HONEY BOO-BOO ABUSE SCANDAL

NationalEnquirer.com

HONEY BOO BOO” has become an overnight sensation – but the sassy 6-year-old pageant queen almost didn’t have her shot at prime time after charges of child abuse nearly kept TLC’s hit new real­ity show off the air.

“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” premiered to huge ratings on Aug. 8. The show follows the lives of the Thomp­son family from rural McIntyre, Ga., including TLC’s new runaway star, Alana, aka “Honey Boo Boo.” The network decided to give the unforgettable little girl her own series after videos of her appearances on the cable network’s “Toddlers & Tiaras” went viral earlier this year.

She’s Back! Honey Boo Boo Then & Now!

BUT production of the show nearly came to a screeching halt shortly after filming began in March when investigators from Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Ser­vices made an unannounced visit to the family’s home.

Honey Boo Boo’s upbringing raised eyebrows with neighbors,” a source told The ENQUIRER.

“The parents feed her energy drinks, cheese puffs for breakfast and brag about how they cook roadkill for meals. She even eats roadkill with flies swarming around her head!”

But the authorities didn’t get in­volved until a videotape of Honey Boo Boo dancing for dollars on a ta­ble in a bar was posted online.

In the scene, which was not filmed by TLC, mom June defended her daugh­ter’s actions by explaining that it was a college bar, not a “sleazy” one.

Investigators found reason to bring the case to court, but June’s court-appointed at­torney was able to convince the judge to throw it out, and film­ing resumed in May.

The first episode of the show – which showcases a whole lot of belly-slapping and gas-passing – drew an impressive 2.2 million viewers, but it also received a con­siderable amount of criticism.

And that criticism is bound to increase later in the season after Alana’s 17-year-old sister Anna, aka “Chickadee,” gives birth to a baby girl with two right thumbs – and grandma June makes fun of the defect!

“If the family had been charged for having bad taste,” added the source, “the judge would have thrown the book at them!”