Former Child Star Honey Boo Boo Is Pursuing A Very Un-Celebritylike Career
The iconic 2010's reality star is now all grown up and living life on her own terms.
Design: YourTango | Photo: Sam Aronov from Shutterstock When it comes to iconic 2010s pop-culture figures, no list would be complete without Alana Thompson, the adorable and hilariously unhinged youngster known as Honey Boo Boo on reality TV staples "Toddlers & Tiaras" and her own spin-off, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."
But like all too many child performers, Thompson slowly became eclipsed not only by her own stardom, but that of her mother, June Shannon, aka Mama June. Now all grown up and a 19-year-old college student, Thompson is reclaiming her life on her own terms, and taking it in a very different direction.
Former child star Honey Boo Boo is pursuing a very un-celebritylike career.
When it comes to Honey Boo Boo, you truly had to be there. She burst onto the scene in the 2000s, appearing on TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras," the hilariously, and sometimes disturbingly, messy reality show about child beauty pageants.
Thompson immediately made a splash with her over-the-top personality — her nickname stems from a moment when she spontaneously yelled, "a dollar make me holler, honey boo boo!," a phrase she recently told People was completely off the top of her 5-year-old head.
That lovably shambolic energy was surely in large part fueled by the heavily caffeinated "go-go juice" Mama June gave her to boost her energy, a mix of Red Bull and Mountain Dew that would probably land most parents in jail these days. But the 2000s and 2010s were a different time, one Honey Boo Boo hollering, "myyyyyy special juice is gonna help me wiiiiiin" inspired a gazillion hilarious viral tweets rather than calls to the authorities.
But if you're feeling like all this doesn't exactly sound like the trappings of a normal, stable childhood, you'd be right. Suffice it to say, Alana has been through it since she entered the spotlight at age 5, an experience even she can't believe she came through in one piece.
Thompson says she's proud she 'persevered' through her tumultuous child-star life.
From the perspective of today, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" feels at best irresponsible. But to hear Thompson talk about the actual details, as she did in a recent People interview, is downright shocking.
"Looking back, it’s like, ‘Dang, I really went through all that [stuff]? That’s crazy,'" she told People, and it seems like an understatement. After splitting with Alana's father, Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson, Mama June was rumored to have rekindled with a partner who served prison time for charges related to child molestation. The ensuing controversy resulted in the cancellation of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."
Then, in Alana's teens, Mama June became addicted to crack cocaine and faced criminal charges of her own in 2019. "People were like, 'I saw your mama on the news with a busted tooth, strung out,'" Thompson told People. "I'm like, 'Great, like I didn't see that, too.'"
In 2022, her older sister, Lauryn Shannon, aka "Pumpkin," became her legal guardian, and her other sister, Anna Cardwell, known as Chickadee, died of cancer the following year. Through it all, Mama June and Alana continued working on shows that included June's own spinoff, "Mama June: From Not to Hot," and "Dancing With the Stars: Juniors."
But Alana says she never received a dime from her years on TV as a child, and what little she made appearing on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2019 was taken by her mother while she was in the throes of addiction.
Thompson has now taken control of her own story and is studying to be a nurse.
Thompson says her life began to turn around after "Pumpkin" became her guardian. "I just always told myself, you know, that you want to do something better with your life and bigger with your life than just being on TV," she told People. "So you've got to get up and go, you've got to graduate so you can make it to college and be the nurse that you want to be." Now, she's doing just that, having entered Colorado's Regis University to study nursing.
She's owning the story of her past, too. A Lifetime biopic about her child-star life, "I Was Honey Boo Boo," premieres May 17, 2025, and Thompson says it does not pull any punches, especially where her mom is concerned. "I did not want this movie to be throwing punches at my mama and making her out to be the bad guy," she told People. "But I didn’t hold back, and if she gets mad, at the end of the day, it’s the truth."
Shannon and Thompson still work together, however, on the WeTV show "Mama June: Family Crisis," which begins its seventh season on May 30. Shannon told People that the version of her that will be depicted in her daughter's biopic no longer resonates. “I don’t remember who that person was, because I’ve worked so much on myself," she said.
Perhaps it's her daughter's understanding that has helped her do so. Thompson was candid that she no longer has "expectations" of her mother. But while forgiveness was difficult, "at the end of the day, she’s my mom… I just kept thinking about the day she’d recover."
She's taking a similarly forward-looking approach to her own life, too. "When I graduate, I’ll be the only one in my family with a degree," she said. "I love that I’ve persevered past who people thought I was." At last, the child star has control over the story she's starring in.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
