Honey Boo Boo Slams Critics Of Her Controversial Relationship

Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson is facing criticism over the four year age-gap with her boyfriend, Dralin Carswell, and she's finally speaking out. The former TLC star has been dating Carswell for over a year now, but kept her relationship under wraps for the first six months, per the U.S. Sun. The couple became Instagram official in September 2021 after Thompson posted a since-deleted photo of them with a "bae" sticker placed over the picture (per Page Six). Some of Thompson's fans were not as happy as others about her first public relationship, but despite the criticism they have faced thus far, the age of consent in Georgia is 16 and makes their relationship legal.

In May, Mama June opened up about her daughter's boyfriend in an interview with TooFab and revealed, "She is getting a lot of hate because she's in an interracial relationship [and] he is older." The mother of four added, "At the end of the day, Alana's not that 6-, 7-year-old child y'all fell in love with 11 years ago. The U.S. Sun confirmed that Thompson's sisters also respect and accept her relationship with Carswell.

Fans might recall, Mama June lost custody of Honey Boo Boo in June after being arrested for the possession of drugs, leading to Thompson's sister, Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, being granted full custody of the star. Although it's been a dramatic year for Thompson and her family, Honey Boo Boo recently broke her silence about her controversial relationship.

Despite fans expressing their concern and disapproval of her romance with Dralin Carswell, Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson does not seem to be bothered by it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she opened up how the criticism on social media has not affected her life since going public with her relationship. She revealed that they mostly receive hate because they are an interracial couple with an age-gap. Thompson said, "I don't care because, like, at the end of the day, my sister approves, his mom approves, and we're happy, so what fans got to say or what haters got to say I don't really care." Her sister and now guardian, Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, also defended the relationship during the interview and said, "She's not getting married, she's not having a kid, she's doing very good in school."

Thompson rarely posts photos of just her and Carswell on social media, but when she does, the comments are turned off on Instagram. Honey Boo Boo and her sisters are currently on a small summer tour across the United States with dates being announced sporadically.