Clearing the air. The Challenge’s Tony Raines opened up to Us Weekly about the custody battle he’s currently in with his ex-girlfriend Madison Walls-Channing. Madison and Tony share 2-year-old daughter Harper, and Tony has a second daughter, 22-month-old Isla, with fiancée Alyssa Giacone. While he and Alyssa are very public about their relationship, he keeps his coparenting relationship with Madison private – which has always been tough.
“It’s been a constant struggle ever since me and Madison split. I’ve tried to keep that very private, even going on the Challenges, I never like to talk about, never bring it up because it’s something that I wanted to protect Harper from,” he told Us Weekly exclusively. “Recently, it has been brought to the public, not by me, but through media outlets and her family so I’m a little more open to talking about now. We’re taking it day by day.”
Tony is currently fighting for custody for Harper. In July 2018, Madison’s parents, Cally and Michael Shapshak, requested sole custody of Harper, according to papers obtained by RadarOnline. Tony denied that would be in the best interest of Harper, and the family – for now – came to a temporary custody agreement, with Tony having access to his oldest daughter for 14 days between December 21 and February 18.
“Obviously, I can’t say too much. We are still currently going through the custody process and awaiting the court date. It’s still very, very sensitive, something we take day by day and I really hate that it got to this point,” he told Us. “I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure my daughter is in the best environment.”
Madison, 27, and Tony, 30, met during The Real World: Skeletons and began dating shortly after. During her time on the show, she revealed that she was recovering and had been addicted to heroin.
When she filed for her parents to take custody of her daughter, many fans took to Instagram to ask if she had relapsed. On Tuesday, October 23, she broke her silence about the case, hosting an Instagram Live and revealing that she has been going through “issues.”
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“I went MIA for a little while because I needed to get my headspace right again. I really wanted to focus on redirecting my life in a way… I wanted to move forward,” she said. “I was super depressed, I wasn’t the healthiest I’ve ever been. I needed to regroup. I went to therapy and went to AA meetings. I was doing some soul searching.”
She also said that she was unable to answer any questions about Tony or the custody agreements but that thanks to mediation and prayer, she was getting “mentally back into a good state of mind.”
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