Mama June’s Secret Drug Use & Rehab Stay Before Her ‘Crack Cocaine’ Arrest Revealed

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Mama June, 39, has been battling a substance abuse habit that has been an open secret among her family and friends – that’s what insiders are telling HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. On March 13 the mom-of-four was arrested in Alabama with her boyfriend Eugene “Geno” Doak, 43, on drug possession charges. News that the Mama June: From Not To Hot star was arrested for “possession of drug paraphernalia” and for carrying a substance that the Macon County District Attorney’s Office believes to be “crack cocaine” stunned her army of fans. Nearly three months later, WE tv is addressing the issue with a special episode, The Road To Intervention. Due to air on May 24 at 9pm EST, it will show June’s kids pleading with her to get help. But two sources who have known June Shannon and her family for years say that her drug use is no surprise to those close to her, even if it’s a revelation to her fans.

“I’m so shocked this didn’t get out long before,” one insider said. “When you’d go to her house she would be out of it like you’re out [of it] before you get put under before surgery. She was wiped.” The source also claimed that Geno – who has been convicted of burglary, theft and parole violations, according to police reports – “looked out of it too.” The person also said that June “has been high when she is with him.”

The insider claimed that the situation got so bad that the production team behind her hit show urged her to get treatment in February in Georgia where she lives. “There were needles everywhere in her home. Alana [was sent] to live with Pumpkin,” our source told us at the time of the TV star’s arrest. “June went to rehab at the end of February in Georgia after they wrapped filming Season 3 of her show. She was in there voluntarily, but she left and was on a drugs binge until she got arrested.”

A second source echoed what the first insider said. “I’m disgusted there has not been change in June in all these years,” the person said. “She is still blaming others and has a drug problem. Since the very beginning there’s been issues and this is nothing new.”

June and her family gained fame in 2012 when she and her youngest daughter, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, now 13, became fan favorites on Toddlers and Tiaras, TLC’s show about child pageant stars. They were such a hit with viewers that year they got their own show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which also featured June’s other daughters Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, 24, Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, 22, and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 19. June’s then partner, Alana’s dad, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, 47, was also a co-star.

The family’s string of good luck came to an end in October 2014 when TLC cancelled the show after TMZ posted a photo of June lying in bed with her ex-boyfriend, convicted child molester Mark McDaniel. Amid reports that the two were secretly dating again, June’s oldest daughter Anna claimed that she was molested by McDaniel when she was 8, according to CNN. “June would always protect her men over her own kids,” our second source said. “June and Geno have been dating for the past three years, but she’s the one who runs the show and calls the shots in her relationships. June does what she wants to do and guys are puppies. She tells them what to do and she also sticks by her men over her children.” The second insider claimed that June and her family “lived in filth,” before adding, “They’re their own worst enemy.”

HollywoodLife reached out to WE tv, which airs June’s current show, From Not To Hot, and a rep responded with, “No comment.” We also reached out to Mama June’s rep and to her daughter Pumpkin, and we’ve yet to receive a reply.