News & Updates

If you’re a Honey Boo Boo fan, you probably watched in awe like the rest of us as Mama June Shannon managed to shed hundreds of pounds on Mama June: From Not to Hot. But now that season 3 is rolling around, the challenge isn’t losing weight but keeping it off. And that challenge is proving particularly difficult. The reality star may be going back to her old ways — and her old weights — but another health development may complicate things further. Despite being a grandma, June may be expecting another little Honey Boo Boo of her own. Watch the videoabove to check out the trailer for season 3, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube ChannelOpens a New Window. .

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Mama June Shannon has gained some pounds since her dramatic weight loss — but could she be eating for a little one on the way?

In a new supertease of Mama June: From Not to Hot, which returns to We tv in March, the reality star admits to gaining some weight back since her physical transformation two years ago.

“I’ve gained a little bit of weight back, but I’m not ever going to be 450 pounds again,” Mama June says.

The trailer then cuts to footage of Mama June’s boyfriend Geno Doak being arrested.

The footage suggests Mama June’s weight gain could be either her “chowing down on stress” — or “eating for two.”

“Grandma flow is a little late for her visit this month,” the reality star says, referencing her period, before the video flashes to a shot of an OB/GYN center.

“Did you knock my sister up?” Mama June’s older sister Doe Doe asks.

While Mama June has previously admitted to wanting to marry Doak, it appears that the couple is going through a rough patch.

“I have no sympathy for you,” Doak says to Mama June as he walks away, leaving her crying alone on her bed.

“Will Geno leave June and the baby?” the teaser questions.

The new season will also follow Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson‘s journey on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors and the tension between Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon and her husband Joshua Efird, who welcomed daughter Ella Grace in December 2017.

Still, the most dramatic part of the upcoming season is Mama June’s “biggest showdown ever” with Sugar Bear’s girlfriend Jennifer, who may be revealed as “the biggest weight loss story of 2019,” says manager Gina Rodriguez.

“Whatever, you are no competition,” Mama June says while working out at Fit Farm. “You better be afraid,” Jennifer replies.

Mama June: From Not to Hot returns March 15 at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.

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Is Mama June returning to her problematic eating — or is something else going on?

On Thursday, We TV dropped the first promo for the upcoming third season of Mama June: From Not to Hot, teasing that, after losing an astonishing 300 pounds, the reality star is once again eating loads of fatty snacks and carb-filled meals. The trailer showcases June Shannon indulging as her friends and family attempt to point out the lapse following her incredible progress and sleeve gastrectomy.

“I’ve gained a little bit of weight back,” she admits to the camera. “But I’m not ever gonna be 450 pounds again.”

However, there could be another explanation for her newfound appetite. The ad hints that June’s period is late and she’s wondering if she and her boyfriend, Geno Doak, could be having a baby together! June even pays a visit to the doctor to get some answers.

Fans also get a behind-the-scenes look at how June’s daughter, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Shannon’s, flirty partnership with Tristan Ianiero was going on Dancing with the Stars: Juniors, before she was eliminated. The clip also offers a hint at her other daughter, Lauryn Shannon’s, chaotic marriage to Joshua Efird, including him kicking down a door. Needless to say, the upcoming season is loaded with plenty of ups and downs with the Shannons.

ET previously spoke with June about her and her daughters’ battle with their weight. In January of 2018, she proudly shared that Alana was carefully avoiding fried food and has already seen some progress.

“Alana actually went on a no-grease diet and she’s been, actually, doing pretty good with it,” she shared, adding that her now-13-year-old daughter “doesn’t eat fried food” and is “trying to cut back on soda. That’s something she did [and] that I had [not] done.”

“She’s lost about five pounds, so that’s a huge accomplishment for somebody,” she added. “It was for me. You can put on the weight very easily but it’s not that easy to come off. I promise you.”

June went on to explain that she’s deeply concerned that her children will battle their weight for years to come, just like she has.

“I am worried about their health because I don’t want them to go through what I went through,” she said. “So many people judge on other people and so much on body image, and it’s not about what your body is. I was healthy. I don’t have any medical issues. So for me, I did it for myself and you have to do it for yourself.”

The new season of Mama June: From Not to Hot premieres on March 15 on We TV.

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Mariana De Andrade and Chris Singleton will wed live on Lifetime this evening on My Great Big Live Wedding. The couple are high school sweethearts and are tying the knot at a venue near their hometown of Charleston, S.C. Tuesday night, which is about all they know about their wedding.

