Though the show only spent two actual years on the air, TLC's pageant-infused reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was a strangely pervasive piece of pop culture, perhaps cemented by the show's controversial cancellation following reports that matriarch Mama June Shannon was romantically involved with a convicted sex offender. But that's the past, and Mama June is putting the whole mess behind her, as well as a bunch of body fat, with her new weight loss show Mama June: From Not to Hot, which will make its debut on WEtv in late February 2017.
Shifting the titular spotlight from young Alana to the Honey Boo Boo clan's leader, Mama June: From Not to Hot will use the familiar docu-series format to chronicle the overweight mother's life-altering changes, both the physical ones we can see and the emotional ones we can't. The WEtv project will take seven hour-long episodes to follow Mama June heading into a series of fat-sucking and reconstructive surgeries, as well as the intense workout sessions she needed to start in order to keep the weight off. It's being touted that she dropped over 100 lbs from her 300+ lb-frame, so it's definitely a transformation that will catch people's attention.
Of course, a show about Mama June wouldn't be much without the inclusion of Honey Boo Boo and the rest of the family. (Minus Sugar Bear, whose exit is part of what prompted the weight loss goal.) According to People, Alana and Lauryn will be there to root Mama June on as she struggles with lapses in confidence and the temptation to go back to her old dietary habits.
Below, you can find the first preview for Mama June: From Not to Hot, and while I'm not sure it will produce all of the "holy shit!" reactions that pepper the final seconds, I have to assume the core Honey Boo Boo fanbase will have a lot to hoot and holler about.
If you thought that Mama June was going to lose all this weight without aiming to show it off to the opposite sex, you're clearly still not fully grasping reality television. The reality star will indeed hit up the dating life again, and it's a move fueled by the reveal that Sugar Bear is about to get married to someone, so I imagine there will be some fun reactions and conversations when all that makes it into the show. I wonder if any of those Hustler Club appearances will get used.
So do not forget to set your alarms and your scales for Friday, February 24, at 10:00 p.m. ET, when Mama June: From Not to Hot makes its debut on WEtv. To see when everything else is heading to the small screen in the coming months, head to our midseason premiere schedule.
