Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of miscarriage.
Days after Anna Cardwell— the oldest daughter of Mama June Shannon— died after an a 11-month battle with cancer, it’s been revealed that Anna was able to fulfill her wish to marry her longtime boyfriend.
The former Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star — who had battled Stage 4 cancer for nearly a year before her death on Saturday–passed away surrounded by family members including her mom, and sisters Jessica, Pumpkin and Alana. Also by Anna’s side were her two daughters and Eldridge Toney, the man Anna quietly married back in March following her cancer diagnosis.
View this post on Instagram
On Monday, TMZ broke the news of Anna’s secret marriage, with a family source telling the site that “Anna made it clear she wanted to have her wedding while she was still feeling well enough to go through a ceremony.”
Anna— who was already undergoing chemotherapy to treat her Adrenal Carcinoma at the time of her wedding— married Eldridge on March 4 in Georgia. Anna’s brother-in-law Josh Efird (who is the husband of Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon) reportedly performed the marriage ceremony.
“Sources say the wedding included close family and a camera crew recording footage for their WE tv reality show,” TMZ reported.
(Anna made a few appearances on Mama June’s show, most recently last season when she came to Mama June’s bridal shower, despite her long estrangement from her mother. Following Anna’s cancer diagnosis, she and Mama June made amends and June helped Anna throughout her cancer treatment.)
View this post on Instagram
Anna and Eldridge began dating in June 2017, following Anna’s separation from her husband Michael Cardwell. Although he was not the father of either of Anna’s two daughters, Kaitlyn and Kylee, he lived with Anna and the girls for years.
View this post on Instagram
While Anna and Eldridge had no children together, the couple did want to have a baby. Back in 2021, Anna spoke to The Sun about the multiple pregnancy losses she and Eldridge had suffered.
“We are trying to have a third child, and it’s been difficult,” Anna said in 2021. “I’ve gone through four miscarriages and a D&C. It’s been a long bumpy road for us trying to have baby number three.”
Although Anna’s sisters and other family members have posted publicly about Anna’s death, Elridge has yet to make any sort of public statement about it. Elridge has not appeared on Mama June’s WEtv show.
RELATED STORY: Former ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ & ‘Mama June’ Star Anna Cardwell Dead After Nearly Year-Long Battle with Cancer
(Photos: Facebook; Instagram)
Ashley, thanks for this. It seemed odd that none of the articles covering Anna’s death made mention of him so this filled in the blanks.
Sounds like she wanted him to be able to raise the girls, so I’m glad she was able to take care of that before she passed. I hope he’ll have good support from family and friends!
Mamma June has one daughter the oldest and her ex husband has the other daughter according to tmz
happy for anna that she had the wedding she wanted.
it’s just unfortunate that ‘mama’ june and her spawn o’grifters will profit from the footage of what should’ve been a private family event.
Stage 4 cancer doesn’t happen out of nowhere. I’m wondering how it was missed when she was TTC. I may have missed it written somewhere but, were there any signs before her diagnosis?
I’m wondering if either of the girls fathers will be raising them since they are the biological fathers. Or if maybe Anna had a plan in place for the girls as to who will raise them.
Mama June has the oldest girl, for now, & their father has the youngest ♥
I hope at least WEtv covered some of her treatment considering they were there, shoving their cameras in their faces in such a meaningful time
I didn’t realize those girls were not his.
Wow, an extra layer..
RIP Anna.
Her 2 daughters had different fathers. The eldest to an ex boyfriend and the youngest to her ex husband.
Anna gave birth to the oldest Kaitlyn when she was 17…Kylee is her and ex husband Michael Cardwell’s daughter.