She “redneck-ognizes” her daughter’s decision.
Mama June Shannon explained on Friday’s episode of Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-tea” why she is at peace after losing custody of daughter Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 16, to daughter Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, 22.
“Alana made that choice to stay in that environment,” Mama June, 42, said of Lauryn’s guardianship while promoting the family’s WE tv reality series, “Mama June: Road to Redemption.”
Mama June claimed that no specific incident resulted in the court granting Lauryn custody of Alana.
“People don’t understand the custody thing. It’s not like somebody ‘lost custody.’ In the state of Georgia, you do temporary guardianship every year and [Alana] had been with [Lauryn] in my addiction,” she said. “Well, at the age of 12, you’re able to make your choice.”
Mama June noted that she currently has “good” relationships with all of her daughters, including Jessica Shannon, 25, and Anna Cardwell, 27, the latter of whom doesn’t appear on “Road to Redemption.”
The mom of four alleged that she and Alana “communicate” frequently despite the official transfer of custody.
“Alana’s fixin’ to be 17 in just a couple months. So honestly, me and Pumpkin sat down and was just like, ‘Hey, it’s not like I don’t see Alana, it’s not like I don’t talk to her,’” she told us.
“Because I do. I do see her, I do talk to her. We do communicate. So it wasn’t like any difference. The only difference is she’s not sitting right here beside me in my home every day.”
A judge in Georgia granted Lauryn sole custody over Alana, with visitation rights being decided by Lauryn, court documents filed on April 11 and obtained by Page Six show.
Mama June, who is allowed to contact Alana by phone every day, has been ordered to pay Lauryn $800 per month in child support until the “Dancing With the Stars: Juniors” alum turns 18 in August 2023.
Lauryn was first awarded temporary guardianship over Alana in August 2019 — with permission from her father, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson — after Mama June was arrested on drug possession charges that year with then-boyfriend Geno Doak.
Mama June — who is 29 months sober and now married to Justin Stroud — told Page Six that she is “proud” of Lauryn for assuming a matriarchal role during the early days of her battle with substance abuse.
“I’m very thankful for her because the situation could have been a lot different,” she said.
“Pumpkin stepping up, I’m very grateful because it could have turned into a bad situation. At the time Alana went to go live with Pumpkin at the beginning, I couldn’t even take care of my own self — more or less take care of anybody else.”
“Mama June: Road to Redemption” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.