Mama June Shannon won’t stand to see her 16-year-old daughter Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson get hate for her relationship with a 20-year-old man.
As fans may know, the Toddlers & Tiaras alum previously went Instagram official with her college student boyfriend, Dralin Carswell, by posting a pic of them together at a pumpkin patch – which has since been deleted. Understandably, people have been concerned about this pairing ever since they made their social media debut. (As a quick FYI, the legal age of consent is 16 years old in Georgia.) And now, her momma is speaking out about the controversy in an interview with TooFab.
Related: Alana Thompson Spills On Her New Life & Goes Glam For Teen Vogue!
While some people object to the relationship, Mama June apparently finds there is nothing wrong with her child dating someone four years her senior. The 42-year-old reality star explained to the outlet that she finds the only reason Alana received “a lot of hate” online is because people are being close-minded, saying:
“She’s getting a lot of hate because she’s in an interracial relationship.”
When asked whether she met Dralin or not, she added:
“Yes, I’ve met Dralin. They’ve been together for over a year.”
Mama June went on to further slam all of the criticism, comparing their relationship to her eldest daughter Lauren “Pumpkin” Shannon and her husband Joshua Efird’s romance. And ultimately, she urged everyone to stop looking at Alana as the same child she was when she first became a reality television star:
“[Dralin] is older but, at the end of the day, Alana’s not that 6/7-year-old child y’all fell in love with 11 years ago. People need to realize that she’s going to be 17 in August and that Pumpkin and Josh were the same age as they were. Alana has grown up. She’s graduating high school next year, guys!”
This is not the first time the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo alum has supported Alana’s relationship with Dralin. Mama June actually gushed to Daily Pop in November about how he has been “respectful” and a “good guy,” sharing:
“They’ve been together almost a year, and they talked a little bit before that. He is respectful. He treats her good. He kind of helps out, you know, with the family whenever needed to be. I don’t have a problem with him.”
As for what Alana has said about the backlash, she echoed similar sentiments her mom made this week while speaking to People earlier this year:
“I feel like so many people still look at me as that little girl that very first came on TV. Even when the posts about me and my boyfriend coming out, I feel like there was so many people that were still treating me like I was 6 years old.”
What do YOU think about this relationship, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below).
[Image via WE Tv/YouTube, Alana Thompson/Instagram]
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