She is famous for guzzling her go go juice and sprouting such lines as “a dollar makes me holler” on the controversial TLC series Toddlers & Tiaras. Now, Honey Boo Boo Child has landed her own reality TV show.
The six-year-old, whose real name is Alana, will star in the show called Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which will move away from the beauty pageant stage and detail her life at home with her family.
Alana and her mother, June, became famous in an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras after June revealed that when 15 bags of the candy Pixy Stix didn’t boost Alana’s energy levels, she created her daughter her own “go go juice”, which contains a mixture of Mountain Dew and Red Bull.
The results of the juice certainly made Alana stand out with her instantly odd behavior, including swinging her arms in the air and rolling around on the floor, after taking “two big gulps” of juice.
The new show, which will include six episodes, has been described by the network as showing the family “doing what they do best” and includes “four-wheeling through mud pits and picking up road kill for the family cookout” at their home in rural McIntyre, Georgia.
The show, due to premiere in August, will star June, better known as the coupon queen after she revealed she purchases grocery items in bulk through coupons to pay for her daughter’s beauty pageant outfits and fees; Alana’s dad Sugar Bear; and sisters Lauryn, 12, known as “Pumpkin”; Jessica, 15, nicknamed “Chubbs”; and pregnant Anna, 17, known as “Chickadee”.
Your say: Would you watch Honey Boo Boo’s reality show?
Prince Charles has released a range of tacky souvenirs to celebrate his mother’s Diamond Jubilee, including a stuffed corgi which costs almost $100.
Charles is selling the items through the website of his family estate Highgrove House.
Souvenirs on offer include a $280 teddy bear, a $150 cushion, a $35 pair of baby booties and the special Diamond Jubilee Vintage Corgi, which is reportedly made from a 1950s pattern approved by the queen.
But before you accuse Charles of cashing in on his mother’s special day, all profits from sales of souvenirs will go to charity.
Prince Charles and the stuffed toy corgi he is selling.
Georgia Strickland, her husband Ray and a sonogram of their unborn baby daughter Zoe.
When she became pregnant at 40, Georgia Strickland couldn’t believe her good fortune. Yet, the joy of parenthood was not to be.
I didn’t choose to have a baby so late; on the contrary, I had yearned for children for many years, but circumstances — let’s face it, I chose the wrong guys — had always gone against me.
I fell pregnant at 40 and though surprised, I was quietly ecstatic. My pregnancy proceeded in a textbook way and my new partner Ray and I began thinking of the baby as our little miracle.
Choosing a name was easy. We both loved Zoe; of Greek origins, it meant “life”. Over the next five months, we talked endlessly about Zoe, covering everything from who was going to get up in the middle of the night to what was a suitable age to teach her to snowboard (he thought five; I said, “No way”).
At my 38-week appointment, the doctor said everything was going “swimmingly”. She asked casually about movement and I said I felt a bit, but not a lot. She explained that, because my placenta was in the front, the movement would feel muted.
We were happy as we left the hospital that Tuesday, if a little nervous about how it would really be when Zoe arrived.
On the Friday night, we went to the footy with friends. I started to experience more pains and fleetingly thought that Zoe was moving a bit less, but told myself she had surely moved and I just hadn’t noticed.
I had also heard that babies slow down close to their due date, so told myself not to worry. I regret that decision to this day.
By Saturday morning, the pains had increased, so I took a bath. Ray piled bubbles on top of my head and stomach and took some silly photos. I still can’t bear to delete them from my iPhone; I look deliriously happy.
Ray commented at the time that my tummy looked smaller, and says now that he was a little bit worried. We rang the hospital and decided to go in for a check-up.
We didn’t rush, taking our time to make up the cot and install the baby capsule in the car. We took my hospital bags, just in case.
The midwife listened for a heartbeat, but said there was nothing. Ray collapsed loudly into a chair, startling us all. I just thought she didn’t know what she was doing.
A doctor came in and told me that he couldn’t find a heartbeat, but not to panic just yet. I began to feel sick and clung to Ray’s hand.
A second and third doctor arrived to view the ultrasound, the third saying, in a very calm voice, “I’m sorry to tell you, but your baby has passed away”.
The medical staff in the room all just stared at me. I felt like they expected me to say something, but all I could do was shake and say, “Oh, my God, what have I done, what have I done?”
They quickly said it wasn’t anything I’d done, that it wasn’t my fault.
I finally managed to ask, “What happens now?” At this point, I was told the best and safest thing for me was to go through labour.
Zoe was born, still, at 5.10am on Sunday, June 5, 2011. The midwife told me not to look until she was wrapped up.
I thought it would be too much to hold my lifeless baby Zoe, but I did. I just kept saying to her, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” I desperately wanted her to open her eyes. I had an overwhelming feeling of love, together with more sadness than I’ve ever imagined.
