Fort Worth
Jep and Jessica Robertson are back on the small screen.
The Robertsons were first introduced to the world in “Duck Dynasty,” the popular A&E Network show that ran for 11 seasons from 2012 to 2017. Jep and Jessica also received their own spinoff — “Jep and Jessica: Growing the Dynasty” — that ran for a couple of seasons over 2016 and 2017.
Now, the couple are back leading their own lifestyle series in “Jep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.”
“This was my favorite show I’ve done,” Jep told the Star-Telegram in a virtual interview this week.
🎬 In case you missed it:
“Beyond the Bayou” sees the Robertsons trade Louisiana for Texas as they develop a property at the Comanche Moon Ranch in Mingus, which is about 70 miles west of Fort Worth.
Viewers will see the Robertsons build their new ranch and live like Texans, along with juggling parenting and grandparenting their big family. Production on the show began in early April and wrapped in mid-June.
“Beyond the Bayou” comes from Great American Media and premieres Thursday, Aug. 13, on Great American Pure Flix and Saturday, Aug. 15, on Great American Family and GFAM+.
Ahead of the premiere, the Robertsons spoke to the Star-Telegram about what they’ve learned from the show and what fans can expect this season.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Star-Telegram: You are both public-facing people, but this is the first time you both have had a show together in a few years. Did you need to knock any rust off? Or, are you always camera ready?
Jessica: No, I think that it’s pretty natural. I feel like because we’re not acting like someone else, we’re doing what we would do at home, or at the ranch interacting with each other. It’s not like a scripted show, where you have to be that person. We’re that person in whatever scenario you put us in, right? I think if I was all by myself doing something or if he was all by himself, I think then you feel a little more self-conscious. I feel like we feel at home together.
Jep: Yeah, I think it’s really easy. To me, filming is super easy. This is hard.
Jessica: Well, podcasts and Zoom, those are easy, like things that are taped. But when it’s like those five-minute hits on live television. You want to make sure that you say like, “Oh, we need to talk about this.” Sometimes I will be like, “Squirrel,” and start talking about something and be like, “Oh, wait, get back on track.” You have, like, a three-minute moment to tell what the whole show’s about.
S-T: Besides “Growing the Dynasty,” some of the other shows you both have been a part of like “Duck Dynasty” and “Duck Family Treasure” feature the larger Robertson family. “Beyond the Bayou” is solely the two of you. What’s that mean to both of you?
Jessica: Yeah, I mean, it means a lot to us. To know that Great American Media, [Great American Media CEO] Bill Abbott and [Great American Media chief brand officer] Kaitlyn Haubrich, when we first met, just to know they believed in us enough to want to take this on as a new chapter for their company. It’s such an honor for us. I think that having the kids involved, obviously, it feels like second nature to have them and be with them. And really just see where God’s going to take this. We didn’t force this. I mean, we really didn’t even pitch it at all. Like it just came about, and we’re grateful to have the opportunity. Whether it’s one season, whether it’s two, or whether it’s 10.
Jep: I could not say that any better.
S-T: What’s the biggest thing you both have learned after having some time away from filming?
Jep: Things that kind of surprised me was [our son] Gus. I thought he did such a great job, especially in this first episode just being real natural. It’s hard for a 10-year-old to be natural as the cameras rolling. It’s not natural to a kid to have a camera [around], but he did absolutely amazing. That night when we watched it at the premiere [in Bartonville], a lot of people were like, “Oh my God, Gus is so good on camera.” I was like, “I know, I was a little worried about it.” But he was fantastic.
Jessica: For me, it was seeing when we went into it, we’re like, “Oh, this will be a fun adventure, right?” Then once we got out there, I think that our vision was so small, and then God kept placing other things on our heart, on [Comanche Moon Ranch developer] Lance’s [Autrey] heart, on what we could do out here. It became a way bigger picture than what our minds really comprehended and even aspired it to be. That’s what’s so good is we trust God opening doors and closing them. We trust him to put things on our heart when he wants us to desire and do things for him and glorify him in those areas.
S-T: The show has a home renovation element to it, which is new compared to your past projects. What else is different about “Beyond the Bayou” from the other shows?
Jep: I mean, you hit on it for sure, that part was different. I got to try my hand at all the kind of things the construction people do, and then I quickly realized I’m not a good construction hand [laughs]. I didn’t screw anything up. Those people that, especially our burrow builds, they’re super skilled to make these places. What’s cool to me is building something like this … I wanted to stay somewhere like this when I was a kid. It’s kind of a dream for me. I just love this part of Texas, where the ranch is and everything, I grew up hunting there.
