UPDATE: Honey Boo Boo's sister says she was abused by her mother's "boyfriend".

Warning: This article could be triggering to anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault.

UPDATE: Since Mamamia published this post on October 24, more details on the story have come to light. Including:

Mama June’s elder daughter Anna Cardwell – also known as Chickadee – has told Radar Online that her mother’s alleged boyfriend Mark McDaniel assaulted her when she was just eight years old. Anna, now 20 and mother to a two-year-old daughter,  is quoted as saying, “‘I believe she (June) is seeing him and hanging around him. I’m hurt’. Radar cites harrowing court documents that confirm Anna’s account. 

Mama June has denied that she is romantically involved with McDaniel, but TMZ continues to report otherwise, and has published more photographs of the pair together, apparently taken in recent weeks.

The Network that produces Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC, have cancelled the show amid the controversy, saying in a statement: “Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the childrens’ ongoing comfort and well-being.” The network has reportedly offered Anna counselling. 

Previously, Mamamia wrote: 

By ROSIE WATERLAND

I have loved – LOVED – the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo since it premiered two years ago.

When it originally made headlines for being the worst show on television, I was there defending it. When everyone was voicing their ‘Stop the world we want to get off’ and ‘How can this family be allowed to exist’ opinions, I was there defending it.

Well, today is the day I officially stop defending Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

TMZ are reporting that June Shannon (aka Mama June, aka Honey Boo Boo’s mum) has allegedly been secretly dating a convicted paedophile for the last few months. (Mama June has denied the two are romantically involved.)

A paedophile who has just been released from prison after 10 years, for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl.

An 8-year-old girl who is a relative of Mama June. Here is a picture TMZ obtained of the two recently lying in bed together:

Mama June has denied that she is dating McDaniel, but this picture via TMZ seems to show they’ve at least been in contact.

His name is Mark McDaniel, and he was in a relationship with Mama June at the time he forced an 8-year-old relative of hers into oral sex. According to the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, he was convicted of aggravated child molestation and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in March – not long after which Mama June broke up with the father of Honey Boo Boo and started spending time with McDaniel again.

So, um…

WHAT THE FUCK, MAMA JUNE?

I have always been a huge fan of the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo series. If you don’t know it, it stars a little girl called Alana Thompson (nicknamed Honey Boo Boo) and follows her and her lower-class, but loving, family as they live their lives in a small Georgia town.

People didn’t like that Alana took part in child beauty pageants, they didn’t like that the family was fat, they didn’t like that the family was ‘trashy’:

Basically, people didn’t like that a family who burped and farted and ate their way through life were being rewarded for their trashiness with fame and money.

And I’ve always, always disagreed with that attitude.

Although tacky and crass, I always saw this as a family filled with love. The farting and junk food wasn’t the point. They may not have made lifestyle choices everybody agreed with, but at their core, this was a family that really, really loved each other. The warmth in their house radiated out the of screen with every episode. And as the child of dysfunctional and neglectful parents, to me that was all that mattered.

I didn’t care that Mama June put Alana in a couple of pageants or fed her a diet of pasta and butter. This family loved, cared for and supported each other. To be honest, I watched the show with a hint of jealousy.

And now I’m pissed off. Pissed off and sad. Mama June may or may not be in a romantic relationship with this child molester, but she has still been photographed with him in the last couple of months. She is sharing company with someone who molested an 8-year-old ten years ago.

You know how old Alana is now? She just turned 9.

The pageants didn’t bother me. The diet didn’t bother me. The general all-round trashiness didn’t bother me. And I personally don’t think that stuff should have bothered anyone else.

But when it comes to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, now is officially the time to be fucking bothered. Any parent who knowingly spends time with a child molester is FUCKING UP BIG TIME.

I have defended this show – and the parenting of Mama June – for two years. That stops today.

TLC, the network that produces the show, seems to agree. They released the following statement:

“TLC is not currently in production on HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO.  We are very concerned about this new information and are reassessing the future of the series.”

This show generated a lot of concern about Mama June’s parenting since it premiered three years ago. That concern has not been warranted until now; someone needs to make sure Alana and her teenage sisters are safe.

UPDATE: Since the time of publication, TLC has cancelled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Although Mama June has denied she is seeing McDaniel, TLC stated the following:

“TLC has canceled the series Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and ended all activities around the series, effective immediately. Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children’s ongoing comfort and well being.”

Please note if this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please call 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017. It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.