Cory Wharton says he and longtime girlfriend Taylor Selfridge are back together and working on their relationship, with the Teen Mom: The Next Chapter dad crediting daughter Maya’s recent health scare for “trauma bonding” the two.
“So it’s almost like a blessing in disguise, I don’t know how else to describe it,” Cory said, adding that he and Taylor are “trying to be better,” with a lot of that work happening offline.
As The Ashley previously told you, months after igniting (and proceeding to fuel) breakup rumors on social media, Cory told fans in November that he and Taylor were “still together.” In the coming months, however, the status of the couple’s relationship remained a mystery, with the two rarely appearing on each other’s social media pages and Taylor reportedly unfollowing Cory at some point.
Despite Taylor and Cory seemingly taking a break, the two continued to live together while parenting their daughters Mila and Maya. (As you know, Cory is also a dad to daughter Ryder, whom he shares with Cheyenne Floyd.)
The speculation regarding the status of Cory and Taylor’s relationship ramped up on social media recently after three-year-old Maya– who was born with a rare heart disease called tricuspid atresia and has undergone several heart surgeries in her lifetime– experienced a health scare that required her to be life-flighted and ultimately hospitalized for 18 days.
This week on Snapchat, Cory was asked about Maya’s recent hospitalization, with a fan wanting to know if the experience had brought Cory and Taylor closer. Without hesitating, Cory confirmed that his daughter’s health scare did bring him and Taylor closer, insisting that the terrifying experience had resulted in “trauma bonding.”
“You know, I feel like when you go through trauma … it’s just the trauma bonding, it happens,” Cory said.
(While Cory was seemingly using the term “trauma bonding” to describe the closeness he and Taylor formed amid Maya’s health scare, the Cleveland Clinic defines “trauma bonding” as a “connection that can appear in abusive relationships,” in which an individual forms a strong attachment to someone who is causing them harm.)
In addition to the alleged “trauma bonding” that occurred between himself and Taylor, Cory said the recent experience gave them an opportunity to talk about a lot of things that needed to be talked about. The Challenge star claims that he and Taylor are now “on great terms.”
Cory went on to discuss his relationship with Taylor again during another social media Q&A this week, telling fans that Taylor– whom he met while filming Ex on the Beach in 2017– is the only romantic partner of his that nine-year-old Ryder has ever know, as Taylor has been “around” since Ryder was about 7 months old.
“ … There were some breaks, you know, there was a break or two in between there, but basically, we’ve been together like, eight years– a little bit over that,” Cory said, adding, “That’s a long time!”
In response to another fan who told Cory they were happy to see him and Taylor posting each other on social media again, Cory claimed that he and Taylor “had to get offline and figure our stuff out.” During that time, Cory said, both he and Taylor decided they wanted to make their relationship work.
“ … [we figured out] that we both still love each other and we want to put time into each other and make this thing work,” he explained. “You know, anybody that’s in a long-term relationship– or just a relationship– and you have a family, kids, a house together, it’s a lot. It’s a lot of work, you know?
“This isn’t something you take lightly and so I think we both realized that we have to put time into each other and that’s what we’re doing now,” he continued. “And so, we’re on good terms, we’re happy, we’re great. Thank you guys for supporting us … I’m glad you guys are happy, I’m happy too.”
Watch a clip from Cory’s Q&A below.
(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
