Honey Boo Boo, Dralin Carswell Relationship Timeline: Dating Pics

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and boyfriend Dralin Carswell are still going strong after more than two years as a couple as they prepare for a cross-country move. Dralin was by her side as Alana’s sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird (nee Shannon) welcomed twins into the family household in May 2022 and has received praise from her relatives for treating Alana “with the utmost respect.” Keep reading for the couple’s relationship timeline!

Honey Boo Boo Revealed She Had a Boyfriend in January 2021

During an Instagram Live Q&A, a follower asked the former Toddlers and Tiaras star, “You gotta boyfriend?” and Alana happily responded, “Yessss.”

Alana and Dralin made their relationship Instagram official in September of that year when she shared a photo of the couple visiting a pumpkin patch, as the pair adorably coordinated in matching T-shirts. Alana wrote the word “bae” over the snapshot and captioned the photo, “spooky season.”

Honey Boo Boo and Dralin Carswell Faced Backlash Over Their Age Gap

Alana later deleted her Instagram photo with Dralin after it became known that he was a 20-year-old student while she was 16 at the time, and he received a storm of criticism over their age difference. “No 20-year-old ADULT have any business ‘dating’ a 16-year-old CHILD,” Philadelphia Magazine‘s editor at large, Ernest Owens, wrote on Twitter. There was nothing illegal about their romance, as the age of consent in Georgia, where the couple lives, is 16.

Dralin Carswell Has Earned the Love and Respect of Honey Boo Boo’s Family

Lauryn is Alana’s legal guardian, and she adores her little sister’s boyfriend. “Me and my husband love Dralin. He’s very respectful and treats Alana with the utmost respect,” she told The Sun in a June 2022 interview, adding, “He is around us and our kids a bunch also and we love him for Alana.” Lauryn and husband Joshua Efird were already parents to daughter Ella Grace, born in 2017, and son Bentley Jameson, who arrived in July 2021. The couple welcomed fraternal twins, son Sylus Ray and daughter Stella Renae, on May 19, 2022. Dralin appeared in several photos along with Alana helping care for the babies.

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Honey Boo Boo ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Her Relationship ‘Haters’

“In our relationship, the two most things that everybody is always talking about is our age gap and definitely because he’s Black and I’m white and we’re an interracial couple,” Alana said on July 21, 2022. She continued, “I don’t care because, like, at the end of the day, my sister approves, his mom approves, and we’re happy, so what fans got to say or what haters got to say I don’t really care.”

Dralin Carswell Was Previously Arrested for Statutory Rape Prior to His Relationship With Honey Boo Boo

He was arrested for statutory rape in May 2019, In Touch confirmed. The incident happened less than two years before he began dating Alana. He was accused of making a false statement to police, and the charge was later adjudicated in June 2021 after Dralin agreed to a number of conditions, including seeing an addiction specialist and undergoing drug and alcohol screens.

Scroll down for photos of Alana and Dralin’s relationship timeline.

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July 2022

Alana revealed in an interview that she doesn’t care about the “haters” when it comes to the couple’s romance and age difference. “In our relationship, the two most things that everybody is always talking about is our age gap and definitely because he’s Black and I’m white and we’re an interracial couple,” Alana told ET, adding, “I don’t care because, like, at the end of the day, my sister approves, his mom approves, and we’re happy, so what fans got to say or what haters got to say I don’t really care.”

February 2023

Dralin was arrested on February 28 for driving under the influence, In Touch confirmed on March 2.
He was released on a $25,000 bond after spending two days behind bars, according to online records viewed by In Touch. Carswell was charged with one count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, one count of DUI — less safe — drugs, and various unsafe driving charges.
According to the Monroe County Reporter – who was first to report the news of his arrest – Alana was in the car during the incident which resulted in a police pursuit ending with a PIT maneuver.

July 2023

After supporting Alana at her high school graduation in June, the couple are set to relocate to Colorado as the reality star continues her education at Regis University for nursing.

“I’ll be moving off campus for security reasons and because Dralin is coming with me,” Alana said. “I think he’s more excited to move there than me. He’s ready to move out of our small town and experience something new too.”

Honey Boo Boo continued, “I think [living together will] be good for us honestly and I mean, I think it will be fun. Even though I’m moving halfway across the country, it’ll be good for me.”