‘Alaskan Bush People’: Matt Brown Announces They’re Returning In November

Fans of Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People have been eagerly awaiting word on whether or not the show would return for another season. There has been much speculation about the reasons it may or may not make a return. Well, we no longer have to wonder. Thanks to a Facebook post from Matt Brown, we know that Alaskan Bush People will be back with new episodes, and they will begin around the beginning of November.

https://www.facebook.com/MattBrownAlaskanBush/photos/a.859808670741201.1073741828.859806117408123/1106735282715204/?type=3&theater

Although this answers the main question that has been on the minds of fans, it still leaves several questions unanswered. It’s interesting that Matt Brown was the one to break the news, as many of the questions that Alaskan Bush People fans have are related to him.

At the end of last season, Discovery included the eldest Brown child’s struggle with alcohol in the show. It wasn’t really news to viewers as there had been many reports about Matt’s behavior that had many suspicious that he had a drinking problem. Back in December of 2015, Radar Online reported that the Alaskan Bush People star had been arrested for DUI. To make matters worse, he was also charged with fleeing the scene of an accident. It seems that while driving a 1986 Volvo that belonged to a girl he met in a bar, he drove through a Walmart parking lot in the wee hours of August 30, 2013, and hit a parked motorcycle. He told police that he and the girl had hooked up and then she said he could use her car to go to Walmart to buy some chips. He denied hitting the motorcycle, but multiple witnesses stated otherwise. Neither Discovery nor anyone in the Alaskan Bush People family ever commented on the incident.

As recently as June of this year, the same site reported that Matt and the rest of Alaskan Bush People clan actually live mostly in a hotel in Hoonah, Alaska. Each of the sons has their own room, and, according to neighbors, Matt spent a lot of time in the hotel bar drinking and flirting. After months of increasingly erratic behavior, he made the decision to enter rehab.

Discovery included some of his decision to enter rehab in last season’s Alaskan Bush People. Father Billy Brown approached Matt about some of his observations in one episode. He told his son that he was looking really rough and that he seemed withdrawn and distracted. His eldest son responded that he was just exhausted. He told his father that the family had enough to worry about and to not worry about him, that he could handle what was going on with him.

Later in the same episode, Matt approached brother Gabe about what had been on his mind. He told him that he felt like he needed to get some help because he believed he had a drinking problem. The Alaskan Bush People family claims not to drink, and because of this, although he wanted to share his decision with the family, admitting his problem made him feel weak and ashamed. Gabe encourage him to share his decision, and, although we didn’t see it on camera, Matt did so. He went off to rehab, and we watched at one point as Alaskan Bush People parents Billy and Ami waited to see if he would return. He did not.

Matt’s time in rehab is now over, and judging by pictures taken in recent weeks, he looks healthier and stronger.

He spoke with People when he left rehab, and told them that he didn’t think he was an alcoholic, but that he saw himself heading down a road he didn’t want to travel. He seemed grateful for the experience he had in rehab and seemed hopeful for the future.

“I learned a lot about myself in those 35 days. I’ve turned my weakness into a strength. In life, we all get lost every now and then and have to find our way back. Not everyone makes it back, and I’m happy to be one of those who did.”

Given that he stated that Discovery is “getting us ready” for a new season of Alaskan Bush People, it’s probably safe to assume that Matt will be part of those new episodes. Fans wonder though if Discovery will include any more about his drinking problem and time in rehab. For a show that is plagued by accusations of fakery, some believe that including it in the show to some extent could help diffuse those accusations somewhat.

We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out. There is no official date for the premiere of the next season of Alaskan Bush People, but it should be somewhere around the beginning of November.

[Featured Image by Discovery]