Alana Thompson, aka Honey Boo Boo, is known worldwide for being the sassy little girl fans fell in love with on “Toddlers & Tiaras” and later “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.”
Her mother, June Shannon, had some run-ins with the law and battled with addiction rendering her to lose sole custody of Alana.
Alana now lives with her older sister at 17 years old and has sparked rumors about being pregnant with her older boyfriend’s baby.
She’s Honey Boo Boo child! America’s favorite toddler in a tiara, Alana Thompson, is all grown up now. However, fans still remember her as the rambunctious Honey Boo Boo from the ever-entertaining “Toddlers & Tiaras,” who then became the star of her own show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.”
The amusing antics between Alana and her mother, June Shannon, took center stage and skyrocketed the Thompson family to new heights of fame. The majorly popular show followed the family’s day-to-day life and was a hit amongst the wider public
Before the reality show was canceled, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” was noteworthy for the unconventional lifestyle that the family had led. Fans criticized the unhealthy eating patterns and the sometimes inappropriate actions carried out by the cast.
However, after allegations arose about Shannon’s boyfriend engaging in misconduct that involved child endangerment, the TV show was canceled. In the time since the cancelation of the show, the family has found themselves at the epicenter of an array of scandals and controversy.
In 2014, TLC, the network that aired the show, announced that “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” would not return for another season. The decision was made after news broke out about Shannon’s involvement with her boyfriend, who committed child endangerment misconduct. In a statement released by the network, the reasons for the show’s cancelation were stipulated as such:
“TLC has canceled the series ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ and ended all activities around the series, effective immediately. Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children’s ongoing comfort and well-being.”
Shannon was quick to deny the allegation and make a statement that said the claims were false. She denounced any linkage to Mark McDaniel, the man convicted of misconduct. Shannon stated:
“It isn’t true, I promise. My kids are [my] #1 priority over anything else.”
Though the show was rated in TLC’s top 10 shows, and ratings remained solid and high even in its last season, the series was never brought back to TLC. According to several reports, Shannon has had several issues with past boyfriends, and it was revealed that the boyfriend, who essentially canceled the show, had inappropriately forced himself on one of Shannon’s daughters, Anna, who was only eight years old at the time.
Shortly after “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” came to an end, after breaking up with her previous boyfriend, McDaniel, Shannon scored her own spin-off show – “Mama June: From Not to Hot.” Shannon abandoned her family during the show’s production due to her ongoing battle with substance abuse and addiction. She would reportedly spend £2,000 a day on drugs.
One Wednesday in 2019, Shannon and her then-boyfriend, Geno Doak, found themselves in trouble with the law. The couple was arrested at an Alabama gas station after receiving a call from a bystander reporting a domestic dispute between two individuals – Doak and Shannon.
After arriving on the scene, the police first arrested Doak for a harassment/domestic violence charge and the felony possession of controlled substances and paraphernalia. Shannon was then arrested afterward for the exact same accounts.
After enduring a tough life with her mom, the child star eventually moved in with her older sister, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird. Following the downward spiral Shannon experienced due to her battle with addiction, she made the decision to check into rehab and attempt to quit using. Shannon’s addiction had gotten so bad to the point that her daughters had tried to organize an intervention to express how their lives had been adversely affected.
In an emotional scene, viewers can acutely see and hear Thompson crying and saying how scared she is to live with her mom. Another clip from the show depicts Thompson sternly telling her mother how badly she has been affected by her mom’s dangerous behavior. The “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” star emphatically talks to her mom about how the decision to move in with her sister was not one born out of preferential choice:
“Do you not understand that I am staying with my sister, and that’s not by choice? It’s not by choice!”
Shannon refused to listen to her daughter and denied that Thompson moved out of her house out of necessity. The scene goes on to show a very irate Shannon cussing as she storms out of her house and proceeds to be detained by the show’s production team.
One of her daughters goes further to express concern that should the rehab intervention not work, she fears her mother will either wind up dead or in jail. Unfortunately for her, one of those instances ended up happening, and shortly after Shannon was arrested, she lost sole custody of Thompson.
Shannon is now married to Justin Stroud and has been sober for a long time. The mother of four exclusively told Page Six that she is proud of her daughter, Efird, for stepping up and being a solid maternal figure for Thompson.
In 2022, Shannon sat down with Page Six to discuss how she felt about losing custody of Thompson. According to Shannon, she has made peace with the situation and maintained the narrative that no particular incident led Efird to win the custody battle:
“Alana made that choice to stay in that environment, [and] people don’t understand the custody thing. It’s not like somebody ‘lost custody’ [because] in the state of Georgia, you do temporary guardianship every year, and [Alana] had been with [Lauryn during] my addiction. At the age of 12, you’re able to make your choice.”
A court ruling decided that Efird would have complete and sole custody of Thompson, with visitation rights at Efird’s discretion. The court had also agreed to grant Shannon one phone call to Thompson a day and ordered her to pay Efird $800 in child support per month until Thompson turns 18 in 2023.
Thompson’s sister had actually been first awarded custody back in 2019 with permission from their father, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, shortly after their mother’s arrest with Doak. In September 2019, Efird and Thompson found themselves nearly being evicted because Efird’s husband failed to pay the rent. However, they managed to rectify the situation, reportedly from all the money they had saved from the past shows.
