Alana Thompson is walking away from her former identity. The 16-year-old first captured the hearts of America for her participation in child pageants on Toddlers & Tiaras in 2012. Since then, the world has known her as Honey Boo Boo.
The nickname was cute at the time, but the teen is ready to move past it. In an interview with Teen Vogue, she opened up about outgrowing that identity and getting people to see her beyond it. After all, Alana may have had a choice in participating in pageants as a little girl, but she had no say in her family's trauma playing out on national television.
This interview debuts a mature Alana who has a lot of perspective on what she's been through. In a world where 16-year-olds are trying to live fast and live hard, she's growing up without trying too hard, and it's refreshingly real.
"My mama did not name me Honey Boo Boo. My name is Alana," the teen told Teen Vogue.
Alana is at a significant spot in her life. Almost 16, she's saving up to buy a car and wants to be a neonatal nurse, but she's also still a reality star. As such, she's had a lot of her life and her pain play out for the world to see.
"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 explained.
It's for this reason, especially as she moves further into coming into her own, that she makes the distinction between Alana and Honey Boo Boo.
"They are completely two different people," she noted.
"I would say that I do like this Alana now, rather than the younger Alana."
These days, her reality TV life focuses more on her family, another complicated area of her life. Alana has lived with her sister, Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, since mother June Shannon's arrest on possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia charges.
"A lot of folks in this world do not realize how many people are actually really affected by drug and alcohol [use]," the teen shares.
"It's very, very hard. It's something I'd wish on nobody, for real," she says.
June has, for her part, worked on getting better, with Alana saying they're working to get "back on track" to where they used to be.
"When my mama got real bad with her [drug use], I didn't know where I was going to end up. I'm proud of myself for how far I've come."
Like a normal teenager, Alana likes to experiment with her look. She's gotten some hate for some of her beauty choices on Instagram.
"Just because I'm from the South, people expect me to be all country bumpkin, out riding four wheelers all the time, but that's not really how it is," she shared.
"There are so many folks on my Instagram that do not like my nails or my eyelashes. But I do not care. As long as I like myself, I'm good."
"I don't ever look at people and I'm like, 'Oh, I wish I was like her.' Because I don't ever wish to be like nobody. I am my own person."
While Alana focuses on self-love, she's well aware of the hate in her comments, especially where her body is concerned. It's been critiqued since she first became a household name, and people don't hesitate to share their opinions on her photos.
"I feel like my generation is probably making it worse. Everybody's all about body positivity, body positivity, until they see a body they don't like," she leveled.
"I don't understand why people think this way," she continues.
"Just because I got a little bit of extra meat on my bones, you want to hate me? I'll never get body shaming."
The hate isn't the only hard part. Alana finds it hard to make friends because of the assumptions people make about someone who has been on TV.
"To be honest, I do not have many friends. At all," she says, with the exception of her boyfriend.
"Because I feel like folks are so much like, 'Oh, my God, I'm friends with Honey Boo Boo,'” Alana adds. “I don't trust nobody really, so I don't have friends."
Alana admits that part of her reason for staying on TV is that contrary to popular belief, her reality fame has not made her rich.
"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 says.
"It's definitely something that is good for the time being, [and] good for later on in life."
