2023 is turning out to be a life-changing year for Alana Thompson – best known as Honey Boo Boo. The 17-year-old graduated from Wilkinson County High School in McIntyre, Georgia in May and is now preparing for the start of her freshman year of college at Regis University in Denver, Colorado this fall.
It’s going to be a big step for Honey Boo Boo, who has never lived outside her hometown of McIntyre, but she’s comforted by the fact that she won’t be doing it alone. In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight, Thompson revealed that her boyfriend, Dralin Carswell, will be moving in with her in Colorado.
“I’ll be moving off campus for security reasons and because Dralin is coming with me. I think he’s more excited to move there than me. He’s ready to move out of our small town and experience something new too,” she said in her interview. “I think it’ll be good for us honestly and I mean, I think it will be fun.”
Honey Boo Boo and Dralin Carswell started dating sometime around March 2021, but didn’t go public with their relationship until later that year. While they recently celebrated their two-year anniversary, the pair have never lived with one another – adding to the excitement behind their move to Denver this fall.
With that said, she plans on keeping a majority of the fun in-house and has no plans of joining a sorority during her time at Regis University. Instead, she wants to focus on her studies and work towards fulfilling her dream of becoming a neonatal nurse – something she hopes to accomplish by the turn of the decade.
“I don’t want to be part of a sorority because — and don’t hound me for saying this — all sorority girls are stuck up! That’s not me. I’m not a Chanel bag type of girl. I’m gonna do my studies and graduate in 2029,” she said of her current mindset as she enters her first year of college. She appears ready and excited.
And while she admits she doesn’t know what the future holds, she hopes she found the ‘right one’ in Dralin. In fact, the two have already started planning a future together and have even shared their wishes when it comes to children – Alana’s boyfriend is on board with having kids in the future, but she’s not.
Honey Boo Boo Understands She’ll Always Be in the Spotlight
Alana Thompson made her initial rise to fame during Season 5 of Toddlers & Tiaras – a reality TV series by TLC. Her ability to win over an audience resulted in TLC doing a spinoff of the show that focused on Honey Boo Boo and her family. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo ran for 4 seasons between 2012 and 2017.
While she doesn’t necessarily want to be on TV for the rest of her life, she’s well aware that she will be in the spotlight no matter what. “I kind of just basically accepted that whether I want to go be a nurse or I want to go be an accountant, whatever I want to go be, that I will always be in the spotlight,” she tells ET.
As far as what the future holds for her, she’s hoping to stay in Colorado long enough to begin her work as a nurse following school. “It doesn’t matter what I do, I will always probably be known as, ‘Oh my god, Honey Boo Boo’s working on my baby when he was in the NICU,'” she joked of her future as a nurse.
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The good news is she has the full support of her family – including her sister, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, and her mother, Mama June Shannon. They both approve of her boyfriend, but also agree that this is more of a make-or-break scenario for the couple – they’re obviously hoping for the best and wishing them well.
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