Honey Boo Boo, 17, is moving in with boyfriend Dralin, 21, for college: ‘It’ll be good for us’
Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is hitting two major milestones at once: going to college and moving in with her boyfriend.
The “Mama June: From Not to Hot” star, 17, told Entertainment Tonight she will be attending Regis University in Denver, Colo., in the fall to study nursing, adding that she will be living “off campus for security reasons and because Dralin [Carswell] is [going] with [her].”
“I think he’s more excited to move out there than me,” Thompson said of her 21-year-old beau, whom she’s dated for “going on three” years.
“He’s been in the exact same town [in Georgia] that I live in now for his whole life, and I think he’s just ready to experience something new, too.”
Though part of her is admittedly “nervous” to move “halfway across the country” and cohabitate with Carswell for the first time, she’s mostly “excited.”
“I think it’ll be good for us, honestly,” the TLC personality explained. “And I mean, I think it will be fun.”
Though Thompson and Carswell have “definitely talked about the future,” she said she doesn’t want to rush into marriage.
“I can’t say that [he’s the one] because I don’t know what life holds — any day now, anything can happen — but I mean, I hope,” she shared, adding that the two still have a few things to “figure out in the long run.”
“I don’t want kids, but he wants kids,” she elaborated.
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The “Toddlers & Tiaras” alum’s half-sister and mother, who were present for the sit-down, have given her their full support.
“You don’t truly know somebody until you move in with somebody,” Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird — who’s had sole custody of Thompson since June 2022 — explained, prompting June “Mama June” Shannon to expand, “I told her it’s either gonna make or break her and Dralin.”
Regardless of the outcome, Shannon, 43, assured her former beauty pageant princess that she “can always come back home if she doesn’t like it.”
Efird, 23, added, “All that matters to me is that Dralin treats Alana right, he’s respectful, my kids love him, his family is great — that’s all that matters to me.”
Thompson and Carswell made their secret relationship Instagram-official in September 2021.
Since going public with their romance, they’ve had to defend themselves against those who question their four-year age gap at such crucial times in their lives.
“I don’t care because, at the end of the day, my sister approves, his mom approves and we’re happy,” Thompson — who took Carswell to her senior prom in April — told ET last July.
“What fans got to say or what haters got to say, I don’t really care.”
Thompson graduated from high school in May.
