After weeks of building hype, the new season of Mama June: Road to Redemption premiered on Friday.
While much of the focus was on Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon’s new baby, June Shannon had her own story to tell.
Deep down, she knew that she needed to get away from her toxic — and worse — relationship with Geno Doak.
After backing out of multiple opportunities, June ended up disappearing for weeks … only resurfacing in another state, in hiding from her ex.
Early on the season premiere, June Shannon called up Lauryn to talk.
She claimed that Geno was no longer sober, and described alarming behavior from him.
June even said that she was afraid of being caught talking to Geno, fearful of verbal abuse from him for simply being on the phone.
It was clear that she was eager to leave him but afraid to, but admitted that the situation was “getting out of control.”
June knew that she needed “help.”
However, she shared that her plan was simply to break up with Geno at the courthouse — a safe environment — while hoping that the judge would sentence Geno to jail time, essentially doing the breakup for her.
Geno’s sentencing ended up being postponed, meaning that June would not get the “easy out” for which she hoped.
Instead, she explained to them that she felt that it was safest for her and for them if she held off on breaking up with Geno.
Her implication was that she was unsure of what Geno would do if she broke up with him. That’s scary. And staying with him is never the answer.
Things got worse, however, when June disappeared off of the face of the planet.
She was totally absent — without even calling — when Lauryn gave birth to Bentley, her first grandson.
Production did not hear from June for three weeks. Then, she reached out.
Producers came to meet up with June at a remote hotel in Alabama.
“There’s a lot that happened behind closed doors that a lot of people don’t know,” June described vaguely.
“My life has been turned inside out …” she lamented. “I’m just tired of lying and hiding and I decided to call y’all,”
June continued her interview inside of the Alabama hotel room, speaking directly with producers on camera.
“Geno has no idea where I’m at and I would prefer for y’all not to tell him that,” she said, and was assured that her location would remain secret.
“He went to sleep, passed out because he was drunk and I packed a bag, I left, I got an Uber,” June shared.
“I tried to do this a few times before and I talked myself out of it,” June admitted.
She explained: “A few nights ago, it was just some extra push.”
June went on: “I should have left him at the last court date, but I didn’t. The drinking got worse, the verbal abuse …”
“I was ruining myself emotionally, mentally, having to worry about my sobriety,” June detailed.
She explained: “The devil was right here saying, ‘You know if you use, you don’t have to use these feelings, if you get cocaine, you don’t have to feel these feelings.”
June admitted that this was the first time that she walked away from “an abusive relationship.”
June admitted that she did not necessarily break up with Geno.
Instead, she warned that the truth “might piss off some people.” She characterized her life as a “train wreck.”
The episode ended with a teaser, with June about to tell viewers something … but what? We’ll find out on Friday.
