Mama June ‘Had to Pay’ for Weight Loss Surgery ‘Like Everybody Else’
Just because June “Mama June” Shannon is the star of her own documentary, Mama June: From Not to Hot, doesn’t mean she’s getting special treatment when it comes to the bill.
Mama June — mother to 11-year-old reality star Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson — is featured in a new WE tv docu-dramedy chronicling her weight-loss journey. Shannon lost 150 pounds over the last year, but diet and exercise alone weren’t enough to get her weight down, so she had both gastric sleeve and excess skin surgeries.
“I had to pay, just like everybody else,” she said on the Domenick Nati Show. Mama June, 37, denied allegations that WE tv or the From Not to Hot production company paid for the operations.
“No, no,” she said. “It was going to happen whether I had [the show] or not.”
While discussing the rumors around her shrinking waistline, Mama June also slammed claims that she wore a fat suit to conceal her weight loss while filming. “Definitely did not wear a fat suit,” she insisted. “I was fat!”
Mama June’s last surgery was in December. In addition to skin removal on her arms and neck, she also got a tummy tuck and a breast lift. “Definitely not going to have any more,” Shannon said, adding, “I wouldn’t consider them plastic surgery.”
She continued, “Plastic surgery to me is having something broke or something put on or whatever. But that’s what they call it.”
Mama June was asked if she encourages her daughters, Alana, 11, and Lauryn, 17, to lose weight with her.
“I do encourage them to lose weight, but I mean, they’re teenagers,” Shannon replied.
But would Mama June let them undergo the same surgeries that she did?
“If it would make them confident, yes, I would recommend these surgeries,” she said. “You have to do your research, definitely, and that’s what got me into the gastric sleeve. That helps you lose as much weight as possible.”
The former Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star admitted that she started her weight-loss journey in part to get revenge on her ex and Honey Boo Boo’s dad, Sugar Bear. Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson and Mama June split in 2014 after he cheated on her.
“Yes, for the most part it was [a revenge diet],” Mama June admitted. However, she has no interest in getting back together with Sugar Bear.
“Hell to the no!” she laughed when asked if she’d like to rekindle her romance.
Sounds like Mama June’s officially back on the market.
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