‘Bringing Up Bates’ Set To Debut On UPtv: ’19 Kids And Counting’ Friends Score New Show

Fans of 19 Kids & Counting have met the family of Gil and Kelly Jo Bates in previous episodes, and now the family has a new show called Bringing Up Bates just ahead. The show featuring the family with 19 children will debut on the UP network on New Year’s Day.

UPtv shared that Kelly Jo and Gil Bates, along with their 19 kids and new grandbaby, will be sharing their day-to-day lives in their own show and fans won’t have to wait too long to check it out. Bringing Up Bates begins on January 1, 2015. The network shares that the Bates show will consist of 13 episodes featuring the family first seen interacting with the Duggars of TLC’s 19 Kids & Counting.

Gil and Kelly Jo Bates have been together for 27 years and now they have 19 kids ranging in age from 2 to 25. They couple just became grandparents for the first time, as the family’s oldest son Zach just welcomed a baby. As Us Weekly shares, Zach, 25, and Whitney, 21, welcomed baby Bradley Gilvin Bates on October 29.

This is the second go-around for the Bates with having their own show. People became familiar with them via 19 Kids & Counting and then they had a show called United Bates of America that aired for nine episodes on TLC in 2012. Many fans online are disappointed that the family isn’t heading back to TLC, but it does seem that the UP network will be a fitting home for it.

As is the case with the Duggars, the Bates family is a conservative Christian family that lives in the south. In the case of the Bates crew, they are based in Tennessee. The network shares that viewers will see the conservative side of this family which typically means little to no television, dresses-only for the girls and side hugs only until marriage, much as 19 Kids & Counting fans have seen with the courtships of Jill Duggar and Jessa Duggar.

The Bates family is described as a “big, happy family” whose rural Tennessee life is “in a flurry of transitions and is continually challenged by the modern world.” The upcoming season of Bringing Up Bates will feature Zach and Whitney’s pregnancy, Michaella’s courtship and a medical challenge for Erin that may affect their ability to start a family. Alyssa is a newlywed while Tori is expected to step up in helping to keep the family organized. Gill has a tree service and several of the older boys, Lawson, Nathan and Trace, are expected to help him.

For those unfamiliar with the network set to air Bringing Up Bates, UPtv provides a site that makes it easy to see if viewer’s satellite and cable providers carry the station. Bringing Up Bates begins airing its 13 episodes on UPtv beginning on January 1, 2015.

[Photo via UPtv]