Mama June 'secretly lavished child sex offender beau with gifts including a CAR'... as TLC axe Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
- 'Mama June' Shannon released a video statement on Friday confirming that the show has been axed
- Continues to deny relationship with convicted child sex offender Mark McDaniel
- Children's services have been alerted following reports say TMZ
- Completed fourth season will not air, network taking a financial blow
- McDaniel dated the 35-year-old 10 years ago, before prison sentence
- Served 10 years for molestation of eight-year-old relation of Mama June's
She has repeatedly denied dating convicted sex offender Mark McDaniel after their alleged relationship led to the cancellation of popular reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on Friday.
But according to TMZ; not only was 'Mama' June Shannon secretly dating McDaniel for several months, she also purchased gifts - including a used car - for him.
June allegedly went shopping for the car last month, visiting at least one dealership near her home in McIntyre, Georgia.
The website report that the family matriarch told the dealer the vehicle was for 'her daughter.' But sources say it was, in fact, 'secretly' intended for McDaniel.
U.S. network TLC, which airs the reality show, apparently 'got wind' of the secret shopping trips.
Taking into account other 'compelling evidence' and a photograph published by TMZ showing June and McDaniel in bed together, TLC took steps to cancel the reality show.
Despite June's denials,TMZ report that child services and the local Sheriff's Department were notified of the reports shortly after the website first broke the story.
The show's cancellation was confirmed on Friday by June in a three minute video posted on Facebook which appears to have been taken on her phone.
'I just got a phone call this morning from TLC and as of right now there will be no more production of the show,' she says, looking down and avoiding eye contact with the camera.
She went on to deny reports she is romancing McDaniel. 'The statement of me dating a sex offender is totally untrue,' she said.
'[Daughter] Pumpkin has openly said that I did not, that I've not dated him, and also his son [has].'
She continued: 'I would not ever, ever, ever put my kids in danger, I love my kids too much. That is my past. I have not seen that person in 10 years and don't want to see that person.'
With their livelihood now in jeopardy, the family matriarch took the time to thank the show's fans for their continuing support over the years.
'We just want to thank, from the bottom of our hearts, the support that we've had from our fans since May 2012,' she smiled 'The experience has been awesome to us. The girls have been able to do things that they would not normally have [been able] to do.'
Though the show may be over, with the network confirming that the already-completed fourth season will not air, Mama June insisted it wouldn't be the last fans would see of the quirky family, who will continue to be active in their community.
'We are still going to do our Christmas display, if y'all choose to come out and meet the family still, to support our community,' she said. 'We're also going to keep updating throughout what's going on in our life.'
Finally able to speak out with what she called her 'truth video', revealing that the network had 'kind of told us to hush-hush' up until now, the recently separated star also spoke of ending her relationship with partner of nine years, Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson.
'Me and Sugar Bear really have broke up but we are friends and we have stayed civil,' she insists of the father of her youngest child, Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson. 'We're better off friends than we were a couple.'
As yells in the background demanded she 'shut up', Mama June wraps up her confessional on the upbeat note that: 'Things happen for a reason in life and you live and learn.'
She added to the fans: 'We do love y'all and we care about y'all. We greatly appreciate ever one of y'all and from the bottom of our heart we want to let y'all know that.'
TLC confirmed to MailOnline on Friday that the hit reality series has been cancelled and the network will not air the fourth season that was already filmed.
'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, they said. A source told TMZ that includes continuing to offer the children tutors, as well as counselling.
Mama June's video comes after a previous Facebook message posted on Thursday which urged Honey Boo Boo fans to not 'believe everything you read.'
It said: 'Ppl sell stories to the tabloid everyday that r false (sic)! It isnt true i promise my kids r #1 priority over anything else and I would never put them in danger period over this or anything else they r my life this is my past I left him 10 yrs ago for it and I wouldn't go back (sic).'
And June's daughters Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon and Anna 'Chickadee' Shannon Cardwell have both spoken out to deny their mother had a relationship with McDaniel.
'I know for a fact it’s not true,' Anna told Radar. 'The person behind this, all I got to say is he or she is trying to tear the family apart, which isn’t right one bit.
'They just want nothing but attention for themselves and money and for our show to stop,' the married mother of two-year-old Kaitlyn added.
Her 14-year-old daughter Lauryn Shannon - otherwise known as Pumpkin - had also previously spoken to Radar about her mom's prior relationship with McDaniel in a bid to douse the flames.
'The story is not true. My mom left Mark 10 years ago,' the teenager insists, adding: 'They haven’t seen nor talked [to each other] in 10 years.'
While TMZ obtained a photo allegedly taken a month ago of the reality star snuggling up to the 53-year-old in a hotel bed, Pumpkin has slammed the evidence as simply 'Photoshopped'.
With Mama June having separated from long-time partner Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson just last month after she allegedly discovered the 42-year-old actively trolling for women on various dating websites, her daughter says the mom-of-four is enjoying the single life.
'She is all about the kids. She only needs us girls, no-one else,' Pumpkin stated. 'We are all sticking together as one happy family with us four girls.'
But TMZ reported that Mama June has been dating her ex for the last few months, citing the aforementioned photo as proof of their liaisons.
'We're told Honey Boo Boo's mom has been seeing McDaniel for the last few months ... sneaking away from production of the show and meeting up with him. We're told she's also been setting him up by buying him various gifts.'
McDaniel was recently released from prison after serving 10 years, convicted of aggravated child molestation in 2004.
In June 2003, he was indicted for aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and child molestation related to several incidents involving a member of then-girlfriend June's family, aged eight, though the case was dismissed.
The website reports: 'Prosecutors say he molested an eight-year-old child - forcing oral sex.
The pair were also said to be romantically involved at the time of his arrest.
According to reports confirmed by the MailOnline, McDaniel is a registered sex offender in the reality show's home state of Georgia.
The registry details that Mark only got out of prison in March after he was convicted in 2004 of aggravated child molestation, which is 'when such person commits an offense of child molestation which act physically injures the child or involves an act of sodomy'.
The three youngest girls still live at home in MacIntyre, Georgia, while Anna - who has a two-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn - has since moved to Alabama after marrying baby daddy Michael Cardwell
Tragically, this is not the only sex offender that Mama June has been linked to.
The father of Honey Boo Boo’s 17-year-old sister Jessica 'Chubbs' Shannon, Michael Anthony Ford, 37, who dated her mother just a few months before she became pregnant, is currently behind bars.
in 2008, he served more than two years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child over the internet due to an offence committed in 2005.
According to prison documents, he was charged with two more counts of sexual exploration of a child, also steaming from 2005, and is currently serving 10 years for each charge. He is not expected to be released until 2026.
Source:
Daily Mail
