Gary Shirley may be one of the saddest figures to come out of reality television, but news that he dropped big bills on strippers in Florida means his presence on Teen Mom is finally starting to make sense. Beaten in front of a national audience by girlfriend Amber Portwood on the MTV show, Shirley spends half his time chasing his abuser and the other half fighting with her. Ever wondered why he doesn't just get off his butt and leave? Or at least take himself off air?
Maybe a little thing called MONEY is getting in the way. Shirley was spotted in the VIP section of a Miami strip club over the weekend, where TMZ reports he spent 11 hours getting down (they have pictures, but they're certainly not for the kiddos). By the time all was said and done, he'd dropped $5,000.
FIVE grand? From a guy who occasionally works as a certified nurse's aide? Who had to apply to the State of Indiana for a hardship license after losing his driver's license, just so he could cart daughter Leah around town and get to work? He doesn't sound like the kind of guy who has that kind of money lying around.
Which leads us to one of only two possible conclusions: either MTV pays more than just the teen moms to appear on camera or Gary is sticking around for a piece of Amber's reported $280,000 a year salary. Either way, he's willingly submitted himself to be humiliated on national television for the moolah.
Don't tell me he doesn't have a choice to get out of it. Trainwreck Jenelle Evans' loser ex took off without a bye bye glance, and you don't see hide or hair of him on Teen Mom 2. Even sticking around for baby Leah doesn't mean Gary has to be on the tube. He can require the cameraman stop at the door to his apartment, and any time there's an Amber/Gary interaction, there can be a big blur across his face.
But he's still there, still moaning on television. Still getting the dollar, dollar bills y'all. The cynic in me isn't terribly surprised. This is the guy who is trying to sell a "Gary Time" t-shirt to cash in on his fame, and he's started a Twitter account for his 2-year-old daughter. Gary loves him some fame.
Can you think of any other reason Gary's still on TV?
Image via MTV