Most of the ceremony details have been left up to David Tutera, who has planned this wedding and seven others for his new TV show, My Great Big Live Wedding, so the couple knows very little about what to expect for their big night.

For years, Lifetime’s unscripted brand had been associated primarily with Project Runway. Then in 2011, Dance Moms came along, followed by the Little Womenfranchise. In 2017, the breakout relationship series Married at First Sight moved to Lifetime from A+E Networks sibling FYI. A year later, the network launched a Justice For Women programming block. That theme was punctuated by this year’s Surviving R. Kelly six-part documentary detailing sexual abuse allegations against Kelly, which was a ratings hit and triggered a social conversation that is still ongoing.

In an interview with Deadline, Gena McCarthy, EVP, Head of Programming, Lifetime Unscripted & Head of Programming, FYI, reveals Lifetime’s plans for following up on the success of Surviving R. Kelly with other docu series, talks about the return of Abby Lee Miller to Dance Moms and possible spinoffs of the hit reality series, and addresses whether the network would take on new fashion/design formats after ending the Project Runway deal last year, McCarthy, who retook the reins of Lifetime’s unscripted programming 10 months ago in addition to her FYI duties, has greenlighted three new series, Cheerleader Generation, Marrying Millions and Temmoraland (working title). Cheerleader Generation marks a return to the cheerleading space which Lifetime explored with the 2006 series Cheerleader Nation in an example of the network’s efforts to reinvent genre areas — and shows — as it also is mulling bringing back How To Look Good Naked.

Additionally, Lifetime will be bringing back the 2016 FYI series Bride and Prejudice, which will follow fellow FYI originals Married at First Sight and Seven Year Switch in a move to Lifetime. The series revolves around couples planning to wed despite their families’ disapproval.

“We currently develop and produce unscripted content in three anchor genres on Lifetime,” McCarthy said. “It’s the world of relationships as defined currently by Married at First Sight. We have My Great Big Live Wedding,which is a big, exciting, nerve-racking swing but it’s something that we’re just extraordinarily proud of.”

Also in the relationship area, “we have an upcoming swing, Bride and Prejudice,which is very timely, we think, that we are bringing to Lifetime. It explores sort of Romeo and Juliet people overcoming divides of race, or class, or religion in pursuit of real love and overcoming obstacles that family and friends might put up.”

Also coming up in the relationship genre is the newly picked up Marrying Millions, “which is asking that ancient question, are they together for love or for money,” McCarthy said. “It is following these unexpected couples in which one person is extraordinarily wealthy and one is not. Sometimes, it’s the standard archetype, and sometimes it’s the woman who’s wealthy and the man is not. It is a very provocative concept and a big swing for us.”

The second anchor unscripted genre, “I call it our big character, big talent wheelhouse, currently defined by performance-based shows like Dance Moms, or Bring It!, or The Rap Game. We’re bringing a mother-daughter cheerleader format back to Lifetime with Cheerleader Generation,” McCarthy said.

“We have a show called Temmoraland coming in our big character, big performance, big talent on display wheelhouse. Temmora Levy runs a bootcamp, a training school for aspiring singers in Tennessee, and she’s an amazing, lightning in a bottle character that we think will work really well the way Coach D and Abby Lee Miller really resonate with Lifetime viewers.”

Speaking of Miller, McCarthy confirmed that “a Dance Moms resurrection is under way” with the famed dance instructor who has been dealing with health issues. “That’s what we are calling it, with Abby, and back to her home town of Pittsburgh, PA where it all began, where she bred championship dancers and teams, and she’s building a new dance troupe, ready to take on nationals once again.”

Through the years, Dance Mons has produced a number of stars, including the Ziegler sisters. Is Lifetime considering expanding the franchise with shows built around former Dance Momsstandouts?

“We are going back in with a fresh team,” McCarthy said. “(Miller) rebuilds her studio and her troupe of dancers. We’ve looked at spinoffs with some of the originals, and that’s not off the table, but right now, we’re focused on relaunching the mothership franchise and just reestablishing its dominance once again.”

Lifetime’s third anchor unscripted genre is documentaries/limited docuseries focused on women’s issues. “We have reignited our Justice for Women night as defined by the trailblazing success of Surviving R. Kelly,” McCarthy said. In light of that success, the network is “looking at a lot of different subjects” for docuseries.

