Teen Mom OG : Amber Portwood Says She's 'Found Herself' amid Distance from Boyfriend Dimitri

Amber Portwood may be rethinking her long-distance relationship.

In PEOPLE's exclusive sneak peek at the Teen Mom OG season 9 premiere, airing on Tuesday, the 30-year-old MTV star opens up to her costars via Zoom about her time apart from boyfriend Dimitri, who lives in Belgium, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"We haven't seen each other in seven months," Portwood tells Cheyenne Floyd, Catelynn Lowell, Mackenzie McKee and Maci Bookout.

"Oh my god, that's so long," says Floyd, 28. "Is that because of COVID?"

"Yeah, because of COVID," Portwood confirms. "The thing is though, he's such a sweet guy, he's amazing," she adds of Dimitri, "but he's very possessive and jealous because he's not here."

"Well keeping those boundaries is very important for you," Lowell, 28, reminds Portwood.

MTV Amber Portwood

Dimtri and Amber Portwood

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But Portwood — who has had a whirlwind of relationship issues and legal troubles in the past few years — explains to her costars that she doesn't want her romance with Dimitri to set her back to dark times.

"I can't go backwards to where I was," she says. "I've found myself, I really have, and I'm happy about that. But I don't wanna lose that. I don't want to go backwards, that's the point."

Portwood met Dimitri online after her split from Andrew Glennon, with whom she shares 2-year-old son James. She also shares 12-year-old daughter Leah with her ex, Gary Shirley. She and Dimitri met for the first time in person in an episode of Teen Mom OG which aired in April 2020.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic Amber Portwood

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Speaking to PEOPLE last May, Portwood said she and Dimitri were "still talking."

"He's in Belgium. The coronavirus is obviously a big reason [we can't see each other], and that's okay because a lot of couples at the moment who are still in the same state have to do this," she acknowledged.

Since then, Portwood has not publicly confirmed if the couple are still together.

Teen Mom OG returns Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.