There's no hiding this mother-daughter reconciliation.
June "Mama June" Shannon, 42, has had her share of public ups and downs with Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, 16. In fact, the duo, who first found fame on Toddlers & Tiaras in 2012, eventually had numerous spin-offs of their own, including Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. But by 2020, they were more or less estranged. The pair has documented their distance and journey to healing on the 2021 season of Mama June: Road to Redemption.
When given the opportunity to appear on The Masked Singer this fall, both Mama June and Alana said yes. Looking back, the two have no regrets about their experience.
"We had already been reconnecting because I was a year and a half sober at that point," Mama June shared on the Nov. 8 episode of E! News' Daily Pop. "But I tell people…I started realizing when Alana did Dancing With the Stars a few years ago, I was in my addiction."
According to Mama June, The Masked Singer was the first time she was able to be in California with her daughter and do a major project sober.
"For me, it made me feel really good, and I wanted to include that because I wanted to kind of show people that you can come out of recovery and do things that you set your mind to," she shared. "You can reconnect with your family, and that's a huge reason why I've shared that also with our show."
Back in 2018, Alana appeared on Dancing With the Stars: Juniors with partner Tristan Ianiero. In June 2021, Mama June confirmed she was 16 months sober long after getting in trouble with the law. Her struggle with drugs caused a rift with her daughters including Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell, 27, Jessica "Chubbs" Shannon, 25 and Lauryn "Pumpkin" Efird, 21.
According to Alana, The Masked Singer was a "different" experience than past shows but "definitely a lot more fun."
"I did like the experience a lot more being that she was sober," the high school student shared. "I'm very, very, very proud of her."
While their experience on the Fox series has come to an end after being revealed as the beach ball on Nov. 3, both Mama June and Alana continue working on their WE tv reality show. And when looking back on her journey in the spotlight, Mama June is proud of how far she's come.
"I never thought that I would be much into my recovery, helping others and appearing on my social media and sharing so much of my life," Mama June shared. "You have seen craziness in the last 10 years, ups and downs and that was just one of my lows, and now I'm back on that high."
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.