Teen Mom 2: MTV Is Taping Now, Casting Later

The teen pregnancy franchise that MTV built just keeps on giving (to the network). Today, MTV announced to USA Today that it is currently filming the next season of Teen Mom, with the current cast of 16 And Pregnant. But does the network have any announcements about which girls from 16 And Pregnant will be chosen for the next cast? No.

Because MTV is filming all of them and will decide later whose story is the most compelling for viewers, once they have compiled footage. That may all be well and good for ratings, but these girls are living in front of MTV’s cameras. What’s going to happen to the girls who aren’t chosen to be in the new cast? Or maybe more pressing: what will the girls who are chosen have to do to make the cut?

16 And Pregnant follows the lives of newly pregnant high school students and tells the story of their pregnancy, relationships and birthing process. Each one hour segment follows one girl and tells her story. The show was such a hit that MTV decided to pick a few girls to follow over the next year on Teen Mom.

But now, MTV is filming all of this season’s 16 And Pregnant stars:

“We’re doing some continuous-type shooting with the original [cast] but nothing’s been announced yet about what we’ll do with that.”

These girls may make some bad choices. But they’re not stupid. MTV pays its Teen Mom castmembers very well. (Reportedly $60K per season) And likely, the girls who have the biggest messes in their lives make for the best television.

That’s why Ebony Jackson sasy she didn’t make the cut for the current season of Teen Mom:

“I think the reason I wasn’t chosen is that I was happy. All the other girls had drama going on in their lives, and I just didn’t.”