Mama June Shannon Says She 'Tried' to Prevent Lauryn from Marrying Josh — and Shares Thoughts on Daughter's New Love (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Mama June Shannon; Lauryn Pumpkin Efird and Josh Efird.Photo:mamajune/Instagram; pumpkin/Instagram

mamajune/Instagram; pumpkin/Instagram

Mama June Shannonis sharing new insight into her daughterLauryn “Pumpkin” Efrid’s love life.

“I tell people this all the time, Pumpkin and Josh met when [they were] teenagers,” Shannon, 45, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I even tried not to get her to marry Josh years ago.”

Shannon claims Josh “hasn’t cared” for her over the years, and “has blamed me for a lot of s— that’s not my fault.”

Shannon notes, “But as far as Pumpkin goes, I think our relationship has got better since her and Josh have separated. We do do more stuff together, and there’s not that consequence of like, ‘Oh, God. I hate my mom, I’ve got to listen to bitching,'” she says.

Shannon adds that fans will get to see “some of the situation with Pumpkin and Josh” on the upcoming seventh season of her family’s WE tv series.

(L-R) Lauryn Efird and Josh Efird.pumpkin/Instagram

pumpkin/Instagram

Lauryn has sincedebuted her new relationshipwith boyfriend Darrin Kitchens on Facebook in September — and Shannon approves of her daughter’s new beau.

“He is very good with the children. He’s very good with his daughter. He sees his daughter every other week, just like come and gets the kids every other week,” Shannon says. “He gets up, he bathes them and takes Pumpkin’s kids out if they want to go out with him. They go out in the yard and play. We’ve been on family vacations.”

Shannon continues, “And I’ve even said this to Darrin and Pumpkin’s face, unless he’s acting in a different way where I’m not around, he’s not gave [sic] me a reason to not like him being around the kids or him being around her.”

(L-R) Lauryn Pumpkin Efird is pictured with new boyfriend Darrin Kitchens.Lauryn Mychelle Shannon/Facebook

Lauryn Mychelle Shannon/Facebook

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Still, Shannon says, “Who knows what life holds for Pumpkin?”

“I’m going to be 100% honest. I mean, she’s gonna be 25 years old. Who knows? I feel this is her phase,” she adds. “Who knows if her and Darrin are going to last. Right now, they’re together. Nobody knows what the future holds.”

source: people.com