WE TV’s hit reality shows Love After Lockup and Life After Lockup follow people who have started relationships with incarcerated individuals and produce insane and explosive relationship drama that is too good to miss. Many of the people on the show are train wrecks, and their destructive behavior highly affects everyone around them and makes their relationships toxic.
It is not only the ex-cons who have these severe emotional problems, the people on the outside who started relationships with convicts also have some major issues as well. The culmination of stress, dependence, joblessness, reoffences, desperation, addiction, and disapproval from friends and family, plays out wildly on Love After Lockup and Life After Lockup.
Many of the relationships featured on the show ended in explosive or drawn-out breakups, but there are also some couples that are still together despite mounting red flags.
We’ve detailed the couples that stand out for their erratic and unhealthy behavior and represent 9 of the most toxic relationships to come out of Love After Lockup and Life After Lockup.
1. Scott and Lindsey
Lindsey came out of prison after serving 4 years for possession of methamphetamine and a firearm, and by the end of filming, she was back in prison for possession of a stolen vehicle and methamphetamine.
Scott, who suffered the death of his son shortly before meeting Lindsey, uprooted his life in New York and moved to Mississippi where Lindsey was going to be paroled, and it is also where her daughter was living. Lindsey’s unappreciation for what Scott was providing, coupled with her mistrust for Scott ended in an epic blow-up where she tore up his office, left his laptop out in the rain, and threw all of his clothes on the lawn.
Lindsey uncovered that Scott was allegedly seeing prostitutes and had no money, but her belligerence and destruction of his property was next level.
2. Sarah and Mike
Mike’s serial cheating on his wife Sarah, and his repeated abandonment of the children they share were major themes in the three seasons he and Sarah were on.
The pair maintained an on-again-off-again sexual relationship that always ended in heated and dramatic episodes. Mike’s complete disregard for his children and his disrespectful actions towards Sarah was hard for viewers to watch. On top of that, Mike’s only source of income was from women who sent him money, which he never contributed to Sarah or the kids.
They are still married and continue to repeat the same pattern as as result of Mike’s behavior.
3. Lacey, John, and Shane
Lacey tried to juggle relationships with two men behind bars, John and Shane, and it got very messy when they both got out. Lacey had kids from a previous relationship but they were attached to John and then had to get attached to Shane as well.
Lacey ended up throwing her relationship with Shane in John’s face when he got out and went on to marry Shane, only to break up with him shortly after and move John back into her house and her life. She then dumped John and called the cops on him to get him sent back to jail. After all that, she got back with Shane and got pregnant with triplets.
Lacey’s actions were extremely selfish and hurtful for John, Shane, and her kids to go through. She threw away her relationship with both men multiple times in order to satisfy her own agenda and she dragged her kids through the drama too. Lacey is still married to Shane, despite kicking him out and cheating on him previously.
4. Destinie and Shawn
Destinie’s vulgar, brash, and violent behavior was brought into her relationship with Shawn, and she was very demanding with his money, which drove him broke. Destinie had a way of manipulating Shawn to do whatever she wanted in such a way that made him stop talking to his kids and ex-wife, and she got him completely fixated on her happiness no matter her requests. Destinie, however, was never satisfied.
Shawn also messed up by lying about his age, how many children he had, and his relationship with the mother of his children. Destinie said she can handle anything in a relationship other than a liar. Destinie’s outrage when Shawn didn’t do what she wanted to became abusive several times with punches being thrown.
Their relationship ended when Destinie threw her engagement ring at him and said he was just a trick to her. In return, Shawn repossessed the car he got for her. A few weeks later, Destinie got married to someone else.
5. Shavel and Quaylon
Quaylon came out of prison after serving 12 years for armed robbery and jumped into a relationship with Shavel who gave him a great foundation to start his new life.
Both of their families were mistrusting of the relationship and expressed their disapproval. This pressure, on top of Quaylon’s desire to experience the life he missed out on while behind bars, led him to talk with another woman over text which Shavel found out about. The pair broke up, but Quaylon ended up proposing to Shavel and she said yes in an effort to start over.
That was short-lived, however, because a man Shavel dated while on the break with Quaylon texted her, leading to an epic breakup fight that had broken cell phones, police, and a multi-block walk where Shavel screamed at Quaylon.
6. Clint and Tracie
Clint married Tracie the day she got out of prison after never having met her in person. Their marriage bliss was over before it started as Tracie left Clint on their wedding night, stole his rental car, and disappeared to find crack. She ended up back in jail but Clint gave her a second chance and bailed her out.
Tracie focused on her recovery and made it to the end of her parole, but ended up back in jail on possession of methamphetamine charges. Clint’s dramatic freakouts and intense anxiety only exacerbated their life on the outside and he has since had arrests of his own.
7. Heather and Dylan
Heather only knew Dylan for 3 weeks before he got locked up for 5 years for residential burglary and possession of ecstasy, but she held him down for the entire bid. She also got his name tattooed on her during those 3 weeks of knowing him.
Once he got out, Heather and Dylan’s relationship only lasted a few days before they broke up when Heather’s unstable, dangerous, and volatile tendencies went too far.
8. Andrea and Lamar
Lamar, a former Los Angeles gang member, did 18 years for robbery with a deadly weapon but began a relationship with Andrea when there were 5 years left on his sentence. Andrea wanted him to move to Utah and convert to Mormonism when he got out, which he was heavily against.
Andrea ended up moving to Los Angeles with her three kids to be with him, only for him to land back in jail for another year. Once he was out Andrea wanted to move back to Utah and brought Lamar out there to check it out. When he said he didn’t want to live there, she hid his car keys and driver’s license so he couldn’t leave.
Andrea also flew off the handle easily and was very forceful about pushing her beliefs on those around her. She was overly critical of Lamar, her kids, and friends, but never reflected on her own toxic thoughts and actions. Lamar and Andrea are still married despite their lack of compatibility.
9. Scott and Lizzie
Scott spent his life’s savings on Lizzie while she was in jail, which she used to buy meth and heroin. Once out, Lizzie left Scott once he revealed that he was broke. Lizzie had a way of gaslighting Scott to the point of tears and they never even slept together.
Lizzie tried to start a relationship with him again and he was willing to give up everything to be with her, but the volatility of the relationship and their first breakup made him turn to heroin himself, a habit that Lizzie was not willing to put up with.
They had a messy and vocal final breakup that was uncomfortable and sad for viewers to watch.
It’s clear from the relationships mentioned that Love After Lockup and Life After Lockup never disappoint when it comes to drama and chaos.
Love After Lockup is currently on hiatus.