It’s safe to say that back in 2012, nobody could have expected the Robertsons of A&E’s reality series Duck Dynasty to blow up the way it did. Phil Robertson and his camo-clad progeny were absolutely everywhere. However, instead of riding the reality show wave as far as it could take them, the Robertsons made the choice to end the series in 2017. Could Duck Dynasty have lasted as long as other TV families like, say, the Kardashians or the Duggars? We’ll never know, but two of its stars — Sadie Robertson and her mom Korie — spoke out recently about why calling it quits when they did was a good thing.
It didn’t take long for viewers to jump on the Duck Dynasty bandwagon, becoming obsessed with the Louisiana family who sported long beards, strong opinions and goofy catchphrases. A&E was undoubtedly happy, too, as the series became the network’s highest-rated program. In the years since the Robertsons decided to pull the plug, the family members have moved onto other projects, and it sounds like Korie Robertson has no regrets about the decision. She told E! News:
It was a whirlwind and it was fun because we were getting to do it as a family. But it did feel like it was time for us to pull everything back.
Back in late 2013, Duck Dynasty lost some of its shine with the audience, after Phil Robertson condemned “homosexual behavior” in an interview with GQ, leading to his suspension from the series. The damage was already done, however, and when Season 6 premiered in June 2014, there was a huge drop in ratings. The controversy may have lost some viewers, but it wasn’t a death sentence for the show, which continued another few years before the Robertsons announced they’d be ending the series after 11 seasons.
Sadie Robertson, who was a teenager when the show started and is now a mom of two, agreed with mother Korie that pulling the plug on Duck Dynasty allowed the Robertsons to tackle new projects. She said:
We’re all dreamers and doers. And we like to do new things and having the time of those years to do that was awesome. We’ve grown into who we are all as individuals, what we’re all passionate about and that might not have happened if we were still doing the same thing. So it’s fun to get through new things in life and start new things and see where that grows and takes us and now we’ll see what the future holds.
Duck Dynasty may have gone off the air six years ago, but the Robertsons haven’t completely disappeared. For Sadie Robertson, the growth she spoke of turned into another show with her parents, At Home with the Robertsons, for Facebook Watch in 2021. She’s also authored a book with her husband, a 90-day devotional called How to Put Love First.
Korie Robertson also became an author, releasing a parenting book, Strong and Kind: Raising Kids of Character, in 2017.
Willie Robertson starred in Buck Commander until 2019 and also was the Mallard on Season 6 of The Masked Singer. Jase, Jep and Uncle Si Robertson, meanwhile, got their own Duck Dynasty spinoff last year — Duck Family Treasure — with its second season airing earlier this summer on Fox Nation.
The Robertsons captured lightning in a bottle with Duck Dynasty, so it makes sense that they’ve moved on to see what other projects they could tackle. It sounds like there are no regrets — at least as far as Sadie and Korie Robertson are concerned, and we’ll keep an eye out for where those Louisiana natives pop up next. In the meantime, Duck Dynasty is available to stream with a Hulu subscription.