June Shannon’s From Not to Hot is including her ex, Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson. You might say that she’s sharing the wealth.
As you’ll see in the clip below, though Sugar Bear is eager to see his daughter Alana again, one obstacle is giving him pause. Well, giving his new wife pause:
Child support. Every deadbeat dad’s nightmare.
For years, things were going reasonably well for Mama June Shannon and Sugar Bear.
Even when the couple split, they still had Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
And then Mama June ended up in bed with convicted child-molester who had once preyed upon her own daughter. The show got canceled, and the good times and easy money came to an end.
Astoundingly, Mama June was able to make a comeback with her own makeover series, From Not To Hot. She recently flaunted her insane weight loss at a premiere.
And, since Sugar Bear’s such an important part of her past and her story, he’s along for the ride.
Yes, including in season 2.
In the clip that you’ll see below, Sugar Bear and his new wife, Jennifer Lamb, are meeting with an attorney.
Why?
Because Sugar Bear wants to see his daughter, Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson.
Sugar Bear alleges that June has been keeping Alana from him. He claims to have not seen his daughter for six months — since he got married to Jennifer.
We’re not sure if we’re meant to infer that June is angry that he remarried; that would be silly, since June Shannon has her own boyfriend now.
A more likely explanation would be that June Shannon accuses Sugar Bear of domestic violence, of having abused her and her daughters in the past. That’s very, very serious.
Here’s the thing: Sugar Bear isn’t legally recognized as Alana’s dad. So, he would need to fight to even be acknowledged as her father before he could get visitation.
And the attorney mentions to him — and his wife — that there’s a price to be paid.
A literal price, folks. Child support payments are a real responsibility.
And apparently, Sugar Bear has never in his life paid them before now.
Here is where Sugar Bear reminds viewers that he better resembles an offensively stereotypical cartoon character than a real person.
Sugar Bear describes how he "plans" to pay child support:
"I’m not worried about it right now. I’ll figure it out when that time gets here."
That’s barely even an okay way to decide what to eat for dinner with friends. Winging it with financial planning is a recipe for catastrophe.
And it’s not exactly reassuring coming from a guy who wants to spend more time with his daughter.
You know who isn’t loving this? Jennifer Lamb.
She says that she’s totally on board with Sugar Bear spending more time with Alana. She says that she’d make a good stepmom.
But she doesn’t love the idea of yet another expense.
"We can’t even finish saving up for our honeymoon, so how are we going to pay child support?"
The realization that this couple got married six months ago and still haven’t gone on their honeymoon is … sad.
She does her best to sound adamant, insisting: "We’re not dipping into our honeymoon fund."
See the exchange: