Anna Cardwell, a former reality TV star who appeared along with her family on TLC’s “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” and “Toddlers & Tiaras,” has died. She was 29.
Her mother, June Shannon, known as “Mama June,” announced on social media that her eldest daughter had died on Saturday.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 [Anna] is no longer with us,” Shannon shared in the caption of an Instagram post on Sunday. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM. She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will will [sic] be updating y’all with more information as we get it today. We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family doing this difficult time.”
Cardwell, also known as Chickadee, had reportedly been diagnosed with Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma earlier this year. Her younger sister, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, confirmed that Cardwell was ill on social media in March.
“I really don’t know what to say as my heart is completely broken,” Thompson wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “Watching my 29 year old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasn’t been easy. Anna was a fighter & still is … I would’ve loved for you to get to see me graduate college but i know you will forever cheer me on in heaven! We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever.”
Cardwell’s family originally rose to reality television fame after Thompson broke out on “Toddlers & Tiaras,” which followed the lives and families of child beauty contestants. The spinoff series, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” premiered in 2012 but was canceled in 2014 amid the controversy that Shannon was dating a convicted child molester.
In addition to her mother and three younger sisters, Caldwell is survived by her two young children, Kaitlyn and Kylee.
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