Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson’s Dancing With the Stars: Juniors experience had her in her romantic feelings.
Most of the Season 3 premiere of Mama June: From Not to Hot revolved around Honey Boo Boo‘s first days filming the ABC reality series and her first time meeting her dance partner.
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“Oh my God, so cute!” Thompson says after seeing her partner Tristan Ianiero and mentor Artem Chigvintsev dancing. “Wow, you do that with your body. How does it move like that?”
Ianiero then asked Thompson about her favorite style of dance, and the 13-year-old reality TV star seemed to be shier than usual.
“What if he wants to go out, like on a date?” she asks Mama June Shannon during a confessional.
“You’re 13!” her mom clapped back, implying she’s too young to date.
Thompson and Tristan shared a bonding moment when she celebrated getting verified on Instagram while on a rehearsal. While she cheered for the accomplishment, she went in for a hug with her dance partner.
“You’re sweaty,” she said puling away from the 14-year-old dancer.
Later in the episode, as Shannon dealt with her boyfriend, Geno Doak, surprising her in Los Angeles with a promise ring, rather than one for an engagement, Honey Boo Boo expressed her nerves for her first performance on the dancing competition show. After getting positive feedback for her first number, she declared she was ready to take Hollywood by a storm.
Thompson’s nerves during the episode come as Thompson had previously revealed to PEOPLE how she felt she was stepping out of her comfort zone when she agreed to do DWTS: Juniors.
“I’ve never even watched the show before, to be honest,” Thompson said at the time. “I wanted to do it because when they asked me, I thought this is something that I’ve never done and it’d be super fun and a great experience. So I figured, let’s do it!”
She added that she owed her family for giving her the support to move past her fears.
“It meant a lot to have most of my sisters there because they both flew in from Georgia, which is like a four-hour flight,” she said. “It meant so much to have them there. And it meant a lot to have my mom there. She was so supportive. Just knowing they’re there to support me means everything.”
Mama June: From Not to Hot airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.