Willie Robertson is keeping the faith — and his late father’s legacy — alive on screen.
As “Duck Dynasty: The Revival” prepares for its second season, the Robertson family revealed that the premiere would feature a heartfelt tribute to their late patriarch, Phil Robertson, who died earlier this year.
For Willie, the timing of his father’s death felt almost divine.
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“I think it was such a pass-over, literally, because the show came out when Phil passed away … just within a few days of each other,” Willie exclusively told Fox News Digital.
“We miss Phil for sure and would love to, obviously, still talk to him and have him around. However, I think he was ready to roll, he’s ready to move on to the next life, which he talked about, I think every day of his life while he was here on this Earth.”
Willie said that although filming without Phil has been emotional, he believed his dad would be proud of how the family had carried the torch.
“It’s sad, but I think he’d be happy,” Willie said. “He’d be happy that we kept it going — especially the way the show has faith as part of it, the family. Maybe not as many ducks as he would have liked with this next generation, but we’re working on it.”
In May, Phil, who founded the Duck Commander hunting company that became the focus of his A&E show, died at age 79.
The “Duck Dynasty” family patriarch battled health issues, including early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
Beyond ducks, beards and laughs, Willie said the new season of “Duck Dynasty: The Revival” is about bringing something wholesome back to television.
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“I think right now — I think it’s important for the country to see a family, to see a healthy family and to see joy in the things that come out of our family,” he told Fox News Digital.
“We certainly saw that before with our family, where so many people would come to us and just say, ‘Thank you for putting that on,’” Willie said. “Maybe we can’t all live by each other. We can’t all sit together and have a prayer at the end of a meal. But we love seeing that. It helps encourage us. And so I think in these times — I think that can be helpful.”
Willie, who’s long served as the steady patriarch of the Robertson clan through fame, criticism and comebacks, told Fox News Digital that their foundation remains unchanged.
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“The anchor has been, really, the faith that goes back to our three things that we started ‘Duck Dynasty’ with, which were faith, family and ducks — in that order,” he remarked.
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“What happens in life is things will start getting ahead of the other. And so you’ll look up, and maybe you’re like, ‘Uh-oh, my faith is sliding a little bit.’”
Willie said keeping faith first has always been key to keeping the family strong.
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“We’ve noticed that it helps. The stronger our faith is, it helps keep our families together… when the family’s together, it can help whatever you’re doing at work,” he said.
That tight-knit dynamic, he added, doesn’t just play out behind closed doors — it’s what fans see on screen too.
“If not, you’ll definitely see it at work — you’ll see it show up, especially on a show like this,” Willie explained. “If there were trouble at home with us, you would certainly see it on the camera.”
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Even with busy filming schedules, the Robertsons have kept their Louisiana roots — and family dinners — firmly intact.
Korie Robertson, the matriarch of the “Duck Dynasty” family who recently launched a handbag line with Fount, told Fox News Digital how she manages to balance the spotlight while keeping family dinners sacred.
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“We really kind of understood from the very beginning that this was something bigger than us. It wasn’t about you or me getting famous. It was about something bigger than us. And I think when we did the show, we had that prayer at the end around the dinner table — and we didn’t do it for some because we had it planned. We just did it because this is what we do,” Korie said.
“We love to have dinner together as part of our family life. And we had this prayer that God really used in a powerful way.”
“Duck Dynasty: The Revival” Season 2 is in production with the premiere date to be announced soon.
All 10 episodes of Season 1 are available on Hulu.
