Shortly after Spears, 17, gave birth to their daughter in June, tabloids began to report that Aldridge, 19, was seeing other women and had gotten one of them pregnant. In the OK! interview, which took place at the couple’s Mississippi home, Aldridge denied the allegations, noting that small-town politics had a lot to do with the rumors surfacing.

“In a small town, everybody knows everybody,” he told the magazine. “But when money’s involved, you find out who your friends are.”

Meanwhile, Spears defended her fiance and accused the women who alleged that Aldridge was dating them of doing it for the attention. “What happened was that one of those girls did it, and in this small town when one of them does it, they’re all like, ‘Good idea,’ ” she explained. “They all jumped on the bandwagon.”

She also flat-out denied any rumors that 28-year-old Kelli Dawson is pregnant with Aldridge’s child, saying that Dawson has a reputation for not telling the truth. “That is just completely fabricated,” Jamie Lynn added. “He never had an intimate relationship with her, so how would that be possible? Around here, that particular girl is known to make up stories.”

But what bothers Spears the most is the fact that she and Aldridge’s family have to deal with the media scrutiny. “It hurt me to hear those things, because my family has to read it. It’s not fair to them,” she said. “Casey’s family is not used to this. They might assume it’s true. My family knows it’s not. It was definitely harder for Casey’s family to deal with it, but you just explain that it is part of this business.”

Spears said her own family is standing behind the young couple while they raise their daughter in the eyes of the media. “They know if I were in a relationship like that, I wouldn’t put up with it,” she said. “My family supports me, and they support Casey also. They read those stories and take them with a grain of salt.”

When asked about the future, the couple said they intend to marry, but not any time soon. Spears said she wants to wait until Maddie is old enough to take part in the ceremony. “We are engaged, and we are really happy with where we are right now,” she said. “There isn’t a rush for anything.”

However, they are working on their futures: Aldridge is studying process technology at Southwest Mississippi Community College. And, once the baby gets older, Spears also hopes to attend college.