Mama June: Road to Redemption viewers have followed Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson’s ups and downs with some trepidation.
Recently, the father of Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and wife Jennifer Lamb split.
Mike flew out for a major glow-up, including getting some much needed dental work.
Unfortunately, the dentist spotted something alarming — and possibly cancerous.
Reality TV is full of glow-ups, and Mama June: Road to Redemption did, after all, begin with June Shannon’s body transformation.
Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson wanted some From Not to Hot upgrades for himself.
He visited Los Angeles, which is where the dentist discovered some tell-tale warning signs of gum cancer.
According to TMZ, the dentist noticed white spots on Mike’s lower gums.
These are generally a sign of gum cancer.
Mike’s long history of chewing tobacco has damaged his teeth, but is also notorious for harming the gums — and can be a major contributor to gum cancer.
The dental work was not the only thing that Mike flew to Los Angeles to receive.
His body transformation package included liposuction, Botox, a tummy tuck, and a hair transplant.
Now, the reality star is due to see a cancer specialist.
These cosmetic glow-ups are often arranged by managers of reality stars, who make deals with surgical practices.
A plastic surgeon wants to appear on television to boost their business — or even just a single Instagram post — so they offer free or discounted work to a reality star.
Even a low-level reality star can rake in a lot of benefits by monetizing their fame. Yes, even Sugar Bear.
Mike met his most recent wife, Jennifer Lamb, while the two of them were shopping at Walmart.
The two ended up marrying in October 2016.
However, several months ago, Jennifer confirmed her split from Mike, writing: “Me and Mike ahve went our different ways.”
“Yes it’s hard,” Jennifer wrote in her December 2021 post. “But we will work through it and we still remain friends.”
Interestingly, Jennifer had much more to say about how much she appreciated her six seasons on reality television.
It seems safe to say that, despite her on-screen role as a troublemaker, “June’s ex’s ex” feels like an unlikely returning star.
Jennifer has accused Mike of cheating in the past — even alleging that he stepped out on her with June.
(We’d love to believe that June wouldn’t do that … but her taste in men is so bad that she once got a successful TLC series canceled over it, so we can’t rule it out)
Of course, on the WeTV series, Jennifer played a role of a pot-stirrer, causing problems and seeming to put ideas in Sugar Bear’s head.
Mostly, Jennifer and Sugar Bear reminded us how transparent fake storylines on reality TV can be.
We don’t mean that they were handed a script — just that they worked out ways to cause problems on purpose.
Meanwhile, in March of 2022, Sugar Bear shared that he had moved on with a new woman, named Heather, who is apparently a single mom.
