About Mama June
June Edith Shannon, who is well-known as “Mama June”, was born in August 1979 and is the matriarch of the famous Shannon family. As many would know, the reality TV heavyweight has four daughters named Anna, Jessica, Lauryn and Alana and shot to fame thanks to the success of her children in the competitive beauty pageant circuit.
The small-screen star, who was born and raised in Georgia, dropped out of school when she learned she was pregnant, and gave birth to her first daughter mere days after her 15th birthday. Over the next few years, June would pursue relationships with unsavory men who were later convicted of sex offenses; Michael Anthony Ford, who fathered her daughters Jessica and Lauryn, was found guilty of trying to sexually exploit a minor online, whereas her short-term boyfriend Mark McDaniel was convicted of abusing her eldest daughter.
June struggled with her morbid obesity in adulthood, and weighed up to 460 pounds before undergoing bariatric surgery and a sleeve gastrectomy. A combination of surgery, dieting, and rigorous workout regimes with the famed trainer Kenya Crooks helped June lose over 300 pounds (135kgs); she also revamped her image by splurging $75,000 on cosmetic enhancements such as veneers and facial work.
Although June is currently married to her former long-term boyfriend Justin Stroud, she was also entangled with a convicted criminal named Geno Doak who previously served jail time for criminal damage to property, burglary, and theft. The lowlight of June’s public life was her arrest for felony drug possession in March 2019 while travelling with Geno. Thankfully, the famous matriarch found the strength to enter rehab, get clean, and break up from Geno after he relapsed.
In April 2023, June shared an unfiltered and unedited photo of her real skin on social media. The Instagram snap was promptly reported on by news outlets and online gossip pages, as netizens were taken aback by her red and sore-looking skin and chapped lips. Although it’s refreshing to see someone in the public eye show their followers the real version of themselves, June’s fans were concerned about her appearance and wondered if it had something to do with her recent health issues.
Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with June’s skin – but the Georgia native also made headlines recently after admitting to regaining weight, and falling off the healthy lifestyle wagon. June was criticized by her Instagram followers after uploading a promotional video for a restaurant in which she ate generous helpings of brisket, and jerky, apple pie and strawberry cheesecake apparently in one sitting. Although the same followers were quick to link June’s latest bare-faced selfie to possible health woes, it would appear to be an unrelated issue.
Despite claiming to be happy with her current weight of 240 pounds, the TV personality previously said that she wouldn’t mind undergoing more gastric surgery if necessary. However, June would definitely have to take her wellbeing more seriously, as she was hospitalized in September 2022 after experiencing a series of dizzy spells and bad headaches. No more details of the health scare were made public after June checked herself out of the hospital.
In happier news, June and her husband Justin recently celebrated their one-year anniversary. The milestone meant a lot for their relationship, as the pair have overcome many hurdles together in a short period of time. June commemorated the special day with a sweet Instagram post in which she wrote: “A lot of people didn’t want us together or thought we wouldn’t make it, but we’ve been through a lot to say the least… We have done it together, and have figured out every situation together. I’ve never experienced that before so it has been very nice.”
June and Justin’s secret courthouse ceremony, which took place in summer 2022, came as a shock even to their nearest and dearest. In fact, June’s daughters had no idea of what was going on until June and Justin told them. The courthouse affair was described by June as a pretty “spur of the moment” decision; in February 2023, the couple married again, this time in a more romantic setting by the sea.
June’s daughters are believed to have a good relationship with Justin, who is proving himself to be a much more reliable partner than some of the TV star’s exes. Despite not being a celebrity and not sharing many details of his private life, there’s plenty of information on Justin online. According to June, the Alabama native didn’t know who she was when they met, and the pair started off as best friends before becoming something more.
In February 2022, Justin was arrested after violating probation for past drug and burglary charges, but was released a month after his arrest, and has kept on the straight and narrow ever since. Despite his criminal record, Justin is a gainfully employed auto mechanic and tattoo artist with a bright professional future ahead of him, provided he stays clean, of course. People were skeptical of the relationship at first, claiming that Justin wasn’t single and that June wasn’t his type, but until now they’ve proven the naysayers wrong.
Obviously, it wasn’t all smooth sailing at first; in a May 2022 interview, June confessed that it took her daughters a while to warm to the new man in her life. “Me being in a toxic situation and me being in drug addiction, and then getting out of that relationship, even though I got clean in the relationship… Then fast forward to six months later, almost eight months later, getting into this new relationship, that was jarring for them at first,” she explained. This is, perhaps, the reason why she and Justin tied the knot in secret after dating for a mere five months.
June has certainly proven to be an example of how you can turn your life around if you put in the hard work. From suffering in toxic relationships and being arrested and addicted to drugs, to having her own TV show, a thriving family, and apparently being happily married, June has come a long way in the last few years. We’ll be sure to keep you updated with any important news about her and her family.