“There is nothing I can confirm at the moment, but we’re looking at more Justice for Women tentpole miniseries events,” she said. “We’re looking at a subgenre approach that we’re calling our Caped Crusaders, women who served in various vocations in jobs, finding some of those unsung heroes that have always worked in scripted series in Lifetime’s history, but for an unscripted audience in storytelling format.”

Lifetime aired Surviving R. Kelly despite a legal threat by the musician. Asked whether the network considered not airing the docu or whether last-minute cuts were made, McCarthy said, “We took our time to do (the series) with great deliberation and with great factual research and accuracy. You have one shot to get it right with a swing like this, so we are very, very proud that we were able to share these women’s stories, in their voices, sharing their experiences, in this factual documentary event.”

More than a month after Surviving R. Kelly aired, there are still new developments, including reports of a grand jury convened in Illinois in connection with the new allegations against him. Will Lifetime do a followup?

“We continue to follow the story and we are looking at potential follow-ups,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy oversaw Lifetime’s unscripted efforts in the early 2010s, launching Dance Moms, followed by Bring It!, overseeing Project Runway and shepherding its All Stars spinoff. She then moved to help launch the rebranded sibling factual entertainment lifestyle network FYI as head of programming, developing such series as Married At First Sight, Seven Year Switch and Bride and Prejudice. “A lot of that content, particularly the relationship content, proved to be so strong that now I’ve returned to Lifetime and have brought a lot of that breakthrough, innovative relationship content with me, which is a new anchor for unscripted content on Lifetime,” she said. “Shows like Married at First Sight, which is I believe the highest-rated serialized content, certainly in unscripted, right now at the brand, and shows like Seven Year Switch.”

While Project Runway was a signature Lifetime series for a decade, the network has no intention of returning to the fashion space.

“The relationship genre that we have is closer to the natural Lifetime voice, so we’re really pushing out that strand aggressively, and it delivers a very upscale audience to Lifetime the way Runway did,” McCarthy said. “So, we’re really focusing on doing more of those homegrown relationships and big character, big talent performance wheelhouse shows, because they’re just an organic, authentic fit on Lifetime. We are looking at some transformational formats, as well, but they’d be homegrown formats in a Lifetime voice from day one.”

McCarthy gave an example of a transformational series the network is looking into.

Joslyn Pennywell found her knight in shining armor. She said her fiance, Kibwe Trim, is a dream come true.

On March 19, the two will tie the knot in front of their family and friends and everyone tuned into Lifetime.

The pair from Van Nuys, California, were chosen to be among eight couples featured on “My Great Big Live Wedding.”

Celebrity wedding planner David Tutera surprised them with the announcement that he’s going to entirely plan their wedding.

Joslyn said when she was younger, she watched “My Fair Wedding” and hoped Tutera could design her big day.

She had no idea her wildest hopes — for her groom and her wedding planner — would come true.

For Kibwe, the experience is proof that good things come to people who are disciplined, determined and dedicated.

He grew up in Trinidad, a small Caribbean island, watching a lot of TV and nursing what he thought were impossible dreams.

Kibwe got a college scholarship and moved to the U.S. then went on to play pro basketball internationally. In 2013, he started DreamChaser International, an nonprofit that offers scholarships and mentoring for at-risk youth. He wrote a book, “From Nerd to Pro” and gives inspirational talks.

Joslyn is originally from northeastern Louisiana. She attended Boley Elementary in West Monroe and graduated from Jonesboro-Hodge High School in Jonesboro. Her family still lives in the area.

The couple met a few years ago at The Parlor, a sports bar on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. They were watching daytime football with their friends. Joslyn was in the restroom when a woman randomly asked her to take a picture. As she and the stranger were leaving the bathroom, the stranger asked 6-foot-10 Kibwe to take a photo, too, because he was tall.

Joslyn said she grabbed his hand and led him over for the photo, then they went back to their groups of friends. They kept making eye contact, then she approached him.

They’ve been together ever since.

A stranger somewhere has their first photo. Joslyn laughed that they’d love to get a copy.

She’s accustomed to being in the public eye. She was on “America’s Next Top Model” in 2008 and has continued her career as a model, actress and producer. Kibwe said she naturally started working with him at DreamChaser.

Half of the couple’s wedding registry will go toward helping others. Dream Chaser is working on a “One Word, One Globe,” campaign. The idea is to raise $10,000 annually to help young people in 10 deserving countries. They want to start with the first country in August, but that depends on fundraising efforts.

Together, they have organized drives, run athletic camps, spoken at schools and volunteered their time. In April 2018, they did an Easter event with Blessed Beyond Measure in Monroe.

