Doing her best. Mama June Shannon’s relationship with daughters Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon is complicated.
“It [is] always is a work in progress,” the 42-year-old reality star exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, May 9, while promoting Wetv’s Mama June: Road to Redemption.
Mama June, who is 29 months sober, explained that her girls know that she’s been “clean” for nearly three years. Getting sober was something she had to do to help mend her relationship with both Alana, 16, and Lauryn, 22. (She shares Alana with ex Mike Thompson. She welcomed daughters Lauryn and Jessica, 25, with ex Michael Anthony Ford and daughter Anna, 27, with ex David Dunn.)
Mama June Shannon, Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Thompson. MEGA; Kristin Callahan/ACE Pictures/Shutterstock
“It’s beating, like, a dead horse,” she said of the constant talks of getting clean. “For people to be able to move on, you’ve got to stop. … If you keep on living in the past, all you’re gonna do is keep looking back and you’re not gonna see what’s in the front windshield.”
The Georgia native noted that her sober journey did cause ups and downs with her daughters, who she said may still have some reservations. (The new season of Mama June: Road to Redemption teases a custody battle over Alana between Mama June and daughter Lauryn.)
“I still understand where they’re at. … I was pissed off as hell [to start], but now that I’ve been in recovery, you know, I can [see] why they did the things that they did,” the Mama June: From Not to Hot star told Us. “We see each other. We talk. They know when they need me, I’m here.”
The TV personality explained that Alana is “a typical teenager,” telling Us that their dynamic is up and down. “She can be a brat [and] a diva all in one. And so those stages that Alana gets quiet and there [are] stages that she talks … she’s all over the place,” Mama June said.
When it comes to Lauryn, who is married to Joshua Efird, the matriarch revealed that she is “going good” amid the news that she is expecting twins.
“You just have to watch the show to see [because] … we don’t ever believe everything you hear on Google,” Mama June told Us in response to Lauryn’s pregnancy news.
Last month, multiple outlets reported that Lauryn is expecting babies No. 3 and No. 4 with her husband. The couple already share daughter Ella, 4, and son Bentley, 8 months.
“Oh gosh, she just had one,” Mama June said of whether she’d be excited about Lauryn expanding her family again. “So, she doesn’t need anymore, no more mouths to feed.” Despite hinting that Lauryn may not be pregnant again, Mama June told Us that her eldest daughter is “doing a very good job” as a mom.
Mama June: Road to Redemption premieres on Wetv Friday, May 13, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