Sunday passed slowly and horribly. The hospital staff took photographs of Zoe, which at the time seemed macabre, but which I now keep with other precious items, as evidence of her existence.
My parents came and met Zoe; it’s the first time I’ve seen my dad cry.
I spent most of the day asking myself what I did that made her not want to come into this world. Did I not love her enough? Ray and I both say we would have died for her. I guess that’s how all parents feel.
Cyberbullies aren’t just targeting children. Adults are falling victim to online smears and the damage can be devastating, writes Amanda Bower.
Michelle, a Western Australian woman in her late 30s, was a bit bewildered the first time she got a Facebook message from herself.
She had set up her profile only a few months earlier and wasn’t exactly enamoured with the technology. So when a message appeared in her inbox, urging her to “check this out”, she did.
“This”, it turned out, was a Facebook profile page set up by a cyberbully. It used a real photo of Michelle and her real name (last names have been removed from this story, to protect victims from further invasions of their privacy).
Michelle reported the fake page to Facebook and a few days later it was removed. Then another one was created. And another.
At first, fake “Michelle” posted about liking various websites and sent friend requests, which were accepted by real Michelle’s friends. Yet things escalated rapidly.
Fake “Michelle” started to talk about the kinky sex she was into, including references to children, fruits and animals. She sent lewd messages to members of real Michelle’s high school, which had created a Facebook group for its 20-year reunion.
And, finally, fake “Michelle” posted that she was having a party and was prepared for “anything” — and gave out real Michelle’s address.
We read all the time about how horrible and how horribly common online bullying is among today’s technology-savvy children.
According to federal government statistics, one in 10 kids are victims, although in a Girlfriend magazine survey, an alarming 42 per cent of 13,300 teen readers said they’d been cyberbullied. Tragically, a number of teen suicides have been attributed to online abuse.
Although there are no reliable statistics on the prevalence of adult cyberbullying in Australia, the experience of Michelle and countless others shows that grown-ups are also victims. In almost all cases, experts say, the perpetrator knows the victim.
Under federal telecommunications laws passed in 2004, using a “carriage service” — email, text, mobile phone — to harass someone can leave you sitting behind bars for up to three years, with an automatic criminal record.
Yet, despite an increasing number of adult cyberbullying cases making headlines, there are many more victims suffering in silence, says Susan McLean, who was Victoria Police’s first cyber safety officer and is now an online safety consultant.
She says she regularly gets emails from adult victims saying, “You know, it’s not just a kid problem. I’m being harassed terribly.”
Yet many are too embarrassed or afraid to seek help. And adults, Susan says, “often feel more powerless because they don’t have confidence with the technology. They’ve never had to experience it before, it’s very confronting for them and they are often floundering.”
Even if you do try to set the record straight, some people may not get the message, says Michelle.
“I’m really a boring person and I thought people would know it wasn’t really me,” she says.
Yet, despite Michelle posting repeatedly that her identity had been stolen, some people missed those messages — and were really offended by fake “Michelle’s” communications.
“They used my real photo, they used my real name and if it walks and talks like a duck, some people are going to think it’s a duck,” Michelle says.
After numerous complaints to Facebook, the bully’s computer was finally blocked from creating another Facebook account, at least under Michelle’s name.
Although she had contacted police, she says it took many weeks for them to get back to her and when they finally did, the pages had been taken down and the police said there was no need for action.
Yet Michelle has taken action in her own, important way. “As soon as it happened, I started talking with friends and family, saying, ‘You need to be really vigilant about what information you put out there, because you can be targeted’.”
Read more of this story in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: Have you been bullied online? Share your story below.
A teenage bride who married at 16 in an over-the-top wedding will now divorce her husband of just two years and plans to burn her 30kg wedding dress.
Josie McFayden, who starred in the first episode of the UK TV show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, married Swanley Smith in 2010.
During their fairytale wedding ceremony, which was watched by 6.5 million viewers, she wore a one-of-a-kind white net and diamante dress.
Gypsy wedding dresses are extravagant one-off designs, and the bigger, the better. Gypsy brides often compete with each other to have the biggest and best dress made from layers of tulle and diamantes, which can lead to them being almost unwearably heavy.
Now Josie, who has an eight-month-old daughter with Swanley has moved out of the pair’s caravan after discovering her husband gave half of their life savings to his family and spent the rest on himself.
The pair was given £105,000 ($239,150) as compensation by Surrey County Council after being forced to leave the caravan site they lived in after it became contaminated.
“I am in shock. I’m 18, with a baby and getting divorced,” she told told UK newspaper The Sun.
“I feel I can never trust another man with anything.”
She said cracks in her marriage began to show soon after the pair said ‘I do’.
