This new season of "Mama June: Family Crisis" is perfectly titled for the chaos that ensues, but nothing is more of a whirlwind than watching Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon's marriage with Josh Efird come to an end. The exes reach a breaking point, and we caught up with Pumpkin to see where the relationship stands today.
"We are divorced," Pumpkin confirmed. "Our divorce was final last year in September. However, we do still have four kids together, so we do still have to co-parent, but we did agree on 50/50 custody, which means he gets them one week and then I also get them the following week. So, we switch off every Sunday at 6:30, but we do co-parent really well."
Pumpkin and Josh were married for six years and share four children: Ella Grace Efird,7, Bentley,4, Jameson Efird, and twins Sylus and Stella Efird,3. She also has sole custody of younger sister Alana Thompson better known as "Honey Boo Boo," after their mom struggled with drug addiction. On the show, the divorce news comes as a shock to the entire family, but none more than the 19-year-old who called Josh "dad."
"I don't have any ill will towards him," Honey Boo Boo admits adding, "I don't think I ever will, just because he did raise me, and he was a very good father figure for me." She says her focus is making sure Pumpkin is in good spirits, "I do know that at some point, Pumpkin was unhappy, and she needed to make sure to put herself first, finallySo I'm just glad that she's happy now. And I tell everybody, as long as she's happy, I'm happy."
Season 7 follows the family as they navigate Pumpkin's divorce, Alana's boyfriend Dralin facing jail time, and June's legal battle to maintain custody of her late daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell's daughter Kaitlyn. Fans will also get a glimpse of Pumpkin finding love again, and her new boyfriend has close family ties - he's Josh's cousin.
We asked Pumpkin about the family's first impression of her new man. She said, "They had obviously known about him. So, he's been around for a while." When she told Mama June, she couldn't believe it. "She was kind of like, "What, that's who it is?" Pumpkin recalled Honey Boo Boo having a similar reaction, "I think my Girly Pop is probably the first person to know, because me and Alana are always super close. So, I told Alana, and she was like, What?"
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While we see Josh doesn't take the news too well on the show, Pumpkin says her boyfriend fits right in. They even spend Sundays together as a family at Mama June's house. "I don't feel like there's like any secret animosity anymore, like it's nice to go to my mom's house on Sundays and have dinner, and everybody can talk, everybody can communicate, like he's in the kitchen helping my mom cook. Or, you know, it's just, it's just kind of nice to have that dynamic."
Josh has also moved on fast; less than a year after the divorce, he welcomed his fifth child in May with another woman. Over the years, Josh and Mama June had a rocky relationship, and Pumpkin is relieved to put that in her past.
"1,000% I can see in some scenarios where Josh may have not like my mama because of past situations, but at the end of the day, she's still my momBut you know, there's a lot of things that we couldn't get past, and I'm moving forward, and I am very much happier."
"Mama June: Family Crisis" premieres May 30 on We TV, ALLBLK and AMC+.