Willie Robertson is keeping both his faith and his father’s legacy alive as the Robertson family prepares for the second season of Duck Dynasty: The Revival.
According to Fox News, the upcoming season will feature a heartfelt tribute to Phil Robertson, the beloved family patriarch and founder of Duck Commander, who passed away earlier this year at age 79 after battling health issues, including early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
For Willie, the timing of his father’s passing carried deep meaning.
“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 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.”
Filming without Phil has been emotional for the family, but Willie believes his dad would be proud of how they’ve continued to carry the torch.
“It’s sad, but I think he’d be happy,” he 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.”
Beyond the laughs and duck calls, Willie said the new season is about showing something deeper — a family grounded in faith.
“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 said.
“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 continued. “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.”
For Willie, the key to staying strong as a family has always been staying grounded in the same values that started it all.
“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 said.
“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.”
Korie Robertson, who has balanced her role as matriarch with new business ventures like her handbag line with Fount, said their family dinners and prayers remain the heart of their life together.
“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,” 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 currently in production, with the premiere date to be announced soon.
All 10 episodes of Season 1 are streaming now on Hulu.
