“My mama did not name me Honey Boo Boo. My name is Alana,” the TV reality star told Teen Vogue.
No longer the “go-go juice” — a mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew — guzzling child who burst onto the scene in 2012 on the TLC show “Toddlers & Tiaras,” Alana Thompson said she would like people to remember she is not a character.
“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,” she told the magazine.
Her bigger-than-life personality led to her own show, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” and appearances on “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors” and other reality shows.
Alana will be 16 on Saturday and has been in the public eye for the majority of her life, which she said makes it difficult to trust people.
“To be honest, I do not have many friends. At all,” Alana said. “Because I feel like folks are so much like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m friends with Honey Boo Boo.’ I don’t trust nobody really, so I don’t have friends.”
She told Teen Vogue she tests people over the course of a few months to see if they call her “Honey Boo Boo,” and she watches to see if they offer to pay or just assume she will because she’s on television.
She made it clear being on television is her choice, both for personal and financial reasons. “I want to have a life, you know? I want to be able to support my kids when I do have kids and stuff like that,” she said. “It’s definitely something that is good for the time being, (and) good for later on in life.”
The teen is working her plan for “later in life,” aware that someday she won’t be filming anymore.
Alana said she wants to be a nurse. Before that, however, she wants to finish high school, graduate from college, and buy a car and a house.
Right now, however, she lives with her sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 21, who has legal guardianship over her. In 2019, Alana’s mother. June Shannon, was arrested on possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia charges.
What does future Alana look like? “I don’t know what future Alana’s like. I haven’t met her yet.”
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