‘16 and Pregnant’ star Whitney Purvis denied entry to son’s funeral after showing up late

Amy Lee
The Nightly
A former 16 and Pregnant star is said to have missed the funeral of her son, just two weeks after revealing he died unexpectedly.
A former 16 and Pregnant star is said to have missed the funeral of her son, just two weeks after revealing he died unexpectedly. Credit: Facebook

A former 16 and Pregnant star has missed the funeral of her son, just two weeks after revealing he had died unexpectedly at the age of 16.

Whitney Purvis gave birth to Weston Jr during the MTV reality show’s first season with then-boyfriend Weston Gosa. The couple, who had a rocky relationship, later had a second son, River, who is now 11.

Sharing the heartbreaking news on Facebook, Ms Purvis wrote: “My beautiful son, Weston, has passed away. He was only 16 years old. Life is so cruel and unfair. I just don’t understand.”

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“How do you go on in life after losing a child? I’m in disbelief, this cannot be happening. I don’t want it to be real. I would do anything just to hold him. Words just can’t describe the pain I am feeling.”

Weston Jr’s stepmother, Amy Gosa, took to Facebook the morning of his death, sharing her haunting discovery.

“We got up this morning around 7am and tried to wake him up, he was not breathing,” she wrote.

She said paramedics were called to the house and had to perform CPR on the teen, who had “several health issues as well as diabetes.”

Mr Gosa has since confirmed that his son died from natural causes.

Now, a new layer of heartbreak has surfaced after a source close to Ms Purvis claims she was deliberately misled about the timing of her son’s funeral, The Daily Mail reported.

According to the insider, Mr Gosa told her the service would begin at 4pm, but when she arrived, she was informed it had started at 2pm and that her name wasn’t even on the guest list.

Mr Gosa has firmly denied the claim, telling TMZ that Ms Purvis was given the correct information, in which the viewing would be held at 2pm followed by the service at 4pm. He insists she arrived after 4.15pm, when the chapel doors had already been locked.

He says he personally spoke to Ms Purvis on the phone a week before the service to invite her, making it clear that attendance would be tightly regulated with a guest list.

Whitney Purvis says Weston Jr ‘will always be my baby’ in a social media post.
Whitney Purvis says Weston Jr ‘will always be my baby’ in a social media post. Credit: Facebook

Mr Gosa added that several of Ms Purvis’ relatives, including her mother, aunty and uncle, arrived around 3pm and were allowed inside without issue.

According to Mr Gosa, Ms Purvis began texting him at 5.10pm, accusing him of being evil for preventing her from attending their son’s memorial.

He also noted that in a gesture of compassion, he and his wife arranged for a separate urn containing some of Weston Jr’s ashes to be given to Ms Purvis.

The former reality show star reportedly lost custody of both sons to Mr Gosa, and she was arrested in 2024 for failing to make child support payments.

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