“It was like a fairytale, but it was too good to be true. Swanley just changed overnight,” she said.
“I was supposed to be a lady of leisure bringing my little girl up and he was supposed to provide for his family.
“But I spent four-and-a-half hours a day cleaning and he stopped going to work. I just never felt like his wife, I felt like his maid.”
Josie, who is part of the gypsy traveller community, says it is not uncommon to get married at a young age, but said she would be advising her own daughter to wait until she is in her 20s to get married.
He is a major heartthrob, recently posing topless on the cover of Elle magazine, and a doting dad. But it seems David Beckham is also one of the sweetest guys in the world!
Arriving back in the UK on Thursday from Los Angeles he immediately visited two of the most important people in his life, his mum and his gran, posting these adorable pictures on Facebook.
“As I’m sure you would have expected, I had a pie and mash lunch today with my mum. There is nothing better,” he wrote alongside a picture of him with his mum.
“Great to be back in London. Paid a surprise visit to see my gran,” he wrote on another.
David with his mum Sandra.
David with his gran and a group of her friends.
David Beckham’s recent cover shoot for Elle magazine.
This Is How It Ends by Kathleen MacMahon, Sphere, $29.99.
Despite the furore about this book in the publishing industry, This Is How It Ends is a quiet book, gently written, about some very big human issues and therein lies its charm.
Protagonist Addie Murphy is approaching 40 and in an empty, sad, lost, phase of her life. An architect with no work, thanks to the post global financial crisis recession, she’s temporarily living with her cantankerous doctor father who needs care following a freak accident and is also fighting a malpractice suit.
Addie spends her days walking the windswept beach in her Irish seaside town with faithful pooch Lola chasing seagulls, her iPod ratcheted up high, and swimming in the ocean — where she really feels free.
Enter 50-year-old Bruno Boylan, an American banker who has just lost his job with the infamous GFC demons The Lehman Brothers, and is escaping the chaos by tracing his Irish ancestry, a dying wish from his father.
Interestingly Bruno is not your typical financier but a closet Democrat and is certain that the only hope for America and the world to rise from the abyss is if Obama is voted in.
But with McCain rising in the polls, his whole life teeters on the brink. That is until he meets relative Addie, and a sweet, tentative love match is struck.
Bruno has two marriages and a serious romance under his belt, and Addie has recent trauma from a broken relationship fuelling her, so the path is certain to be rocky.
What follows is both heart-warming and unexpected in ways we don’t see coming, although looking back the seeds have been sown.
But it is not the love story, nor the contemporary political background, nor the dramatic ending, but the female characters that give this book the edge.
Addie and her sister Della are complexly constructed and recognisable, their emotions yanking them in all directions but each with a strong, intense core to steady them.
The male characters are moth-like cyphers around their flames and it is this compelling flicker that like the men, we find endlessly fascinating as the plot plays out to its shocking conclusion.
About the author: Kathleen MacMahon
When Irish TV news journalist Kathleen MacMahon, 42, landed one of the biggest advance book deals of 2011 for her debut novel she was she was “surprisingly calm,” she says.
“I think it was because I was so sure of the book. And I remember thinking: I’m a grown-up, I can handle this.”
The daughter of a barrister mum who quit the law in her 40s to raise Kathleen and her sister and a civil engineer dad, Kathleen wrote during the days off in her shiftwork schedule as a journalist and has since taken a year off to work on a second novel — also part of the deal.
Her inspiration for This Is How it Ends was “solitary walks on the beach, Bruce Springsteen on the iPod, the election in the US, and my dog Lola.” The latter being the only character based on reality in the book.
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In 30 words or less, tell us what is great about a book you are reading at the moment. The best critique will win The AWW Cooking School cookbook, valued at $74.95, and be printed in the July issue of The Weekly. Simply visit aww.com.au/bookclub, or email [email protected], or write to The Great Read, GPO Box 4178, Sydney, NSW 2001.
Chrissie Swan in Swan & Thompson (left) and in Style and Substance (right).
Are you struggling to find clothes to fit your fuller figure? The Weekly’s fashion editor Mattie Cronan shows you how to look as good as our June cover girl Chrissie Swan.
Looking for clothes for our cover girl Chrissie Swan was always going to be a bit of a challenge.
I wanted something beautiful for Chrissie, something that she would feel amazing in as she was about to join an elite club: The Australian Women’s Weekly cover stars!
I’ve got to be honest there is not a great deal out there in the world of plus-size clothing, and I was a little disappointed with what I was seeing on the racks.
The quality, designs, fabrications, and the overall lack of choice, was not very appealing.
So Tiffany, our Market Editor, and I went to work and started researching clothes for larger women and came up with some real gems. Chrissie was thrilled to see how much we came up with and had masses to choose from on the day.
