Alaskan Bush People star Bear Brown opened up fan questions on Instagram over the weekend, and the most common question he received was whether or not his hit reality show was “fake.”
In a video posted on his Instagram page on Saturday (May 3), Brown listed off just some of the questions he’d been sent. “Where to start?” he began. “I’m not a real Alaskan. Was the show staged? Was the show faked? Did we leave Browntown in a mess? Did construction people actually build up the stuff in Browntown? Are we hated by all locals and not welcomed back in Alaska?”
“No, no, no, no and no,” he responded.
The Discovery Channel reality series premiered in 2014 and followed the Brown family as they attempted to survive in the remote wilderness, away from modern society and amenities. Over the years, fans have questioned the show’s authenticity, especially whether the cast truly lived in the wild.
Brown expanded on his answers, stating he is a “real” Alaskan as he was born in Wrangell, Alaska, on June 10, 1987, and didn’t move away from the state until he was 30 years old.
As for the show’s authenticity, Brown said, “The show was not faked. It simply followed my family, which you can actually tell how not faked it is if you actually watch the show. Not faked at all.”
The dad of three, who recently announced his split from Raiven Brown after three years of marriage, also responded to the question of whether the show constructed stuff in Browntown.
“Construction people did build stuff in Browntown for the crew, for the producers, for camera people, so they weren’t standing in the weather all day because it rains a lot there,” he said, noting how Browntown already existed and wasn’t purpose-built for the TV show.
He also denied being hated by locals. “No, not true,” he said. “A few people under a computer that were jealous that our family was picked up for a show when theirs wasn’t? Sure. Adored by a lot of people in Alaska. A lot of people I grew up with aren’t on computers. They’re not on the internet. They’re out there in Alaska in the bush.”
Brown went on to say he and his family left Browntown in “pristine” condition when they left. “That stuff is just not true, but people will always believe bad before they believe good and that’s something that’s really, really sad,” he added.
“Life is just much too short to dwell on drama and I suggest that people get out more, smile a little bit bigger and enjoy the time that you have while you have it,” he concluded.
Alaskan Bush People ran for 14 seasons on the Discovery Channel but hasn’t aired new episodes since 2022. While the network hasn’t officially announced whether the show has been canceled, many believe it has been shelved. In March, the U.S. Sun reported the series has no plans to film future episodes amid a $500,000 legal battle.