Jep and Jessica Robertson in Great America Media’s “Jep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.” Courtesy of Great American Media
S-T: We didn’t talk much about Mirador during the first couple of times I’ve chatted with both of you. If I was some random guy off the street who said, “Hey, what’s Mirador about?” How would you explain it to me?
Jessica: Comanche Moon is the actual ranch out there, right? It’s broken up into small ranchettes, and what’s beautiful about that is the community aspect versus the lone ranch, right? Mirador is a part of that. There’s a few of the ranchers who went in together as business partners and decided to build some unique stays on some of the properties out there. There’s still lots and lots of properties for sale, as well as just ranch owners that have built or are gonna build something for their families or for visitors to come. But Mirador specifically is unique stays.
We have these “halfling houses” or burrows that we call the “Texas Shire.” We finished three of those. It actually launches, like you can start booking it, I think there’s a wait list, but Sept. 1. They’re so unique. I mean, it literally looks like a dream world. If you were reading it, or you were seeing it in a movie, it’s like you’re living it right out there. Then there’s also the expansion of what we want to do out there. We have some really cool ideas, and then there’s some other unique stays out there that are not complete. They’re in the works still and that we talk about on the show, and that we featured a little bit, but those will be completed a little bit later.
They’ll all be different. You have the “Texas Shire” area, you’ll have this coal miners’ area, and then you’ll have this little ogre type area where there’s a pond and it’s kind of swampy-ish looking. Everything is really centered around what that land looks like and what it can bring, and then what can you envision out here.
S-T: Have you seen a big appetite for these stays thus far?
Jessica: We have, yes. That’s been exciting because I was like, “OK, well, there’s only three now. We need to expand to more.” Each burrow has a different theme. You could stay in one and the other one would be completely different. Everything, from the decor and bedding to what you want to do in that one.
S-T: I saw those when I visited the set in June. Jep, in the first episode of “Beyond the Bayou” you mention your love of “Lord of the Rings” in reference to these burrows. Where does that love come from?
Jep: I’ve been a fan for a long time. My mom, luckily, she got me reading as a young child. She is an avid reader. I’ve gotten to read a lot of cool stories, and obviously [J.R.R.] Tolkien, he’s an amazing, godly man too. She pointed me that direction and was like, “If you want to read something cool, this is where you need to go.” She was 100% right. Making these places to me is like a dream because as a kid, this would have been my dream vacation, which is funny. You would think you’d have to go to New Zealand if you want to see some really cool burrows like that. But to be able to do that here, that’s why it just means a lot to me because it just brings me back to being a kid.
Jep and Jessica Robertson in Great America Media’s “Jep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.” Ryland Maserang Courtesy of Great American Media
S-T: This show is made in North Texas, if I’m a local, what would you say is something I should be excited to see in “Beyond the Bayou?”
Jep: I mean, I’m not sure as far as just regionally. We do a good job of kind of displaying how beautiful it is, and I think people will see that. I didn’t know honestly. Out [where we used to live] in Abilene, we had seen some cool views and stuff, but I thought that’s kind of where it started.
Jessica: It’s still flat in certain areas all throughout Texas.
Jep: It is. But they call them mountains, I mean, they’re not really mountains, but there’s giant hills where you can really see the landscape. It’s just so different from where we live in Louisiana. That’s what I love. Sometimes I’ll be out there [in Texas] and I’ll look around, and I’m like, “I feel like I’m on a different planet.” It just doesn’t look like anything, and I’m just like, “This is the coolest.”
Jessica: When we were filming, we got to stay out there. You’ll wake up to turkey walking through your yard or deer walking around. Then at night when the sun’s setting, you hear the turkeys gobbling. I mean, it’s really just beautiful. Even if I didn’t do anything adventurous out there, just sitting there in that presence of hearing the wildlife. [Jep’s mother] Kay [Robertson] was always good with that with our kids. Taking them out in the woods and just walking, going on nature hikes, hearing the birds, listening to the crickets. There is something therapeutic about getting outside in the peaceful nature that God built.
“Jep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou” premieres Thursday, Aug. 13, on Great American Pure Flix and Saturday, Aug. 15, on Great American Family and GFAM+.
Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Brayden Garcia is the entertainment reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he mainly writes about how the film and TV industry impacts North Texas, from Taylor Sheridan shows to the Fort Worth Film Commission and everything in between.