Bristol Palin first made headlines during her mom's unlikely run for vice president
in 2008, when she was just 17 at the time and pregnant with her first child, Tripp.
After two broken engagements with her baby daddy, Palin married Dakota Meyer, a U.S.
Marine veteran and Medal of Honor recipient in 2016.
Now, Bristol's on MTV's Teen Mom.
Here's how it all went wrong.
Trouble from the start
Just two months after Dakota Meyer proposed to Palin at a Rascal Flatts concert, the Palin
family announced that the May 2015 wedding was canceled.
"Mama Grizzly" Sarah Palin herself shared the news in a now-deleted Facebook posting.
In an unexpected twist, a little more than a month after canceling the nuptials, Bristol,
an abstinence advocate, announced she was expecting a baby.
She wrote on her official blog:
"I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends,
and to many of you.
But please respect Tripp's and my privacy during this time.
I do not want any lectures, and I do not want any sympathy."
Secrets don't make fiancés
We may never know the real reason Palin and Meyer decided to pump the brakes on their
wedding in 2015, but it might be because of a scandalous secret that leaked about a week
before they were scheduled to tie the knot.
Radar Online revealed Meyer had previously married a woman named Cassandra Wain back
in May 2008.
The couple reportedly divorced in March of 2010, but Palin was allegedly clueless that
her husband-to-be was a divorcé.
Wain's friend even took to Meyer's Facebook profile to unleash her venom, writing, in
part,
"What I'm not understanding is why this marriage to my best friend is something you are trying
to hide."
The friend also accused Meyer of contacting his ex-wife in October 2014, and she allegedly
asked him to, quote, "leave her alone and let it go."
Absentee daddy
Meyer wasn't present in the delivery room when Palin gave birth to their first daughter,
Sailor, but later posted about the birth on Facebook, calling her the "best Christmas
present ever."
A months-long custody battle soon followed, and Meyer was eventually granted joint legal
and physical custody of their daughter, according to People.
After finally getting married in June 2016, Palin was soon pregnant with their second
child and announced the news to the world in December.
Meyer was present for the birth of their daughter Atlee in May 2017.
It's too bad the happy moments between them wouldn't last for long.
Discord records
After less than two years of marriage, Meyer pulled the plug on their relationship in February
2018.
According to People magazine, Meyer cited, quote, "discord or conflict of personalities"
as the reason that their marriage had gone down the drain.
That discord was on display in a January 2018 vlog post ...
"Absolutely not.
Can I, like, paint my face before you do this kind of stuff?"
"No, it's going up just like this.
Raw footage."
According to divorce documents retrieved by People, Meyer said,
"[The discord] destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents
any reasonable expectation of reconciliation."
Dakota planning?
After filing for divorce in February 2018, Meyer reportedly wanted Palin to cover his
"attorney fees, expenses and costs through the trial," according to Radar.
A source told the website that Bristol's momma Sarah Palin was "furious" over his demands.
Was the marriage and divorce a money grab for Meyer?
An insider close to the situation told Radar that money was a point of contention, saying,
"What's really beyond any reasonable expectation is Dakota's belief that Bristol would EVER
give him any money for this divorce!"
A failed reconciliation
Fans were a little puzzled following the news that Meyer had filed for divorce because the
supposedly separated couple still carried on online as if they were married and head-over-heels
in love.
A source told People magazine that the family celebrated Easter together, and, by May 2018,
it looked as if the "discord" was behind them and that they were interested in rekindling
their relationship.
On Mother's Day, Meyer wrote a loving tribute to Palin, which read,
"Thank you for being a great mother and for providing me with a purpose in life that I
could have never fathomed before our beautiful healthy children."
But this supposed reconciliation was short-lived, as of September 2018, Palin and Meyer haven't
mentioned each other on social media in months.
Bouncing back
Bristol Palin didn't officially acknowledge her divorce until more than five months after
Meyer filed the legal documents.
When one of her Instagram followers asked if she was dating anyone, Palin replied,
"Freshly divorced & single forever lezzbereal (I am not ready to date)."
When asked if she'd ever get married again, she answered,
"Honestly (right this SECOND) no… my focus is on God & my kids… a relationship/guy
isn't even close on my radar."
Another area she plans to focus on is her reality TV career, after being tapped to join
the cast of MTV's Teen Mom OG.
"I don't want to raise my kids to think that this is what a marriage looks like, y'know?"
Being that she was a teen mom herself when she gave birth to her eldest son, Tripp, Palin
fits right in with the rest of the cast.
Divorce is the pits and being a single parent is tough, but, with her supportive family
and devoted fans in her corner, we have no doubt Palin will bounce back in no time.