‘Alaskan Bush People’: Billy Brown’s Secret Family

Alaskan Bush People family patriarch Billy Brown’s marriage to Ami is not his first, and the children featured on the hit Discovery Channel show are not his only children, according to a report from Radar Online. He’s never spoken about his first marriage publicly, but Billy was previously married and had two children with his first wife. It all happened in the state of Texas, where she and the two children she had with Brown still reside. Radar Online obtained a marriage certificate confirming the reality of the matrimony.

Billy and the rest of the Alaskan Bush People clan now live in Alaska and claim to have lived there for 30 years. Prior to creating their home, Browntown, which is featured on Alaskan Bush People, however, 62-year-old Billy lived in Texas. This is where he met and married for the first time and where his wife bore two children. Her name was not provided in order to protect her privacy. At the time of the marriage, he was 16-years-old and she was 17-years-old. This family has been kept a secret from Alaskan Bush People viewers. This has not been a difficult secret to keep, however, because Brown has never been involved in the lives of his two now-adult children from his first marriage.

The mother of the Alaskan Bush People clan is Ami. She and Billy had what they have described as a whirlwind romance before marrying. She bore all seven of the children shown on Alaskan Bush People – Matt, Joshua “Bam Bam,” Solomon “Bear,” Gabe, Noah, Snowbird, and Rain. Many have been skeptical or critical of the Alaskan Bush People family as one scandal after another tarnishes the image they and Discovery Channel have created for them. On the Alaskan Bush People show, Billy is shown as a dedicated family man, but this news is sure to make many doubt that he truly is.

A previous scandal involving the Alaskan Bush People involved charges of falsifying information on applications for dividends from the state of Alaska. As recently reported by Inquisitr, father Billy denies any wrongdoing and states that he finally pleaded guilty anyway in order to avoid an ordeal that would drag on for a long time. In the Alaskan Bush People clip, he states that he begged the state to let him alone take the rap for the crime, but they insisted that another family member also pay a price. Joshua (“Bam Bam”) insisted that he be that person.

The case with the state of Alaska was a tough blow to the Alaskan Bush People because the charges of fraud were based on evidence that seemed to indicate that the family does not spend their lives in the Alaskan bush. The guilty verdict was reached after evidence was presented that indicated that the Alaskan Bush People clan spent large amounts of time outside of the state in both 2009 and 2012. Billy denies that claim but says that he did not keep records that would allow him to refute them in court.

The reputation of the Alaskan Bush People family took a hard hit with the fraud charges. It hit at the very basis for their successful show. This latest scandal hits at another important element of the show – the authenticity of the image of Billy that has been presented to the public. With news of this latest scandal, people are left doubting the character of the Alaskan Bush People father as word of a secret family he seems to have completely ignored for many years spreads.

Alaskan Bush People airs on Discovery Channel on Friday nights at 9 p.m. ET.

[Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel]