‘Mama June’ Reveals She Spent $1 Million on Drugs Before Rehab

“Mama June” Shannon reveals she and boyfriend Geno Doak spent nearly $1 million on “dope” during the height of her drug addiction the past few years. The reality TV star addressed her addiction in preparation for her latest premiere, Mama June: Road to Redemption, in an interview with Access Hollywood, speaking out about struggles she faced in her attempt to get clean. “I would say the last year of our addiction, probably a good $900,000,” she said. “So much money was sent to our dope man.”

At one point, she admits she sent her drug dealer $80,000 in one single transaction on Cashapp. She continued, claiming that she was waiting on a $150,000 payment for her to get her last high. But when the payment was late, she says she decided on a different route and went to rehab instead. “I went into rehab with $1.75 to my name,” the former TLC star said. “And I came out with nothing.”

Now that she’s been clean for 14 months, Shannon admits adjusting back to regular life has been tough –– especially when it comes to making money since production was halted due to the Coronavirus pandemic. She says she’s had to resort back to “old hustles” in order to make ends meet. “It’s so much easier for me to say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to feel this,’” she said, adding, “I don’t want to go back to that. I don’t want to have my bank accounts overdrawn.”

The world discovered Shannon’s addiction after the star and her boyfriend were arrested in March 2019 on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance for crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. In Mama June: Family Crisis, the mother of four admitted to her daughter Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon that she and Doak spent $2,500 daily to feed their meth addiction.

Drug addiction wasn’t a new factor in Mama June’s life. “I was around drugs my whole life,” she revealed to the outlet. “Addiction does run in my family.” The reality TV star admitted that the system the entertainment industry operates in makes it seem acceptable until it’s not. “In this industry, it’s kind of crazy that until you get busted it’s okay, and I think that is the wrong way to be, but it is — it’s true,” she said. “You miss so much,” the mother said of her addiction and its effect on her kids. “My kids stopped talking to me … so now our thing is that we’re trying to redeem our kids and it’s been a process. Addiction is selfish, but my recovery is selfish also.”