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September 24, 2025 83 mins

In 2012, a six-year-old beauty pageant contestant named Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson became America's most controversial reality TV star, thanks to her 'Go-Go Juice' and brilliant catchphrases like "A dollar makes me HOLLAR (Honey Boo Boo Child)!" What started as an appearance on TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras turned into the phenomenon reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, following Alana's entire family in rural Georgia - including Mama June Shannon, Sugar Bear, Chickadee, Chubbs and Pumpkin. But behind the viral memes and record-breaking ratings was a dark story of family dysfunction, drug addiction, and financial abuse. The show was abruptly canceled in 2014 amid major family scandals that shocked America. Now in her twenties, Alana Thompson has narrated a revealing 2025 Lifetime movie called 'I Was Honey Boo Boo', exposing the disturbing truth about what really happened behind the cameras - and where everyone in the infamous Honey Boo Boo family has ended up today.

CW: This episode includes some brief discussion (without any detail) of sexual abuse. 


We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this:

This article from The Hollywood Reporter

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo review from The A.V. Club

This article from Los Angeles Times

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Wikipedia page

Shannon family Wikipedia page

Ask Dr. Drew podcast

Alana's recent interview on Barely Famous Podcast

Alana's TikTok

Lifetime's 2025 biopic


Just The Gist is a Just The Network production. Executive Produced and hosted by Rosie Waterland. Produced and edited by James Joseph. Additional production support by Kate Leaver and Hayley Staveley, along with Acast legends Guy Scott Wilson and Simon McDermott. Production Assistant: Pocket


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