for a child to make. He loves his son and we are very proud of him.”
In a comment on another post from the same Facebook group, Bretteny expressed how sad she is that the situation between the families has gotten to the point it’s currently at.
“This was us before the pregnancy and this was our lives before the show,” she wrote, after stating that both sides of Hunter’s family once went to Florida together for one of Hunter’s baseball tournaments and stayed at the same house.
“We all worked together to do what was best for Hunter. Now the show makes it seem like my husband was a POS… I’m sick with what they have decided to do with this show… I will not be made to look like the “New Wife” that doesn’t like the stepchild. I have loved Hunter from the day I decided to be a part of his life. Hunter treats me and his father with so much respect and has grown a lot. He knows he is loved.
“The sad thing is after the show things will never be like they were in this picture. Which is sad because his smile says everything.”
‘Unexpected’ is currently airing on TLC.
(Photos: Facebook; Instagram; TLC)
6 Responses
Brettney? What has the world come to.
I believe every word this woman is saying because it’s obvious Bella and Hunter’s mamas are both pushing this weird young love/playing house thing and trying to profit from it. It’s crazy that he had to go to court to put a stop to that.
Same, sold out their kids for dame n money imo. I hope hunter realizes his dad is the only parent who parents from the sounds of it.
Of course they’ll portray him as a villain if he doesn’t want to be filmed and sets boundaries for his 13 year old son. That kid made the worst mistake of his short life by knocking that brat up
In the episode discussion on the Unexpected subreddit, it looks like a lot of posters thought that Casey “stood Hunter up” because he just didn’t want to be on camera. If it was that obvious to those people, hopefully other viewers are smart enough to see through the show’s narrative too!
Honestly, after Bella’s parents made fools of themselves repeatedly online, it was clear that they were the problem. They were immature and incredibly childish.
This woman doesn’t have to defend herself, because we can all exactly who failed these children. They’re proud of it.