A major turning point in Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird’s marriage is sending shockwaves through Mama June’s family—and it’s changing everything.
On Mama June: Family in Crisis, viewers witnessed the severity of how June’s addictions and fractured relationships with her family have impacted Lauryn. After becoming the primary caretaker of younger sister Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, plus caring for her own children with husband Josh Efird, Lauryn’s marriage finally took such a hard hit, the couple divorced. Now, in the wake of this pivotal shift in Lauryn’s personal life, June’s relationship with her daughters is evolving too, revealing long-buried tensions and surprising moments of solidarity.
June and Alana’s Bond Shifted After Lauryn’s Divorce
Alana and her mother have seemingly come a long way since filming Season 7 of Family Crisis. The pair were still in a rocky place at the beginning of the season, with Alana still airing her grievances with her mother to her followers online and with her friend on camera. But the mother and daughter recently spoke to In Touch prior to the premiere of the season, and it was clear that the pair were at least united in support of Lauryn’s choice to end her marriage.
Although Alana admitted that Josh had stepped in as a father figure for her in the years she had lived with her sister’s family, she felt she had to support her sister’s decision. She admitted at one time she hoped they would fix it, as they had in the past when confrontation arose, but she eventually realized her sister wasn’t happy and needed the change. June, on the other hand, felt that the couple were “bound” to separate, pointing out the awareness that came to the family after the loss of her daughter, Anna Marie “Chickadee” Toney, to cancer in 2023. June noted everyone in the family then became aware of what had been placed on the “back burner” in their lives. Although there is still tension between Alana and June in Season 7, it is nice to see that the mother has taken small strides to repair the relationship she has with her daughters.
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June Attempting to Make Amends With Alana Was a First Step
In April 2021, Lauryn told In Touch that her mother’s behavior was the “main issue” in her marriage. Now that the marriage is broken beyond repair, there is room for June to make amends for the damage she once caused by continuing to support her daughter through this time of transition. June has been sober since 2020, and has recently featured her weight-loss transformation in Family Crisis, which, after all, used to be titled Mama June: From Not to Hot, with the original premise of the series meant to focus on the matriarch’s weight-loss journey, before the “family crisis” erupted. June also took the tentative first steps to repairing her relationship with her daughters in the most recent episodes of Season 7, who have grown wary of their mother’s tempestuous approach to conflict management.
June demonstrated in recent episodes of Family Crisis that she is willing to take steps toward repairing her relationship with her daughters, signaled by returning part of the funds she had appropriated from Alana’s savings as a child actor. Although June made a show of arranging a large check to present to her daughter, as though she had won a prize, instead of accepting replacement funds for what had been stolen, it was at least a small olive branch to her youngest daughter. With the return of the funds, and her support for Lauryn’s choice to divorce and start over, June has been building back trust in her relationships with her children. June recently showing a united front with Alana in support of Lauryn indicates the family dynamic may have shifted significantly following the divorce.
Mama June: Family in Crisis airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on WE tv.
- Release Date
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February 24, 2017
- Network
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WE tv
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June Shannon
Self (‘Mama June’)
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Honey Boo Boo
Self (‘Honey Boo Boo’)
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Lauryn Shannon
Self (‘Pumpkin’)
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