Alana Thompson grew up on reality TV, starting with Toddlers and Tiaras, moving on to her spinoff Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and then to her mother's current show, Mama June: Road to Redemption. So viewers have gotten to see a lot of Thompson over the years, from her confident child pageant personality to the hardships she faced with her family. And she's come a long way since she rose to fame nearly 10 years ago. Now, Thompson is almost 16 years old and making it clear she wants to shed the "Honey Boo Boo" name.
Thompson recently spoke to Teen Vogue about her life as a teenager, being a child who grew up on TV, and more. Read on to see the reality star now and to hear what she had to say about her early fame.
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Thompson sees Honey Boo Boo as a different person from her.
tlc uk / YouTubeIn the Teen Vogue interview, Thompson said that she recognized that things she said on TV in her childhood will follow her—Honey Boo Boo had her share of catchphrases—but that she sees her reality personality and herself now as two separate entities. "They are completely two different people,” she said. "I would say that I do like this Alana now, rather than the younger Alana."
She wants to become a nurse.
The Teen Vogue story explains that Thompson would like to become a neonatal nurse, and that she is continuing to do reality TV now because she knows it's good money. "I want to have a life, you know?" she said. "I want to be able to support my kids when I do have kids and stuff like that. It’s definitely something that is good for the time being, [and] good for later on in life."
She said of her outlook on life at the moment, "I want to be the best I can be, and I want to make my money, and I also want to make straight A's, so I just try my hardest."
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She's still confident and is used to brushing off mean comments.
In the interview, Thompson pointed out how people on social media criticize her for having long nails or wearing fake eyelashes on social media. "There are so many folks on my Instagram that do not like my nails or my eyelashes," she said. "But I do not care. As long as I like myself, I'm good."
On Instagram, Thompson recently shared a photo of herself sticking her tongue out with the caption, "i don’t care, i live MY WAY" along with an emoji of a hand with long nails. In another post from earlier this year, she wrote, "folks will hate about anything."
She also spoke with confidence about her body in the interview and specifically took her generation to task for toxically applying a body positivity mindset. "Everybody's all about body positivity, body positivity, until they see a body they don't like," Thompson told Teen Vogue. "I don't understand why people think this way. Just because I got a little bit of extra meat on my bones, you want to hate me? I'll never get body shaming. Like, I know I'm beautiful, and I know I got a banging body, so... I don't care."
She also opened up about her relationship with her mother.
Thompson's relationship with her mother, June Shannon, is not as strong as it once was due to Shannon's drug use. "A lot of folks in this world do not realize how many people are actually really affected by drug and alcohol [use]" she told the magazine. "It's very, very hard. It's something I'd wish on nobody, for real." Now, she says she and her mother are getting "back on track." Everything so far has been documented on the WeTV show Mama June: Road to Redemption, including how Thompson ended up living with her sister Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon.
"When my mama got real bad with her [drug use], I didn't know where I was going to end up," Thompson told Teen Vogue. “I'm proud of myself for how far I've come."
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