Alaskan Bush People Secrets — The Browns' Biggest Lies Revealed

Fans have been skeptical about the Browns of Alaskan Bush People ever since they crash landed on our TV screens in 2014. Although they claimed to live in isolation where they hunted their own food, ran from bears, and struggled to get by, many people questioned the legitimacy of their allegations. After reports revealed the family actually never lived "in the bush" and actually spent most of their time in a cushy lodge near their filming site, the gig was up. Now that fans know they're not as legit as they first thought, many are wondering what other secrets the family is hiding. Turns out, they have a lot of them. Below, 10 of the biggest secrets you might not know about.

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While the Browns were munching on leaves, they lived down the street from a pizza place.

The location of Browntown, the cabin Billy claimed he built himself with his bare hands, was actually right down the street from a pizza place, according to Anchorage Daily News. Although the area was remote enough (producers reportedly carried guns and were told to watch out for bears), it was far from complete isolation. Although the Browns appeared to be struggling economically on the show, with many loyal fans choosing to send them money, the family was clearly far from starving.

Those "gunshots" that chased the Browns from their homestead were actually fireworks.

During season 1, an exciting plot unfolded that involved a dispute over the ownership of the Browns' land. After the family was threatened with the sound of gunfire, they decided to pack it up and move into a boat instead. "The land is not worth dying for," Billy dramatically declared on the show.

However, those weren't gunshots they were hearing, they were fireworks. According to Anchorage Daily News, a neighbor (yep, they had neighbors) was so annoyed by all the noise caused by production, he set off fireworks in retaliation. "[I] decided to shoot a couple in the air, not in the vicinity, and let them know 'Hey, get away from my house!'" the angry neighbor said. "Stop portraying Alaskans like we're idiots."

The family cow was just for the cameras.

In one season, the family got a cow named "Sabrina" to provide them with a steady source of milk. Although there were plenty of dramatic shots of the family struggling to transport the cow to their homestead, the reality was that the cow only stayed with them for about a month. "She’s going to be the quote, unquote family’s source of protein for milk and butter,” the cow's owner, Jan Wolfisberg, said about Sabrina's "role" on the show. “They’re going to be self-sufficient; the cow’s going to be the family pet." Although the cow was just a prop for the show, her purchase by Discovery producers saved her from a trip to the slaughterhouse.

Billy's "long-lost daughter" Twila might not have been so long lost.

Before marrying Ami, Billy had another marriage where he fathered two children. After meeting Ami, he gradually lost contact with them. On the show, Billy had a heartfelt reunion with his daughter, Twila Byars, who he hadn't seen in 30 years. Although the reunion was great for TV, reportedly Twila and Billy have been on speaking terms for years. "They've communicated over the years on occasion," a source told Radar.

Ami married Billy when she was only 15.

In his book One Wave at Time, Billy writes about how he met Ami after the devastating death of his parents. One creepy part that was left out was that Ami was only 15 when they were married (Billy was about 26 at the time). Although it wasn't legal, he was able to avoid jail time by getting permission from her parents.

Ami's family has accused Billy of being "controlling."

And speaking of Ami's parents, they're not very fond of Billy. In 2017, Ami’s mother, Earlene Branson, and brother, Les, revealed that they've been estranged from Ami for over 35 years. "Billy started acting very controlling of Ami from the very beginning,” Les told Radar. “I realized that Ami never spoke, Billy did all the talking. She would just kind of sit there beside him smiling. I didn’t realize it then, but she wasn’t allowed to speak. She couldn’t speak without his permission!” However, on an episode of Alaskan Bush People, Ami alleged that she grew up poor and that her family was abusive. Her family later claimed that those were lies.

Noah's girlfriend was a legit actress.

Not sure how producers thought they could sneak this one by, but eagle-eyed viewers weren't fooled. On the show, Noah invited his love interest back to his cabin where he performed a cringe-inducing song to her about his ex (how romantic). The woman was actually actress Karynna Kauffman who has three credits on her IMDb page — Alaskan Bush People not being one of them.

Producers tricked a woman into having a phone conversation with Bear.

Apparently, producers went above and beyond to construct their storylines about the Brown brothers' love lives. In one instance, a woman named Christina was lied to by producers and told she was competing to appear on an Alaskan dating show. After a phone conversation with Bear, producers called her back and told her that she was out of the running. Imagine her shock when she saw her conversation with Bear used in the show. According to her mother, Romona, who told this story to Reality TV Scandals, Christina was rightly outraged.

Real Alaskans hate the show.

Ever since the show's premiere, locals who live in Hoonah, AK haven't been the Browns' biggest fans. In addition to accusing the show of being inauthentic, many locals have complained on Facebook groups like Alaskan Bush People Exposed that production for the show is loud and disruptive to their small town. On top of that, other critics of the show aren't happy that the series ignores indigenous Alaskans and natives who are more legit.