‘Mama June’ Shannon has a reason to smile. The ‘Honey Boo Boo’ star has almost spent a year sober, and she’s flashed a smile while showing off how ‘far I’ve come’ since her drug-abusing days.
Hey guys, I hope the Christmas season was good to [you] even during this crazy pandemic time,” “Mama” June Shannon, 41, began her Dec. 27 message. In the lengthy Instagram post, the From Not To Hot star shared an update on her health – and she had some good news: “Today we are celebrating 11 months clean and sober, and it feels really good,” she wrote, “but I wanted to share a couple of pictures with y’all.”
“The first pic in the white shirt was me when I started my addiction,” wrote the mother of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson. “The second pic with me looking rough as hell, as [it was] me after being on cocaine for a few years my addiction. [And] the last pic with me in the red shirt is me today, and I’m proud of How far I have [come] in my sobriety. I can’t believe it’s been 11 months. Time really flies by. I’m so proud of myself, especially when a lot of people that we know during this pandemic have relapsed, and we have NO RELAPSES. THAT’S NOT AN OPTION. It feels good to give back to so many people and helps them in their addiction, their struggles, and helping families dealing with their family member in their addiction.”
“I don’t have all the answers,” continued June, whose addiction struggles have been captured on Mama June: Family In Crisis, “but I will well listen and try to help the best way I can. Their(sic) [are] people that I have to talk to for [months] and watch them struggle when they first reached out to me, and now, being able to overcome some other struggles, I love honestly helping out and give back. In recovery, I’m telling you I have said to one of my alumni directors with banyan that sometimes, I feel kind of greedy because y’all give so much more to me and help in my recovery than you’ll ever imagine. Just being able to talk to y’all, I just want to tell those fans [that] have a been around for so many years, they were up or down and in between. We honestly thank you so very much, and just know that my inbox is always open.”
“I love u guys!” added June. “11 MTHS CLEAN AND SOBER AND ONLY ONE MORE MTHS TIL I CAN FOLLOW MY DREAM TO WORK IN A REHAB IM SO EXCITED THANKS TO @banyantreatmentcenters for getting me on the right path #soberlife #11mthssober #lifeisgood #livingmybestlife #onedayatatime #24hrsatatime #bleesed #thankful.”
The most recent season of Mama June: Family In Crisis showed the reality television star at her lowest. On the June 26 season finale June and her boyfriend, Geno Doak, admitted to spending over $150,000 on cocaine in a span of six months. In the prior episode, June copped to having a “$2,500 a day” crystal meth habit. “The only reason I sold the house, we was dead f—ing broke…because you know at that point we was doing quite a bit.”
Since hitting rock bottom, June has cleaned up her act – both for her sake and for that of her daughters, Alana, 15, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 20, Anna Shannon, 26, and Jessica Shannon, 24. “It has been a tough road,” a source told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY in November,” but June is on the right path to getting better and healthy. She wants to get better for herself and her family. It hasn’t been easy, but things are going really good, and June is ready to make sure the next challenges become successes ahead.”
In addition to the veneers, Mama June underwent surgery to remove more than a pound of fat from her neck. “It feels good to get rid of my triple chin and have my teeth fixed,” she said in November. “I feel like a new woman.”