Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Elfird confronts Mama June about child support on 'Family Crisis.'
Mama June Shannon is opening up about why she gave up custody of Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and whether she's paying child support. Short answer, yes.
Shannon spoke to ET's Rachel Smith in New York City and shared that the choice of giving up custody of Alana was a discussion they all had and agreed upon. Shannon's daughter, Lauryn "Pumpkin" Elfird, and her husband, Joshua, got custody of Alana last year.
"We didn't throw mud and sling mud. We actually sat down and we discussed it as a family and she already told the judge that's [where] she wanted to stay," Shannon says. "So, there was no mudslinging. She stayed with Pumpkin, but it's not like we don't see her all the time."
As to whether she's heartbroken that Alana chose to stay with Lauryn instead of her mother, Shannon says she has mixed feelings about it.
"Yes and no because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that she is happy," Shannon says. "I want to make sure she is happy and I don't want to make her any more uncomfortable and have to go through any more than what she’s already had to go through."
Shannon and Alana have had their battles. Things really reached a boiling point last year when Alana debated whether to invite her mom to her high school graduation. And while they have a lot of ground to make up, they're both making an effort. Alana not long ago attended her mom's wedding in Florida, and they were recently photographed ahead of her prom night.
That being said, it appears tension's still running high. ET got an exclusive sneak peek from the premiere episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, which showed a glimpse at the bitter, interpersonal friction between Shannon and Lauryn.
In the clip, Lauryn finds that she still has not received her child-support payment from her estranged mom, and calls her up to get to the bottom of things. Shannon is slated to pay child support until Alana turns 18 in August. So, inquiring minds want to know -- is she paying child support?
"Very much. Very much. Very much. Very much and more," said Shannon emphatically. "Alana is very expensive to take care of. ... Alana is high maintenance. She's very high maintenance. She's always been high maintenance."
Mama June: Family Crisis premieres Friday on WE tv.
RELATED CONTENT:
