Mama June Shannonis defending her 16-year-old daughterAlana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson’s relationship with a 20-year-old.

Shannon, 42, opened up about the criticism of Thompson for dating Dralin Carswell in an interview withTooFabpublished on Tuesday.

“Yes, I’ve met Dralin. They’ve been together for over a year,” theMama June: Road to Redemptionstar shared. “People need to realize that she’s going to be 17 in August and that [Alana’s older sister] Pumpkin and Josh were the same age as they were.”

“She is getting a lot of hate because she’s in an interracial relationship, he is older,” she added. “But at the end of the day, Alana’s not that 6-, 7-year-old child y’all fell in love with 11 years ago. Alana has grown up, she’s graduating high school next year, guys!”

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In an interview withEntertainment Tonighton Monday, Shannon shared one concern about her daughter’s boyfriend.

“He’s good. He needs to hold down a job a little bit more,” Shannon said. “I mean, he’s not bad. He doesn’t treat her bad or anything like that.”

She added, “They’re [young] and they’ve been together over a year. So, if they last? Fine. If they don’t, it can be her first love.”

Last month, Thompson shared aphotoof herself holding hands with Crarswell, writing, “park dates with you are the best.”

TheToddlers & Tiarasalum previously went Instagram official with her boyfriend in September but later deleted the snap due to criticism of their relationship, according toPage Six.

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Shannon also opened up toETabout rebuilding her relationship with her teenage daughter, which is documented onRoad to Redemption. Thompson currently lives with older sister,Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon.

“Our relationship is going good. You’ll see that throughout the season,” she shared. “She is turning 17 in August. So that’s the thing, she is graduating next year. A lot of people still look at her as that 6-year-old little girl, but she’s [grown up].”

WEtv

Alana Thompson and June Shannon

In November,Thompsonopened up toPEOPLEabout growing up in the public eye.

Mama June: Road to Redemptionairs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.

source: people.com