Since moving in with her sister permanently, Thompson appears to be enjoying herself. The star’s loved ones confirm that the environment she is currently in with Efird is already miles better than the one she endured with her mother, Shannon.
The “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” talent has expressed how much she loves staying with her sister, despite the worry that she may feel like a burden occasionally. Of which she has been assured, by her sister, that she is not.
Regarding the status of Mama Shannon’s relationship with her four daughters, reports stipulate that she is still close and maintains a good relationship with all of them. Of her baby girl, Thompson, Shannon expressed that she still maintains contact with her despite the custody decision:
“Alana’s fixin’ to be 17 in just a couple [of] months. So honestly, me and Pumpkin sat down and [were] just like, ‘Hey, it’s not like I don’t see Alana, it’s not like I don’t talk to her.’”
Shannon is now married to Justin Stroud and has been sober for a long time. The mother of four exclusively told Page Six that she is proud of her daughter, Efird, for stepping up and being a solid maternal figure for Thompson:
“I’m very thankful for her because the situation could have been a lot different. Pumpkin stepping up, I’m very grateful because it could have turned into a bad situation. At the time Alana went to go live with Pumpkin at the beginning, I couldn’t even take care of [myself] – more or less take care of anybody else.”
Although fans worldwide know Thompson as the always sassy, ultra-confident young woman she has become over the years, the child star has faced harsh criticism over her weight and physical appearance. Now, she is reportedly gearing up to undergo a suture sculpt endoscopic sleeve, which is a weight loss surgical procedure.
In 2022, Thompson’s manager disclosed to TMZ that the “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” star was set to fly to New York to get the procedure done after her 17th birthday. The reasoning for Thompson’s desire to get the surgery is that she currently weighs 275 pounds and wants to weigh 150. She had reportedly attempted to lose weight in prior years by exercising and eating healthy but said the regimens had proven unsuccessful.
Regarding support for getting the procedure done, Thompson is backed by both her sister, who even signed off as an authority permitting the surgery, and her boyfriend, Dralin Carswell, who intends to get the same procedure done himself. Despite the support from some of her loved ones, Thompson’s mother does not necessarily share the same enthusiasm as her counterparts.
Though Shannon is not the official guardian of her daughter anymore, she still stated her opinion on the whole ordeal. Speaking from her own experience with getting weight loss surgical procedures done, Shannon stated that she would prefer for her daughter to at least wait until she is 18. Shannon shared the following about how she feels about Thompson’s decision and how she feels about the fact that Efird signed off on approval:
“I’m supportive if this is something Alana wants to get, but I would say she needs to wait until she’s 18 years old. It kind of bothers me that Pumpkin didn’t tell me. If Alana wants to do it, she should wait to sign her own paperwork at 18.”
In September 2021, Thompson went public with her boyfriend, Carswell, who is four years her senior. Little is known about his personal life except for the fact that, according to The U.S. Sun, he is a college student who had previously attended a technical school in Nashville and now lives in Georgia, close to his girlfriend and her sister.
According to an internal source, Carswell and Thompson are inseparable and very happy together. The insider divulges:
“Dralin and Alana are attached at the hip and hang out together all the time. He was quiet at first, but he’s like one of the family now. He’s just as fun and crazy as the rest of them.”
Although primarily, at first, fans of Thompson were delighted to hear that she had found happiness with Carswell, the support took a quick negative turn once people learned about the age gap between the two. The couple had started dating when Thomspon was only 16, and Carswell was 21.
However, despite backlash over the age difference, Thompson’s family, especially her older sister, Efird, is Carswell’s biggest cheerleader. The two families spend holidays and birthdays together and have formed very closely-knit bonds with each other. And as for what Honey Boo Boo has to say to the haters – she simply doesn’t care:
“In our relationship, the two most things [that] everybody is always talking about is our age gap and definitely because, like, he’s black and I’m white, and we’re an interracial couple – those are the two main things. And really, I don’t care because, like, at the end of the day, my sister approves, his mom approves, and we’re happy. So, what fans [have to] say or what haters [have to] say, I don’t really care.”
Earlier in 2023, Thompson and Carswell went to prom, and the pictures that surfaced online sent critics into a whirlwind of negativity and hate. Thomspon looked stunning in her extravagantly sequined pink gown tailor-made for her. She adorned the fabulously sparkly look with beautiful shiny silver jewelry to match and wore her curls in a half-down half-up ponytail.
Conversely, Carswell kept it casual with a white collared shirt, some black pants, and a cap. The momentous occasion was celebrated with all of Thompson’s family members – even Mama Shannon – present and accounted for. However, the happy moment quickly turned dark with the ensuite of hateful comments that followed.
Many negative people pointed out Thompson’s weight and appearance in her pretty dress. One user specifically commented on how pregnant Thompson looked in the photos:
“Is she pregnant[?] [S]he looks like it.”
Though users rudely assumed Thompson might be with child, her mother, Shannon, was quick to defend her daughter against any rumor of the sort. Shannon denounced assertions made about her daughter possibly starting a family:
“No, definitely not. That isn’t even a thought in her mind right now. She is fixin’ to graduate high school, and she wants to immediately go to college [and] still wants to be a neonatal nurse.”
Despite having to see what the haters have to say about how Thompson chooses to live her life, the child star pays the critics no mind. Thompson is currently happy living with her sister and spending time with her boyfriend, Carswell. The “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” star graduated in April 2023 and is ready to take the world by storm.