June Shannon returned to the reality show circuit full force in 2017 with a series on WEtv dubbed Mama June: From Not to Hot. As if the title isn’t passive-aggressive enough, the premise of the show was to film Shannon’s full-body makeover. According to E news, she “weighed 460 pounds at her heaviest,” but transformed her appearance after undergoing about $75,000 worth of procedures, including gastric sleeve surgery, a tummy tuck, and a breast lift. She also reportedly removed some excess skin and changed her diet and workout routine. All that, and yet she still felt pressure from the public, with some critics accusing her of “cheating” her way to a size 4. “People think that I’m going to gain the weight back,” she told InTouch, claiming she had slimmed down to about 165 pounds. “I don’t ever want to go back,” she said.
Alas, Season 2 of From Not to Hot depicted its star struggling to stay off the unhealthy food train. “I’m beating myself up … I’ve gained, like, seven pounds,” she told Us Weekly in January 2018. “It won’t come off.” By that June, she’d reportedly regained 25 pounds. “I can lose the weight, I know that,” she told People. “And I know I don’t want to go back over 200 lbs. I’m paying attention to it more.” That didn’t stop the haters from piling on: “Her big belly and turkey neck refuse to be conquered,” reported Radar Online.
