Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and her mother, Mama June Shannon, have a fraught tête-à-tête over the latter’s drug use in Friday’s episode of “Mama June: Road to Redemption.”
Thompson, 15, was joined by her half-sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon for the conversation — the first they’d had with their mother in over a year — in a sneak peek released Thursday.
“It’s just hard because you wasn’t there for my first day of high school, and I think that’s a pretty big thing,” Thompson confessed through tears. “It was hard for me not having my mom there, and I had to come home and tell Pumpkin what I was doing.”
She added, “I’m very grateful that Pumpkin was there for me, but why wasn’t [sic] you there? Why wasn’t [sic] you there when I needed you most?”
Mama June — who has been open about her struggles with drug addiction, admitting recently that she spent $900,000 on drugs in one year — told Thompson that she was “sick” and “couldn’t take care” of herself.
“I know I was selfish when I went to rehab,” the 41-year-old continued. “To be honest with you, I’m still a little bit selfish in my recovery. But I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get you all back in my life, and that’s the reason why I’m here today.”
After a push from family therapist Dr. Ish Major, Thompson told her mother, “You don’t know how many nights I cried myself to sleep just hoping and praying that you didn’t overdose.”
“‘God, please don’t let my mom die,” the teen recited. “‘Please just hold onto her. Just please!’ I just wanted you there, and even if I texted your phone, I wouldn’t even get a text back. So hell, I never knew if you were alive or dead anyways.”
Mama June’s substance abuse issues broke wide in March 2019 when she was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance for crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia alongside boyfriend Eugene “Geno” Doak.
“I was around drugs my whole life,” she explained to “Access Hollywood’s” Kit Hoover, admitting that she used meth off and on until 2015 and started doing cocaine two years later. “Addiction does run in my family.”
“Mama June: Road to Redemption” airs Friday at 9 p.m. on WE tv.