Adam and Danielle Busby are opening up about the decision to return to TLC for another season OutDaughtered.
The Texas couple and their six daughters – including a set of quintuplets – shared their lives with the world on eight seasons of their reality show. But in 2021, Adam and Danielle decided to step away from filming. At the time, they stressed OutDaughtered had not been canceled and that they were open to returning to TV in the future. But in reality, Danielle thought she and her family were unlikely to ever film more episodes of the show.
“Really am still shocked at the journey God places our family on,” she wrote in a June 6 Instagram post. “We thought we were done filming OutDaughtered years ago…here we are again with a New Season airing July 11th.”
The mom of six added that the decision to let a camera crew back into her life “was not easy” but that she realized she couldn’t “control God’s plan” for her life.
Adam and Danielle Busby on why they quit filming ‘OutDaughtered’
In a video shared to their “It’s a Buzz World” YouTube channel, Adam and Danielle shed more light on their decision to step away from OutDaughtered and the circumstances that led them to decide it was time to return to TV.
“We honestly didn’t think we would ever come back,” Adam explained, adding that he and his wife felt it was time to focus on their family and other projects outside of the show.
“We just really need[ed] some time of rest and replenishment,” Danielle added. “It was a hard decision. But we know that it was the best thing that we needed for the family.”
The Busbys, who are Christian, have always made it clear that their faith guides the decisions they make for their family. So, when the couple began to get messages that it might be time to return to TV, they listened. As they shared in the video, they did a spiritual fast through their church a year after they quit filming. Both came away more open to the idea that God was calling on them to share their story.
“I didn’t want to jump back into TV,” Danielle explained. At the same time, she felt that “God [was] telling us to go back in the light.”
The Busbys explain why they came back to TLC
Even after the fast, Adam and Danielle weren’t sure they wanted to return to filming OutDaughtered. But they agreed that the next time the network reached out, they’d listen to what they had to say.
Days later, they heard from TLC. That conversation led to an agreement to bring back their reality show, though with some changes. Adam and Danielle are now executive producers on OutDaughtered, giving them more control over content and storyline. That gave them “a lot more peace of mind,” Adam said.
While it was their faith that led them back to OutDaughtered, viewers won’t necessarily be seeing a lot of talk about God when the new season premieres in July. Adam and Danielle said they realized that a reality show on a secular network wasn’t “a platform to share [our] faith story.” Instead, they feel their role is to create a TV show both parents and kids can enjoy.
“Our job as a family … is to go out and put something out there that’s entertaining that families can sit down and watch together,” Danielle said. “It’s just fun, family entertainment.”
OutDaughtered Season 9 premieres Tuesday, July 11 at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.
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