Three women sat on one couch, and every one of them had been a teen mom. That scene said it all: Unexpected was never just about pregnant teenagers. It was about the women behind them — mothers and grandmothers who had walked the same road. The real MVPs were in the background. Tonight, we rank them.
Kim Bennett: The Mom Who Said the Hard Things
Kim Bennett was 16 herself when she had Lilly, so when Lilly got pregnant at 16, Kim refused to sugarcoat what was coming. In one famous early episode, she lectured Lilly against rushing to give her daughter James Kennedy’s last name, arguing that decisions that big should wait. Fans called her harsh at the time. Years later, most of them call her right.
According to reports, Kim and her husband Glenn Verity gave Lilly a place to live and stood by her through both pregnancies, telling her what she needed to hear rather than what she wanted to hear. The payoff came in August 2023, when Kim and Glenn finally married in a double wedding with Kim’s brother Phillip and his bride.
Kelsey Scheller: The 31-Year-Old Grandma Who Never Left
Kelsey Scheller became a grandmother at 31, because she had been 15 and pregnant with Lexus herself — and her own mother had been a teen mom too. Her first reaction was doubt: she said on camera that she never wanted this life for her daughter, and, according to reports, warned the couple she would step in over custody if they could not get their act together.
But doubt is not the same as leaving, and Kelsey never left. She was there when Lexus graduated high school in 2019 at 17, proudly posting about the milestone. Lexus answered her in the comments: “I couldn’t have done it without all your motivation & support.”
Shannon and the Grandparents Who Raised McKayla
No family on Unexpected had a harder road than McKayla Adkins’s. Her mother Shannon was 19 when she had her, and after McKayla’s father died, Shannon fell into drug addiction, according to reports. McKayla’s grandparents, Tim and Cindy, got custody of her when she was just 4 — and they raised her. They once called themselves “bad parents” but “really good grandparents.”
YOU MAY LIKEUnexpected Couples Ranked: Who Is Still Together in October 2026?Then came the twist nobody scripted: while McKayla was pregnant with her first child, Shannon was pregnant too. After rehab, Shannon tried to rebuild the relationship, and the two bonded over being pregnant at the same time. McKayla defended her mother fiercely online, telling critics they had “no clue” what the family had been through. A January 2026 update from Shannon, according to reports, says the family is “happy and healthy.”
The Next Generation of Grandmas
The torch is already being passed. Rilah Ferrer’s mom Rosa celebrated becoming a “nana of two” in September 2026 after Rilah welcomed her second baby girl, according to reports. Mia Quebedeaux’s dad Keith got the old-school ask: Jessie Kistler sought his permission before proposing in May 2026.
So Who Is the Greatest Grandma in Unexpected History?
Our ranking: Tim and Cindy take the crown for the hardest job — raising someone else’s child from age 4. Kim is second for tough love that aged into wisdom. Kelsey is third for turning worry into a front-row graduation seat. Shannon takes the comeback award: the mom who lost years, got clean, and came back anyway.
But this fandom never agrees on anything. So settle it: are you TEAM KIM, TEAM KELSEY, TEAM TIM & CINDY, or TEAM SHANNON?
