Pumpkin Shannon On Pre-Rehab Mama June: ‘I Tried To Protect Alana From That Person’

Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon is opening up more than a year since she has spoken personally to her mother, Mama June Shannon, after the latter walked away from her family amid her drug addiction problem.

Pumpkin, 21, opened up to People Friday about the reunion she had with Mama June, 41, on their new reality show, “Mama June: Road to Redemption.” The mother-of-one compared her mom pre-rehab and post-rehab in the interview.

According to Pumpkin, the Mama June at present looked nothing like the one she saw about a year ago during the intervention they staged at the peak of the reality star’s addiction. “That was not the same person that I met this time,” she said.

“This person was a complete 360 from that person. She had gained weight, she had on decent-looking clothes. She actually looked put together instead of just a shambled mess,” she added.

Pumpkin went on to say that she did everything she could to protect her sister from the pre-rehab version of their mom.

“I tried to protect Alana from that type of person,” she said, before noting that dealing with the former Mama June took a toll on her mental and physical health because she didn’t really know what to do while seeing her mom’s struggles.

Prior to their recent reunion on the show, Mama June has not seen her daughters Pumpkin and Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 15. Lauryn was given custody over Alana when Mama June ditched them in early 2019 to be with her boyfriend Geno Doak, 45, and live the wild life satisfying their substance abuse.

In March 2019, the couple got arrested in Alabama for drug-related charges. In April 2020, Mama June’s criminal trial was postponed by a judge due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All trials have since been moved to fall 2021. The famous matriarch and Geno were released on an $11,000 bond, as per the Blast.

Amid her legal battle, Mama June entered rehab to seek treatment for her addiction problem. She has already completed her stint there, and she claimed she has been sober for months before filming for their new We TV series started. She’s currently working on reconnecting with her kids as she’s already moved on from the ordeal.

Noticing the big changes on Mama June during their recent “emotional” reunion, Pumpkin has decided to give her mom a chance and slowly work on mending their relationship.

“I’m just at a place where I just want to fix things with my mom and move on,” Pumpkin said.

“I’m in a place to make amends with my mom and be able to call her up and be like, 'Oh, Ella (Pumpkin’s 3-year-old daughter) started school today.' Or, 'Hey, we're taking Ella fishing,' or something like that. It's definitely a lot easier having her around than it was not having her around,” she explained.