Happy Birthday Honey Boo Boo! The former pageant star, whose real name is Alana Thompson, turned 21 on Friday, August 28.
She found fame when she was just five years old on the reality show Toddlers & Tiaras. During an interview on the show, Alana said: "A dollar made me holler, honey boo boo!" and was known from then on out by her nickname.
Now, at 21, Alana has paved a life for herself outside of pop culture. Keep reading to see Honey Boo Boo's transformation and about her surprising career pivot.
© WireImageAlana is June's youngest daughter
Honey Boo Boo's Toddlers & Tiaras days
Toddlers & Tiaras launched Honey Boo Boo into stardom. Alana appeared on the show which followed the families of contestants in a child beauty pageant with her parents June "Manna June" Shannon and Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson.
© InstagramThe reality show was on air for two years
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
Alana and her family went on to star in a reality show of their own starting in 2012. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo followed Alana and her parents' lives in their hometown of McIntyre, Georgia. Alana's sisters – Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, Jessica "Chubbs" Shannon, and Anna "Chicakdee" Shannon, who died in 2023 – starred in the show as well.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was taken off air in 2014 after June was seen with a man who had served 10 years in prison after being convicted of aggravated child molestation.
© Getty ImagesThe teen lived through her mom's drug addiction
Alana Thompson's difficult years
While Alana found fame as a child pageant star, her life wasn't always easy. In 2019, June was struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine. That March, she and her then-boyfriend, Eugene Doak, were arrested and charged with felony possession of drugs.
"People were like, 'I saw your mama on the news with a busted tooth, strung out,'" Alana recalled to People in May 2025. "I'm like, 'Great, like I didn't see that too.'" When Alana was 16, her sister Lauryn gained full custody of her and she went on to graduate from high school.
© InstagramAlana will be the first in her family with a college degree
Alana Thompson's life after Honey Boo Boo
After graduating from high school, Alana studied nursing at Regis University in Colorado and is expected to graduate in 2027. She plans to become a pediatric intensive care unit nurse and is currently working as a Patient Care Technician in pediatrics at a local hospital in Colorado.
"When I graduate I’ll be the only one in my family with a degree," Alana told People 2025. "I love that I've persevered past who people thought I was." She went on: "I just always told myself you know that you want to do something better with your life and bigger with your life than just being on TV, so you've got to get up and go, you've got to graduate so you can make it to college and be the nurse that you want to be."
© Getty ImagesMama June: Family Crisis has been on air since 2017
Alana's reconciliation with Mama June
June's addiction was on full display on the WeTV reality show Mama June: From Not to Hot in 2017. After being arrested, June checked into a 30-day inpatient rehab program in Florida and is now six years sober.
Alana and June reconciled after their difficult relationship. The two still film together on Mama June: Family Crisis and are set to celebrate Alana's 21st birthday in Las Vegas, as June told People in April 2026.
