For the second-season premiere, TLC distributed "Watch 'N' Sniff" cards, allowing viewers to release scents correlating with specific scenes.

[15] Critical reaction to the series has been mixed, with some characterizing the show as "offensive", "outrageous" and "exploitative", while others call it "must-see TV".

Club called the first episode a "horror story posing as a reality television program",[17] with others worrying about potential child exploitation.

"[19] A reviewer for Forbes criticized TLC as trying to "portray Alana's family as a horde of lice-picking, lard-eating, nose-thumbing hooligans south of the Mason–Dixon line", stating that "it falls flat, because there's no true dysfunction here, save for the beauty pageant stuff".

[20] The Guardian also criticized the attempt to portray the Thompsons as people to "point and snicker at," saying, "none of the women or girls who participate in the show seems to hate themselves for their poverty, their weight, their less-than-urbane lifestyle, or the ways in which they diverge from the socially-acceptable beauty standard.

Yes, except that if you play that card, you also have to realize that human nature comes with the capacity to draw a line, to hold fast against the dehumanization and incremental tearing down of the social fabric, even if this never-ending onslaught of reality television suggests that's a losing effort.

Alana Thompson and her family have lowered the TV bar to new depths while introducing viewers to the terms 'forklift foot' and 'neck crust.'

"[23] June Shannon herself was criticized for her daughter's diet, which included "Go Go Juice," a mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew that contains as much caffeine as two cups of coffee.

Out noted the show's "clear message of equality" and said that Alana's acceptance of her gay relative "confounded" the stereotype of the "redneck" working-class, southern white female.

[24] June Shannon has been praised by Mother Nature Network for her "keen business sense" with which she feeds her family on $80 a week by clipping copious coupons, playing bingo, exploiting roadkill, and acquiring child-support checks from each of her four children's fathers.

On October 24, 2014, TLC announced the cancellation of the show after reports surfaced that June Shannon was dating a man convicted of child molestation.

[32] An entire season's worth of episodes – which could reportedly fill six months of schedule[33] – were left unaired, following the cancellation of the show.

[34] Upon hearing of the show's cancellation, Vivid Entertainment president Steven Hirsch sent a letter to June Shannon, offering her and her former live-in partner, Mike Thompson, US$1 million to appear in a pornographic film.

Hirsch stated that the studio's BBW themed productions have become a very popular genre on Vivid.com and VividTV, and he would make the couple's experience "enjoyable" for them both, as well as give them creative input.

Alana also collaborated with singer/songwriter Adam Barta in 2015,[36] and along with sister Pumpkin, released a song called "Movin' Up," which was met with mixed reviews.