Miss Kay Robertson gave some behind-the-scenes looks into A&E's "Duck Dynasty" and the Robertson family when sharing her testimony in a video from The Christian Post.
Kay Robertson is a down-to-earth, God-fearing woman who also happens to be the matriarch of the "Duck Dynasty" clan. Although she never imagined herself being a reality television star, Miss Kay knew all along that her family was special. Phil and her eldest three sons always had charismatic personalities, she says - even when they were younger. The boys' friends used to sit in a circle around them while they told stories, a character trait they undoubtedly inherited from their father Phil.
Miss Kay would sometimes tell stories about her family at women's Bible studies, and found she had a captive audience long before "Duck Dynasty" came about. People would tell her that they could listen to her stories all day because her family was so funny - little did she know that one day, millions of Americans would tune in on Wednesday nights to watch the Robertson family's antics.
"Can you believe I've got a job where I'm just getting paid to be myself?" Kay jokes. She and Phil are in their sixties, and sometimes have a hard time keeping up with their children and grandchildren on top of filming "Duck Dynasty." "It's not always easy ... but we just feel like the Lord's going to carry us through," she says.
What keeps them motivated to continue is a genuine love for their fans - "I truly do love you, my fans - and I mean that with all my heart," Kay said at the Christian event - "You perceive us as being sincere, we are - we're not pretending. We do it because we care. We care about America, and we care about our fans."
One can imagine that it's hard to resist Miss Kay's home-style cooking, and she prepares a feast in almost every episode; unfortunately, the "Duck Dynasty" camera crew isn't allowed to eat with the family while they are filming - though Kay admitted she has tried to sneak them a biscuit behind her back once or twice in the past.
Kay mentioned a few other surprising insights into the making of "Duck Dynasty," such as the fact that A&E didn't think Uncle Si should be a regular character on the show at first. Willie soon told the show's producers that they'd be "missing the boat" if they didn't give Si a chance to shine - and boy, was he right! Silas Robertson is undoubtedly one of the most loved characters on the show. Kay also said that they don't give their oldest son Alan much air time, either - probably because he used to be a preacher. "Alan is every bit as funny as any of them, but they don't think that preachers can be funny, I guess," she says.
Phil Robertson is an evangelist at heart, and has tried to encourage A&E to allow the family to display their Christian values more freely on the show. In the first episode of "Duck Dynasty," for instance, the editors had bleeped out the family's speech a few times, trying to make it appear as if they had used curse words. Phil was very upset and called the producers of the show to let them know that they were misrepresenting their family's values. He also pursued letting viewers know that the family prayed in Jesus' name, but was edited out for quite some time because of a fear that it might offend those who aren't Christians.
The younger Robertson men used to shave after duck hunting season, but decided to keep their beards all-year-round for speaking engagements. "Phil hasn't shaved in thirty years ... lucky me," Kay jokes - though she did say that Phil consented to trim his beard once, because he "felt something crawling in there."
The Robertson family is thankful that the show has made a positive impact on others. Her favorite story of life-change was hearing that a man deeply involved with drugs and contemplating suicide decided not to take his life after reading Phil's book "Happy, Happy, Happy" and hearing about Jesus' offer of salvation.
Kay says she is encouraged that so many people want to "speak up for something good in America," and hopes that God will use "Duck Dynasty" to promote change in our culture for the better.