I thought it was my duty to share these great finds with all you other plus-size ladies out there!
On the cover, Chrissie is wearing a custom-made dress by one of her best friends, fashion designer Rebecca Thompson.
The dress was made under Chrissie and Rebecca’s label, Swan & Thompson, which focuses on creating beautiful silhouettes in luxurious fabrics in sizes 16-24.
Rebecca’s solo label Rebecca Thompson only goes up to size 16, and she says the bigger pieces are always the first to sell out, showing there is a huge market for plus-size fashion.
Tiffany and I also came across a great local online website Style and Substance. You can find everything from casual to bridal, the range is vast and it goes from size 14-32 .
Chrissie wore two Kiyonna dresses in our photo shoot, the Cosmo Cocktail Dress in Golden Evening and the Betsey Ruched Dress in Elegant Aubergine and looked incredible in both.
The Betsey dress by Kiyonna is a style they continue to stock, as it is so flattering to all body shapes. It comes in seven colours and prints.
Other brands and websites we used were Dream Diva for the best leggings around, At Last for Chrissie’s Bless My Soles shoes, Eve Hunter for the lilac embellished dress, Marina Rinaldi for the gorgeous gold cardigan, and of course Harlequin Market for all of the incredible jewels.
Other Notable plus-size brands are:
Muse by Dita Von Teese: Beautifully handcrafted dresses that go up to size 20. Available exclusively at David Jones.
Leona + by Leona Edmiston: A great array of fun frocks, colours and prints stocked in Myer and select Leona Edmiston Boutiques.
Asos Curve: Asos is cult British fashion website and has a line specifically designed for the curvy girl. It goes up to a size 26 and has great range that is on trend and for the more fashion-forward shopper.
Sara by Ezi-Buy: This online powerhouse brand goes up to 3XL offers a great range at affordable prices.
maggie t: Great classics for a sleeker, more polished look for the more sophisticated shopper.
The Special Size Co: This store has been in Adelaide for nearly 30 years and now sells online too. It stocks has over 20 labels including some of their own: Party Girl, Shelz, Big Scene Knitwear. TSSC also offers a make-to-order service on some garments. The size range is from 14-34 and the styles cover all occasions and all ages.
Tea is the second most popular drink in the world, behind water, and for good reason. Besides its delicious taste and versatility, tea has a number of significant health benefits.
Up your antioxidants
Tea contains high levels of catechins, a type of powerful antioxidant. Some studies have estimated that black and green tea have up to 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables.
“The antioxidants in tea are certainly the biggest health benefit,” says Zoe Bingley-Pullin, nutritionist, chef and founder of Nutritional Edge.
While black and green teas are great, Zoe says the best choice is white tea. “That’s not black tea with milk and two sugars but a type of green tea that has an even higher antioxidant level and is less treated and processed,” she explains.
“Green tea also helps to inhibit dietary fats being absorbed so therefore is excellent for weight loss. Try drinking Green tea 30 minutes before eating as it helps to suppress the appetite.”
Flavour and variety
Once you get hooked on tea you’ll be amazed by how many blends there are beyond the usual English Breakfast and Earl Grey.
There are many different varieties of green and white teas and an even bigger range of herbal teas, including ones made from everything from hibiscus, lavender, chamomile and rose petals, to licorice, peppermint and ginger.
“One tea I absolutely love is Rooibos tea,” says Zoe. “It’s an African tea that is non-caffeinated and has a slight redness in colour, which also contains some carotene (Vitamin A).”
Herbal teas
While tea has many health benefits, it also contains caffeine and therefore needs to be consumed in moderation. Tea contains less caffeine than coffee, but it is still present in black, green and white tea.
“The recommended daily intake of caffeine is 250-300mg a day, but I think we should be consuming even less than that as caffeine over-stimulates the adrenal glands and most of us are over-stimulated in that respect anyway,” Zoe says.
Fortunately, herbal teas do not contain caffeine and often come with their own health benefits. Here are Zoe’s favourite warming winter recommendations:
Rosehip tea: Extremely high in Vitamin C, which is an antioxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-mucosal. Do not boil this tea, as this will deplete the high Vitamin C content.
Licorice root tea: Licorice contains glycyrrhizin, which is 50 times sweeter than sugar. Licorice tea is brilliant to have after meals as a sweet substitute and it is also wonderfully soothing on the digestive system.
Ginger tea: Fantastic for helping reduce nausea. It can be used for everything from morning sickness and PMT to motion sickness and also helps reduce bad cholesterol.
Dandelion tea: A fantastic alternative to coffee. It has a rich flavour like coffee and is similar in colour. Dandelion tea is wonderfully stimulating for the liver and has a slightly bitter taste, which helps stimulate digestion.
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