Photo:The Mega Agency
The Mega Agency
Being on reality television isn’t for the weak — butAlana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson,Lauryn “Pumpkin” EfirdandJessica “Chubbs” Shannonhave learned how to navigate the difficult terrain together.
After Alana, 17, made a splash on TLC’sToddlers & Tiaras, fans got to get a closer look at the then-spunky kid and her family onHere Comes Honey Boo Boofrom 2012 to 2014.The Thompson-Shannon family later got another reality series focusing on matriarch Mama June Shannon and her struggles, calledMama June: From Not to Hot, which is also known asMama June: Family CrisisandMama June: Road To Redemption.
“I think I only felt like that during my mom’s addiction because that was such a big part of our life being out there,” Lauryn, 23, admits to PEOPLE exclusively ahead ofMama June: From Not to Hot’s season 6 finale. “So many emotions, so many things we were going through that at some point, I just felt like, can we just handle this on our own without it being blasted for millions to see?”
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“I definitely feel like it brings us closer together because although we may not have been talking at the time, we still had to get a job done,” she explains. “You still had to film together at times and you would always bottle down these types of things and it would be like, okay, well I can’t say this because we’re filming right now.”
Lauryn adds, “But then, that’s why when you guys see me blow up at the meet and greet, that was all real-deal, bottled-up emotions for several years.”
Something that “definitely” makes getting through the tough times easier is having sisters to lean on.
“We always, all three lean, on each other,” says Alana, who also has a fourth sister namedAnna “Chickadee” Cardwell. “When my mama was bad in her addiction, it was really only us three. So having us three is definitely very good because we know for a fact that ain’t nobody going to go run and spread our business with us three because literally, it’s just us three.”
“We know that we all got a good support team here,” she adds. “With us three, I think we’ll be okay.”
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“I feel like a lot of people only are allowed to see obviously what we allowed them to see on a one-hour episode of our show,” Lauryn explains. “We have TikTok and social media and things like that. And then, of course, they only are allowed to see what we allow them to see or however long we allow them to see. People I feel like, a lot of the times, feel like they’re entitled because they have watched us pretty much grow up. You aren’t entitled to know every single detail.”
She continues, “Everybody’s going to believe what they want to believe. There could be a story break tomorrow on TMZ and everybody would, more so, believe that. And at the end of the day, I know the real truth, so it doesn’t matter what kind of opinion these people make up.”
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The season 6 finale ofMama June: From Not to Hotairs Friday at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.
source: people.com
