Jep Robertson says one of the most important lessons his late father, “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, taught him about marriage was also one of the simplest: Don’t give up.
As Jep and his wife, Jessica Robertson, approach their 25th wedding anniversary, the couple told The Christian Post that the example set by Phil and his wife, Kay, helped shape their understanding of marriage as a lifelong covenant rooted in faith, commitment, forgiveness and perseverance.
“The biggest thing is just not giving up,” Jep said. “It’s really easy to throw in the towel, be like, ‘It’s too hard. I can’t do this.’”
Phil, who died in May 2025 at age 79, often told his children that Christians make two defining pledges in life, according to Jep: one to Christ and another to their spouse.
“My dad always said this: You make two pledges in your life. If you’re a Christian, one is to serve Jesus the rest of your life. You’re His. In order to have life, you give it up,” Jep recalled. “The other one is you pledge yourself to a person on this Earth, and that’s that. That’s a vow to God. We take it very, very seriously.”
Jessica said that lesson has played out through forgiveness and grace in their own marriage, particularly as they learned to acknowledge their own shortcomings rather than focusing on each other’s.
“You’re not going to be perfect,” she said, adding that recognizing “I need forgiveness and grace just as much as he needs grace and forgiveness” makes it easier to move past conflict and begin “rooting each other on.”
The early years of their marriage weren’t always easy, Jessica acknowledged, adding: “People say, ‘Oh, that first year is so hard.’ I said, ‘The first seven years were really hard.’ It was like a roller coaster ride.”
But nearly 25 years later, Jessica said their relationship has deepened into a friendship that gives them confidence as they look toward a future when their children are grown.
“We really love being with each other. We get along. We’re friends,” she said. “There’ll be a time where it is us a lot more, and it’s so refreshing to know that we actually do really enjoy being together.”
Jep similarly said their marriage improved when they stopped viewing disagreements as a competition over who was right and began seeing themselves as teammates.
“At some point, we got on the same team, and it was OK to make a mistake,” he said. “We all make mistakes, and then just forgive and move on.”
Along with Phil and Kay, Jep credited his oldest brother, Alan, a pastor, and other family members with helping them navigate difficult seasons.
“It really does take a village, I think, for your marriage,” he said. “It’s just like raising kids. It’s the same thing for your marriage.”
That emphasis on faith, family, community and relationships is at the center of the couple’s new unscripted series, “Jep & Jess: Beyond the Bayou,” which premiered Aug. 13 on Great American Pure Flix and airs Saturdays on Great American Family and GFAM+.
The series follows the former “Duck Dynasty” stars as they leave behind the Louisiana setting that first made their family famous and establish a new chapter at Comanche Moon Ranch in Texas. The show centers on the Robertsons’ efforts to build a community defined by hospitality, craftsmanship, relationships and faith.
The couple said returning to unscripted television wasn’t something they had initially sought out. However, after developing a relationship with Great American Media and discussing how they could support the company’s faith-focused programming, the idea for an unscripted TV series emerged.
“We just felt like it was a God thing, and they opened doors, and we prayed about it,” Jessica said. “Like, ‘Is this the right move?’”
“We want to glorify You in whatever we’re doing,” she said of their prayers about the project. “One season, whatever, more seasons, wherever He takes us,” the couple is willing to “take a new adventure and see what He wants to do with it.”
Jep shared that, as a boy, he spent time in the same area of Texas after Phil befriended a man in college who ran a guided duck-hunting business there. Between roughly ages 12 and 16, Jep said he regularly visited the region with his father, creating memories during what he described as formative years.
When the opportunity to return to the area emerged after Phil’s death, Jep saw the timing as providential.
“I just lost my dad, you know, like a year ago,” he said. “And I thought, boy, this is kind of a God thing. … How else would I end up, you know, have an opportunity to be in this part of Texas with my sons?”
“It’s kind of a full-circle moment to me,” he added. “It’s pretty amazing.”
At the sprawling 2,400-acre Comanche Moon Ranch, the Robertsons are helping develop a community where residents can enjoy land, fishing, hunting and hiking while still having neighbors nearby.
Leaving their established community in Louisiana was intimidating, she acknowledged, particularly because it meant stepping outside the “little bubble” of friends, family and church they had built over the years. But the experience has reinforced the importance of deliberately maintaining relationships.
“It just takes being intentional,” Jessica said. “People matter, and so with our show, we say faith, family, community because it is about people. … God, He calls us to be relational, right? We’re supposed to be there for one another.”
The Robertsons first rose to national prominence on A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” which chronicled the Louisiana family behind the Duck Commander business. The series became a cultural phenomenon during its 2012–17 run, drawing millions of viewers and distinguishing itself from much of reality television by openly incorporating the family’s Christian faith.
Looking back, Jessica said one of the show’s most significant contributions was helping normalize public expressions of faith at a time before social media became dominant.
“I think for sure, just opening doors of being outward about your faith,” she said.
The show’s portrayal of family relationships was equally important, she said, adding that the Robertsons could disagree while still coming together as a family.
“You can have disagreements. You can not agree on the same thing. You can like different things, but you can all be there for one another,” she said. “We’re all a part of the body of Christ, right? And so, like, we should be rooting each other on instead of tearing each other down.”
With “Beyond the Bayou,” the Robertsons hope to once again give families something they can comfortably watch together while pointing viewers toward the faith that remains at the center of their lives.
“It’s a simple, normal life where faith is our number one focus,” Jep said. “It’s not that we’re better than anybody at all. God is good. God has provided for us.”
“In the end, that’s what we want to do, is just point people to Him and say, ‘Hey, man, life is a lot better with Him in your life.’”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
