From during Are You The One? Season 5
BY DC CUEVA
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| IG @KKLusby |
If you're a reality TV fan, then you know about Duck Dynasty on A&E, which began five years ago next month and has documented the lives of the Robertson family, owners of their own business of making products for duck hunters - Duck Commander - in West Monroe, Louisiana in the northern part of the Bayou state. Duck Dynasty has since overtaken the channel's original flagship series Biography as the network's highest-profile show, succeeded MTV's Jersey Shore as the highest-rated reality series in cable history, and is in the midst of its final season on the air after eleven seasons on the air. The family includes CEO Willie, fellow siblings Jase and Kep, and brother Si, and those men are known for their long beards and, in this deeply religious state of the South that also gave us that reality TV icon Trishelle - strong Christian views.
But the man at the heart of this family-run operation is Phil Robertson, who when he was a young adult was a standout quarterback at Louisiana Tech starting ahead of NFL hall of famer Terry Bradshaw, but gave up an NFL career to pursue a different passion: duck hunting. After a period of soul searching, he became religious, reconciled with his estranged wife and founded the Duck Commander Company in 1973. Even in this age where his show can be watched in the palm of fans' hands, Phil prefers his social networking to be with just friends & family in person as someone who doesn't like modern technology. But in December 2013, Robertson made headlines when an interview he had with GQ magazine saw comments deemed derogatory to homosexuals, A&E suspended him from the show - only for that to be rescinded shortly later after strong public backlash.
Last year during AYTO Season 4, we caught up with Kayla Lusby of the Season 1 cast, who after being part of a Hawaiian love triangle with her, Ryan & Wes, has turned to her local TV roots as a reporter and weekend anchor on the news side of things for KTVE/KARD, the NBC/FOX duopoly in the Arklamiss serving Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. And this past week, she scored a big interview with Phil at the Duck Commander headquarters, as the patriarch discussed his relationship with the new President, his son and his relationship with the new First Family in the White House. Their interview was promoted by the station during the heart of what those refer to in the TV industry as the "sweeps" period, where networks air big events & highly-promoted episodes, and local stations like KTVE air high-profile investigative stories and interviews to grab viewer attention.
Due to the highly-sensitive nature of the subject matter and our preference to remain neutral whenever matters of a controversial nature comes up, we won't go in-depth more on Kayla's interview with Phil on this site, but do check out the interview and supplemental article here.
Due to the highly-sensitive nature of the subject matter and our preference to remain neutral whenever matters of a controversial nature comes up, we won't go in-depth more on Kayla's interview with Phil on this site, but do check out the interview and supplemental article here.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this story was first posted during AYTO Season 5, Kayla moved to WMC-TV in Memphis and now works with WGNO-TV in New Orleans; this past summer, she and her fiance tied the knot and is now known as Kayla Bertucci.
