Reality stardom can be a cruel mistress.

It can bring fame and fortune beyond one’s wildest dreams, but in most cases, the well dries up eventually, leaving the stars to scramble for “real world” employment.

Sudden joblessness is tough under any circumstances, but it’s even more difficult in cases where the most salacious aspects of one’s personal life have been broadcast to an audience of millions.

That’s the situation in which Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon currently finds herself.

The past year has been tremendously difficult for her family, and many of the Shannons’ lowest moments were featured on Mama June: Road to Redemption.

So it should come as no surprise that she wants to part ways with the world of reality television.

But the situation is complicated by the fact that Lauryn is pregnant with her second child, and TLC has been her primary source of income for several years now.

As The Ashley’s Reality Roundup reports, Lauryn is being quite candid about her desire to quit the franchise that made her famous — but she has some fears about her ability to support her family.

“Honestly, I want to go ahead and say goodbye if I’m being completely honest,” Lauryn told Entertainment Tonight in a recent interview. 

“Only because Alana grew up doing this and you don’t really have a normal life during production,” Shannon continued.

“We have two days off a week and I can’t get my life together in two days.”

Lauryn said she still enjoys appearing on Road to Redemption, and in a rarity for reality TV stars, she confessed that she loves the paycheck.

But it seems that that level of exposure has its downsides — such as the whole world knowing that your mom spent $1 million on crack.

“I enjoy doing the show. I enjoy the income that it brings. I enjoy the lives that we impact,” Lauryn told ET.

“Ultimately I want to go and be a nurse at a hospital,” she continued.

“I want to go and make an impact in a hospital somewhere. TV is not something that I think any of us really want to do anymore, but we just keep pushing ourselves.

“ … You don’t want to hear that your mom spent a million dollars on crack, ya know, [for] a year,” Lauryn said.

“That’s not something you really brag about or can bring up in a conversation because it’s kind of embarrassing really.” 

So it’s not hard to see why Lauryn might want to begin living a more private life.

Unfortunately, it seems her family’s difficulties have made it hard for her to find work.

“I’ve had things happen, especially during Mama’s addiction where like, I was trying to apply for jobs and they wouldn’t hire me because they see what was going on with her,” Lauryn revealed.

“One specific job … I was going to work at an outlet place and the lady, like, that’s the first thing she brought up. She was like, ‘Your mom is all in the media and I don’t want that brought to work.’ But it’s like, just because my mom is a certain type of person, doesn’t mean that I am.”

Lauryn admits that she and her mother and sister have made some big bucks from TLC.

But despite rumors to the contrary, she insists that they’re far from wealthy.

“We’re not millionaires, we’re not Kim Kardashian, ya know?” she said.

“We don’t make that kind of money. And it is stressful when, like, some months we had to let bills pass because Alana needed a new pair of shoes, or sometimes we had to let a bill pass because Ella needed new clothes,” Lauyrn continued.

“We always make sure that the kids have more than we had at their age.” 

But as Lauryn seems to realize, as the kids grow older, they may need privacy as much as they need material comforts.

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