Mama June hugs Honey Boo Boo for ‘first time’ in ‘five or six years’ during therapy session

Mama June gave Honey Boo Boo a hug for the ‘first time’ in about ‘five or six years’ during a therapy session in a new emotional episode of Mama June: Family Crisis on Friday.

The TV personality, 43, has aimed to patch together her tattered relationship with daughters Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’, 17, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’, 23, and Jessica ‘Chubbs’, 26, on a weekend family retreat with therapist, Dr. Ish.

Earlier in the sixth season of the hit WE TV series, which began airing last month in May, June notably crashed her daughters’ meet-and-greet with fans, which resulted in a heated confrontation due to her past with drugs.

In the latest episode that premiered on June 30, Mama and her three daughters were gathered inside of a kitchen around a counter, with the therapist kicking off a short session for the family to speak their emotions out loud to develop ‘closeness.’ 

At one point, Alana and her mother held hands, with Mama June telling her youngest, ‘I’m glad that we was able to hang out today. And I hope that we can do it really soon. And I love you.’ 

Honey Boo Boo replied with, ‘I love you too,’ and then looked towards Dr. Ish to explain, ‘It was better because she didn’t say it over text message.’

He then asked Alana, ‘How much would it have meant to you if you could have held her [Mama June’s] hand on the first day of school and she said, “I love you. Go on in there and kick some a** now.”‘ 

After only a brief moment of thought, Honey Boo Boo began to break down in tears, causing June to also become emotional. ‘I just feel like my mom should be there on graduation. And I feel like she should be there for my prom.’ 

‘And she should be there for them little moments in school, like Honors Day or whatever it may be, just the little senior activities I have,’ Alana continued. ‘Everybody at school is like “My mom, my mom, my mom” And I always have to say, “my sister.” I don’t want to have to say that.’ 

‘I want to be like, my mom did this, or my mom does this for me, or I’m going home to my mom today,’ she concluded. Dr. Ish then cut in to state, ‘See how that works? Your daughters are crying. This is the time to go comfort her, right?’ 

Mama June then brought Honey Boo Boo into a tight embrace, with her daughter laying her head on her mother’s shoulder to continue to cry. 

The episode then cut to a confessional where Honey Boo Boo admitted to the viewers that, ‘This is the first time Mama’s actually really gave me a hug in probably about-I’m not gonna lie- probably about five or six years.’

‘And it feels good to get an actual loving hug from your Mama. Like, it really did feel nice. I’m not gonna lie.’ 

The episode then cut back to the emotional session with Dr. Ish urging Mama June to not make excuses for her actions, but to issue an apology for missing out on important moments in Honey Boo Boo’s life. 

Her daughter Lauryn (Pumpkin) also had the chance to have a mini one-on-one conversation with her mother where she expressed that all she ‘needed’ was to hear that June was ‘proud’ of her. 

‘I’m proud of you for everything that you’ve accomplished. Like, you are a good mom,’ June told Pumpkin, who is mother to four children of her own. 

After Mama June was arrested in 2019 and charged with felony possession of drugs and also drug paraphernalia, Lauryn obtained temporary custody of Honey Boo Boo and last year, received full custody of the almost 18-year-old. 

‘I have laid in bed and cried for hours because, like, I wanted to talk to y’all because I missed y’all ’cause I wanted that family back,’ June explained, with Pumpkin expressing that she also has her own family as ‘priority.’ 

Dr. Ish then stated, ‘Every child you have needs to know that they’re the most important person in your life. And what you’re seeing right now is what happens when they don’t feel that way.’

Jessica, who has come out as bisexual, also expressed to her mother while holding hands that she wished June had given her ‘support’ and also had her ‘back.’ 

In a confessional, Jessica could be seen stating, ‘It’s hard for anyone to come out. And I’m glad Mama finally can see the real me and she understands. Because it’s hard to have a relationship with somebody who doesn’t know you or let you be who you are.’ 

The therapy weekend session was an opportunity to repair the shattered relationship that Mama June had with her three daughters and to ‘get family back together.’

The retreat began with June arriving to a large cabin in Georgia only to be surprised by her sister, Doe Doe, who was waiting for her before her daughters arrived. 

The two sat down with Dr. Ish, who dove back to their own difficult upbringing and childhood. They opened up about how their own mother had ‘abandoned’ them ‘in a lot of ways’ when they were growing up. 

The therapist pointed out that June was repeating actions that her own mother had done, such as putting men before her daughters and having a ‘transactional’ relationship with them. 

Dr. Ish explained that their mother was ‘the model, but it wasn’t a role model. But it was the only model you knew. And so, subconsciously, we start doing these exact same things in our own life. You see the pattern?’ 

He continued, ‘This weekend is about cycles and breaking the cycles. And a big part of stopping the future cycle is going back and realizing the effect that stuff had on you.’ 

After Doe Doe left the retreat house, Mama June’s three daughters soon arrived and they all gathered in the kitchen around a spacious island to briefly share updates with their lives, such as Honey Boo Boo graduating high school and expressing her dream to be a neonatal nurse. 

Pumpkin then brought up the explosive meet-and-greet, with June admitting that she knew her daughters were ‘hurt’ about what she had said. 

When Dr. Ish questioned what the statement was, Pumpkin revealed that Mama had said, ‘I would rather give up my rights than give you any money for Alana,’ referencing to June paying child support for Honey Boo Boo. 

The therapist then introduced a game that they would take part in called Apple Picking, where June and her daughters each grabbed an apple and would drop it if they had made another family member feel a certain emotion. 

Dr. Ish at one point stated to drop an apple if they had made someone feel hurt, and all four dropped their apple. He then asked them to explain why they had been hurt. 

Alana explained that she felt hurt because Mama June ‘just left us’ while Pumpkin expressed that she was only 17-years-old when she got custody of Honey Boo Boo. Jessica admitted that she had been hurt due to their mother being ‘absent.’ 

Mama June revealed that she felt hurt due to her daughters ignoring her text messages and tearfully expressed how much she missed her children. 

She then told them she was ‘three years clean and sober,’ which Dr. Ish applauded, but was adamant that there needed to be ‘consistent effort’ from everyone for a continuous, and lasting positive change. 

Later in the episode, the family was taken to the garage where they had the chance to release stress by stating what made them angry, and then hit a punching bag with a bat. 

At the end of the weekend, Dr. Ish brought Mama June and her three daughters into the living room and handed each of them a notebook. Inside, they had to answer the question: ‘What does the perfect family look like for you?’ 

Afterwards, they each had to stand up and read out loud what they had written, with Honey Boo Boo going first. She had wished that, ‘Me and Pumpkin could actually be sisters for once. My mama wouldn’t miss out on the little things. I said, I wish my Mama would care more about my schooling. And that’s all.’ 

Pumpkin then had her turn and stated, ‘Ok, I hope that I could share all of my moments, big and small, with my mom.’

‘I wouldn’t have to worry if my mom was going to O.D. I wouldn’t have to worry if I’m enough. I wouldn’t have to just always ask, why me? I wouldn’t have to be the glue,’ she emotionally concluded. 

Jessica then stood up and expressed to her family, ‘As a whole, I want to see everybody truthful and honest and always have each other’s backs, always having an open mind about everyone’s opinions and life, and be there for everything that happens in each of our lives.’ 

Mama June lastly stated, ‘I hope that we can talk every day, see each other more. I thank deep down in my heart that they never gave up on me, because they wouldn’t be here this weekend.’ 

To conclude the emotional episode and therapy retreat, Dr. Ish threw the notebook papers into the lit fireplace to start a new beginning while June embraced all three of her daughters, who happily returned the action.