“Honey Boo Boo” star and former child beauty pageant contestant Alana Thompson revealed Wednesday that she will be traveling to the Big Apple to undergo weight-loss surgery shortly after her 17th birthday.
Thompson, 16, is scheduled to get a suture sculpt endoscopic sleeve from doctor Steven Batash — who was recently recognized as New York’s top weight-loss doctor, reports TMZ.
The surgery — which costs a whopping $13,000 — will take place in August in Queens with the hope of, according to her manager Gina Rodriguez, the reality TV star slimming down to 150 lbs from her current weight of 275.
According to the “Honey Boo Boo” actress, she has tried to exercise and eat healthy, but she was just not getting the results that she wanted.
Thompson is also worried that the weight she had gained is genetic and sees the procedure as the only available route to take to be healthier.
Her guardian and sister, Pumpkin, signed off on the procedure and said that she supports her sister’s decision.
Pumpkin, whose real name is Lauryn Shannon, was awarded custody of Thompson after their mother was arrested in 2019 for drug possession and paraphernalia after an alleged domestic dispute.
“Mama” June Shannon, 42, was picked up by police at an Alabama gas station on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia while then-boyfriend Geno Doak was slapped with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and domestic violence charges.
According to both Shannon and Thompson, the arrest lead to a strained relationship with their mother culminating in Shannon becoming Thompson’s official guardian in April 2022.
Thompson’s boyfriend and once suspected fiancé Dralin Carswell said that he also supports his girlfriend’s choice to undergo the surgery and that it was something that he was looking into getting done as well.