Kibwe said they met on Nov. 16 a few years ago. His birthday is May 16, hers is Jan. 16. Sixteens are important to them. So he made dinner on July 15, then waited until after midnight to pop the question.

Initially, the two kept the engagement quiet. They wanted to wait and be more public with it when they went to visit his family in Trinidad over Thanksgiving, but that trip fell through. (Kibwe did a second public proposal with her friends.)

Joslyn has met her future in-laws over video chat, but she’ll be meeting most of Kibwe’s family and finally get to hug them when they come to Los Angeles for the wedding.

It makes the event even more special to her. She said the whole experience is blessing, from the groom to the whole fantasy planning experience.

Joslyn won’t see her dress until fittings the week of the event. Both said handing over the wedding planning is a little nerve-wracking, but Tutera has met with them a few times to make sure things are on track. They trust him implicitly.

For both of them, the whole wedding is about dreams coming true.

Tune in

Joslyn and Kibwe will get married March 19. The show will start at 9 p.m. CT.

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A Shreveport bride’s dream is coming true thanks to the television reality wedding series and a celebrity wedding planner.

“My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera” spotlights eight inspirational couples who will take turns having their weddings broadcast live on each episode. The new season premiered on Feb. 5 with new episodes every Tuesday on the Lifetime channel.

At 9 p.m. March 19, Joslyn Pennywell, of Shreveport, will marry her fiance Kibwe Trim, of Trinidad, in a ceremony set in their current residence of Los Angeles.

The couple planned their dream wedding with show host David Tutera. Tutera is an award-winning celebrity wedding planner whose style and expertise caught Pennywell’s eye years ago.

“David is amazing,” Pennywell said. “He’s such a beautiful spirit, such an amazing man and so talented. When I was in college, I used to watch ‘My Fair Wedding with David Tutera’ and I used to say, ‘That man is going to do my wedding.'”

Pennywell was born in Lucky, Louisiana — a small town in Bienville Parish about an hour and a half southeast of Shreveport. She attended Grambling State University where she graduated with a bachelor of science in business and a masters of science in criminal justice. After living in Shreveport, where her family still resides, Pennywell moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career goals in 2010.

Since then, she’s embarked on many professional pursuits, including as a product specialist, nonprofit leader, actor, writer, public speaker and model. She competed on the competitive reality series, “America’s Next Top Model” on cycle 11.

Trim is a former professional basketball player and founder of a social networking company called L.A. Lime and the nonprofit The DreamChaser International Foundation, led by the couple.

DreamChaser provides tutoring, mentoring and financial aid to kids in underserved communities in the U.S., Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Africa. A portion of the funds contributed to Pennywell and Trim’s online wedding registry will benefit the organization.

WELLINGTON, Fla. — A young Wellington woman who has battled cancer will receive a dream wedding that will be televised live on the Lifetime channel.

Kristin Moya was just 22 years old when her world was turned upside down.

“I was diagnosed in 2016 with stage-two breast cancer, and I battled through chemotherapy bilateral mastectomy and radiation. And the following year I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer,” said Moya.

Her boyfriend, Luis Polanco, who she has known since she was 14 years old, was by her side through it all.

“Because it got questionable at times but like I said you put your head down, and you go through the obstacle and hope for the best,” said Polanco.

Once Moya was in remission, the Wellington couple got engaged.

“My mom actually wrote David Tutera telling him about my cancer story and how I was getting married,” said Moya.

Tutera is a celebrity wedding planner. His assistant called and picked them to have a dream wedding that will be televised live Tuesday night.

“I won’t know what my wedding dress will look like until the day of the wedding,” said Moya.

“I love it. I think that not knowing and not having control sometimes is a little bit better than having to make the decision,” said Polanco.

When she walks down the aisle, a local pastor and her bridesmaids will be there. One of the bridesmaids is Mary-Madison Sims.

“For someone so selfless to get something so special, she totally deserves it, and Luis is the greatest and such a support,” said Sims.

Pastor Jim Sims will officiate the wedding.

“It’s hard to believe that we are at this point finally, not only the time she went through the struggle, but just these months of getting prepared and getting ready. Now, we are here and it’s really exciting,” Moya added. “It’s so incredible to be so fortunate enough to be blessed by God that I’m still alive, I’m still here, I’m still living and I have so much to do in this life.”

Luis and Kristin’s wedding will be televised live on Tuesday at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.

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