Discovery Communications
Gil and Kelly Jo Bates, along with their 19 children, are primed and ready to watch their new TLC reality show, which premieres tonight.
Lake City residents Gil and Kelly Jo Bates peer out their hotel room that overlooks Times Square and marvel at what they see.
"It's busy," Kelly Jo says of the city that never sleeps. "We've had a good time here, but we're Tennesseans at heart. We like the slow pace and life."
It doesn't get much slower than Lake City's farm country, where the couple raises 19 children, ranging in ages from a few months to 23 years old.
Most of last week, the Bates brood was in the Big Apple to promote their new reality series, "United Bates of America" (debuting 9 p.m. Monday, TLC). Cameras document the daily life of the mega-family, from how they get laundry done (full loads every other day) to their grocery shopping (going through eight gallons of milk many times week) to their close-knit structure.
The Bateses weren't looking for a TV gig. They don't even own a set. But once they appeared on TLC's like-minded reality show "19 Kids and Counting," producers and the cable channel knew they had the makings for their own series.
"United" has opened a new world to them. They learned to negotiate with a TV executives (when production began, Gil Bates, who runs a tree removal service, didn't know they would be paid for doing the series) and traveled to New York City, a foreign territory to them.
While in New York, they appeared on "Good Morning America," "Good Afternoon America," "Nightline" and "20/20." After their "GMA" appearance, comic Chris Rock ribbed them during his segment.
The Bates know their choice to have so many kids won't sit well with everyone. "What makes the show special is that it is about family," Kelly Jo says. "It's the good, bad and things we need to work on."
Terry Morrow may be reached at 865-342-6445 or morrowt@knoxville.com.
© 2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 5
shanethang writes:
Yet another woman unable to say no to the advances of the husband. Ugh! Disgusting show no doubt. Do not watch. No doubt our tax payer money is paying for most of those kids.
rainbow6 writes:
My family experienced the pleasure of meeting this family on a Sunday afternoon at a cracker barrel restaurant.
We were amazed at the behavior of the children and the loving attitude of the entire family.
The parents seemed much younger than I would have expected.
Everyone should watch this series. Like myself, I believe that this family will amaze the audience.
rainbow6 writes:
You are wrong about the taxes. They take nothing at all from the government or anyone else.
Their story is truly a model for independence and
of family dedication.
We could all learn something from them
cejensenslawyer writes:
Pay no attention to shanethang, that's all the liberals know is raping the taxpayers. The Bates' trust God, liberals, well, you know.
ezspirit writes:
These are 2 intelligent people who take care of their family on their own. They rely on no government assistance whatsoever, the father has his own business, they have no credit cards, they're self-supportive & the family has everything they need. The parents are both very patient & loving role models, so the kids are very well-adjusted & they love their lifestyle (personally they're 'way too conservative for me, but it works for them). They currently have 4 or 5 kids in college & one son has a thriving lawn-service business. Your tax dollars don't take care of this family.
So, how can you criticize them for choosing to have a lot more kids than you or I would?
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