‘Duck Dynasty: The Revival’: Willie & Korie Reveal How Phil’s ‘Presence’ Is Felt in Season 2

Season 2 of Duck Dynasty: The Revival is underway, and even though Phil Robertson is no longer with the family (he died in May 2025 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease), his “presence” will still be felt in the upcoming episodes.

“That is a big part of why we wanted to do the show, just to kind of show the next generation and the legacy continuing,” Korie Robertson told TV Insider. “I think part of the way we live is really special. We do have the influence of our grandparents and our grandkids. Now, Willie [Robertson] and I are the grandparents, so we’re just seeing the continuation.”

The Season 2 premiere was a tribute to Phil after his death, and the coming episodes will continue to honor his legacy. “We did the mayhaw jelly in Season 2, which is something that Phil had always done and taught the grandkids to do and now Willie’s carrying that tradition on,” Korie teased. “Lots of cooking and cooking competitions because cooking is a big part of the Robertson family and what they love. A lot of hunting and time in the woods, and the young guys trying to figure out how to be duck men. A lot of that.”

Willie added that the Robertson kids “really looked up to Phil and what he started in the outdoor space,” so there will be “a lot of training” for the next generation to learn “what it was like back in the day to learn about the outdoors and hunting and providing for your family.” He said this will “speak to Phil’s passing” by showing how the family dealt with the aftermath of his death.

“I think it’s helpful to other people,” Willie admitted. “You’ll see how we still, even in the sad times, there’s a joy there and a playfulness and funness, that we still live life together and how we do that.”

Scroll down for more about Season 2 cameos from other family members and more!

When the show came back last year, a lot of fans were vocal in wondering where some other family members were. Were you surprised by that reaction and can you tease any familiar faces we might see this time?

Willie Robertson: No, that didn’t surprise us at all. Once something’s established, I think we always kind of want to go back in our minds and be like, “I remember the way we used to watch it and the way people were around.” I think that’s the nature of every show. Things change and things move on. The original Duck Dynasty was where we were in life at that point, and even the show changed us, obviously. We’re well known now by a lot of people, we’ve done a lot of television which we hadn’t done before. At this point in life, other families have gotten bigger. They do different things. The office looks different, people have passed away, people have gotten older, so it’s harder to get to where we were in life in that moment as to where we are now.

There will be some of the old faces. Jase [Robertson], I know. Jase has been busy doing a lot of other things, a lot of podcasting. He’s not in the duck call room, he’s not putting duck calls together anymore. We wanted to show how we’re moving on in life, but also some of the things we still do together as a family. So there will be some of the old family. Jep [Robertson] and Jessica [Robertson] are coming on this season. They’ve been busy. They’ve got kids and now grandkids. We all have grandkids now. Everyone’s really busy.

Korie Robertson: Our family has definitely expanded, but we are still right here in Louisiana and live and do a lot of life together. They had different shows they were doing when we first started filming, so they were part of that, but they are going to be part of a lot of this season. It’ll be fun. Jase, specifically, and Jep and Jessica. And of course Uncle Si [Robertson]. He’s always around.

A lot of your family members do have podcasts and you’re all keeping fans updated on your lives on social media, but what does the show provide that those things can’t?

Willie: I think people want to know more. They want to know more about the faith part and how that comes in. I think the podcasts are allowing for us to tell those stories and the deeper parts. The television show gets to have the real fun side of living life. We can go either do stuff or try something and we see how it turns out. It’s shorter. The podcasts can be really long and in-depth, and obviously that’s popular and everyone loves listening to them and finding out more about people they know about, but the show has a whimsical nature about it. It’s fun. The Robertsons love that fun. We love to laugh. Life is so serious and times are hard and the news is awful, but we also want to have fun and laugh at ourselves and have fun as a family and find some joy in life, as well.

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Korie: I think that was one of the special things about the first time around, was just the humor that people found. It was just kind of a little escape and something you can watch together as a family and enjoy. That’s what we tried to capture again this time around. Even though we do capture tougher subjects like Phil’s passing and stuff like that, we still always try to find the humor in it and that’s part of how the Robertson family does life. Actually, we were just at an event and had so many people come up and say, “It’s our kids’ nighttime show to watch. My kids watch Duck Dynasty before bed every night.” They love it because it’s a feel good show and they know they can trust it, it’s safe for their kids to watch and all the values are going to be there. That’s what we tried to do again with The Revival. Just to hear that from fans, the gratefulness to provide something that’s fun and the whole family can watch together, is such a special thing.

Do you have any updates about the future of the show after this season and would you be interested in continuing to film?

Korie: We really don’t know. We don’t have any updates. I feel like television is such an interesting thing. You never know what you’re going to be doing next. Every season you’re like, “This could be our last.”

Willie: If it works, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, and if it doesn’t, we certainly have a lot of other stuff to do.

Korie: We had a great time doing it with the grandkids. We made some super special memories. We always kind of hold it loosely. If we feel like, when the time comes, that we want to do it again, we’ll be there, but if not, it was great while it lasted.

Duck Dynasty: The Revival, Season 2, Saturdays, 10/9c, A&E