The Robertsons were first introduced to the world in \u201cDuck Dynasty,\u201d the popular A&E Network show that ran for 11 seasons from 2012 to 2017. Jep and Jessica also received their own spinoff \u2014 \u201cJep and Jessica: Growing the Dynasty\u201d \u2014 that ran for a couple of seasons over 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n
Now, the couple are back leading their own lifestyle series in \u201cJep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis was my favorite show I\u2019ve done,\u201d Jep told the Star-Telegram in a virtual interview this week.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the Bayou\u201d sees the Robertsons trade Louisiana for Texas as they develop a property at the Comanche Moon Ranch<\/a> in Mingus, which is about 70 miles west of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the Bayou\u201d 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+.<\/p>\n Ahead of the premiere, the Robertsons spoke to the Star-Telegram about what they\u2019ve learned from the show and what fans can expect this season.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n Jessica: No, I think that it\u2019s pretty natural. I feel like because we\u2019re not acting like someone else, we\u2019re doing what we would do at home, or at the ranch interacting with each other. It\u2019s not like a scripted show, where you have to be that person. We\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n Jep: Yeah, I think it\u2019s really easy. To me, filming is super easy. This is hard.<\/p>\n Jessica: Well, podcasts and Zoom, those are easy, like things that are taped. But when it\u2019s like those five-minute hits on live television. You want to make sure that you say like, \u201cOh, we need to talk about this.\u201d Sometimes I will be like, \u201cSquirrel,\u201d and start talking about something and be like, \u201cOh, wait, get back on track.\u201d You have, like, a three-minute moment to tell what the whole show\u2019s about.<\/p>\n S-T: Besides \u201cGrowing the Dynasty,\u201d some of the other shows you both have been a part of like \u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d and \u201cDuck Family Treasure\u201d feature the larger Robertson family. \u201cBeyond the Bayou\u201d is solely the two of you. What\u2019s that mean to both of you?<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019s going to take this. We didn\u2019t force this. I mean, we really didn\u2019t even pitch it at all. Like it just came about, and we\u2019re grateful to have the opportunity. Whether it\u2019s one season, whether it\u2019s two, or whether it\u2019s 10.<\/p>\n Jep: I could not say that any better.<\/p>\n S-T: What\u2019s the biggest thing you both have learned after having some time away from filming?<\/p>\n 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\u2019s hard for a 10-year-old to be natural as the cameras rolling. It\u2019s 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> a lot of people were like, \u201cOh my God, Gus is so good on camera.\u201d I was like, \u201cI know, I was a little worried about it.\u201d But he was fantastic.<\/p>\n Jessica: For me, it was seeing when we went into it, we\u2019re like, \u201cOh, this will be a fun adventure, right?\u201d 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\u2019s [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\u2019s what\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n S-T: The show has a home renovation element to it, which is new compared to your past projects. What else is different about \u201cBeyond the Bayou\u201d from the other shows?<\/p>\n 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\u2019m not a good construction hand [laughs]. I didn\u2019t screw anything up. Those people that, especially our burrow builds, they\u2019re super skilled to make these places. What\u2019s cool to me is building something like this … I wanted to stay somewhere like this when I was a kid. It\u2019s kind of a dream for me. I just love this part of Texas, where the ranch is and everything, I grew up hunting there.<\/p>\n S-T: We didn\u2019t talk much about Mirador<\/a> during the first couple of times I\u2019ve chatted with both of you. If I was some random guy off the street who said, \u201cHey, what\u2019s Mirador about?\u201d How would you explain it to me?<\/p>\n Jessica: Comanche Moon is the actual ranch out there, right? It\u2019s broken up into small ranchettes, and what\u2019s beautiful about that is the community aspect versus the lone ranch, right? Mirador is a part of that. There\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n We have these \u201chalfling houses\u201d or burrows that we call the \u201cTexas Shire.\u201d We finished three of those. It actually launches, like you can start booking it, I think there\u2019s a wait list, but Sept. 1. They\u2019re 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\u2019s like you\u2019re living it right out there. Then there\u2019s also the expansion of what we want to do out there. We have some really cool ideas, and then there\u2019s some other unique stays out there that are not complete. They\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll all be different. You have the \u201cTexas Shire\u201d area, you\u2019ll have this coal miners\u2019 area, and then you\u2019ll have this little ogre type area where there\u2019s a pond and it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n S-T: Have you seen a big appetite for these stays thus far?<\/p>\n Jessica: We have, yes. That\u2019s been exciting because I was like, \u201cOK, well, there\u2019s only three now. We need to expand to more.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n S-T: I saw those when I visited the set<\/a> in June. Jep, in the first episode of \u201cBeyond the Bayou\u201d you mention your love of \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d in reference to these burrows. Where does that love come from?<\/p>\n Jep: I\u2019ve been a fan for a long time. My mom, luckily, she got me reading as a young child. She is an avid reader. I\u2019ve gotten to read a lot of cool stories, and obviously [J.R.R.] Tolkien, he\u2019s an amazing, godly man too. She pointed me that direction and was like, \u201cIf you want to read something cool, this is where you need to go.\u201d 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\u2019d 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\u2019s why it just means a lot to me because it just brings me back to being a kid.<\/p>\n S-T: This show is made in North Texas, if I\u2019m a local, what would you say is something I should be excited to see in \u201cBeyond the Bayou?\u201d<\/p>\n Jep: I mean, I\u2019m 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\u2019t know honestly. Out [where we used to live] in Abilene, we had seen some cool views and stuff, but I thought that\u2019s kind of where it started.<\/p>\n Jessica: It\u2019s still flat in certain areas all throughout Texas.<\/p>\n Jep: It is. But they call them mountains, I mean, they\u2019re not really mountains, but there\u2019s giant hills where you can really see the landscape. It\u2019s just so different from where we live in Louisiana. That\u2019s what I love. Sometimes I\u2019ll be out there [in Texas] and I\u2019ll look around, and I\u2019m like, \u201cI feel like I\u2019m on a different planet.\u201d It just doesn\u2019t look like anything, and I\u2019m just like, \u201cThis is the coolest.\u201d<\/p>\n Jessica: When we were filming, we got to stay out there. You\u2019ll wake up to turkey walking through your yard or deer walking around. Then at night when the sun\u2019s setting, you hear the turkeys gobbling. I mean, it\u2019s really just beautiful. Even if I didn\u2019t do anything adventurous out there, just sitting there in that presence of hearing the wildlife. [Jep\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cJep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou\u201d premieres Thursday, Aug. 13, on Great American Pure Flix and Saturday, Aug. 15, on Great American Family and GFAM+.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n Jep and Jessica Robertson in Great America Media\u2019s \u201cJep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.\u201d Courtesy of Great American Media <\/p>\n
Jep and Jessica Robertson in Great America Media\u2019s \u201cJep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou.\u201d Ryland Maserang Courtesy of Great American Media <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BraydenHeadshot.jpg\")