The last several years have seen Mama June (real name June Shannon) battle severe cocaine and meth addiction and run-ins with the law in the public eye. On March 18, a clear-eyed and energized Mama June joined the HollywoodLife Podcast, almost 14 months sober and committed to fixing her relationship with her daughters, Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson and Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Shannon, while also helping others struggling with drug addiction. Mama June: Road To Redemption, premiering tonight, March 18, on We TV, will follow the former pageant mom navigate her way through this new lease on life. On the podcast, June admitted that her relationship with Alana, 15, and Pumpkin, 21, is “still struggling” after the girls cut her off almost two years ago. LISTEN THE PODCAST HERE, OUT MONDAY, MARCH 22.
“When they turned away from me, it was kind of hurtful, especially when you’re as close as me and my kids are. Now, I’m trying to mend that relationship, and it’s still struggling back and forth,” she explained. “I’m very proud of them and I’m grateful Pumpkin stepped up because I wasn’t good enough for myself, I definitely wasn’t good enough to take care of Alana.” Pumpkin has a 2-year-old of her own and has been raising Alana since their mother’s arrest in March 2019.
“Even in my addiction, I would text the girls every couple of days. I texted them and told them, ‘Hey, I’m going to rehab,’ and I came to find out that Pumpkin and Alana actually texted production after I texted them and they were like, ‘Hey, is mama really going to rehab?'” Mama June detailed. “I didn’t want to get their hopes up, because I had gone once before and wasn’t ready.”
When June decided to go to rehab, she claims it was a mutual decision with her longtime boyfriend Geno Doak. “He started crying. He was like, ‘Look, we need to go to rehab. I’m tired of doing this,'” she explained. “It two days later I was on a plane to South Florida and that’s where our life turned for the better.” She reiterated that she had her drug addiction issues before meeting Geno, and that “it’s definitely not his fault.”
“We’re all just trying to mend relationships with our children, the both of us…we’re doing it as a team,” June said of herself and Geno, who has four kids of his own. “I keep trying, and keep trying and keep trying and eventually, you know, they’ll answer. They’ll come around. I feel that way. I mean, in my heart I do. I hope that they will.”
Tune in tonight, March 19th, for Mama June: Road To Redemption at 9 PM ET We TV.