'Duck Dynasty' Star Phil Robertson Discovers He Has Adult Daughter From 1970s Affair

The Duck Dynasty family has a new member! Phil Robertson revealed alongside children Al, Jase, Jep and Willie during Blaze TV's Unashamed podcast Thursday that the highly religious reality star recently learned he had a previously-unknown adult daughter. Al explained during the podcast that he had previously received a letter from a woman named Phyliss, 45, who claimed to be his sister after going through a DNA search.

Al added that he at first "dismissed" the letter, because the woman was born after Phil became a Christian in the 1970s. Prior to his conversion, Phil admitted to being quite the philanderer, and his daughter appears to be conceived just before he joined the church. Phil and wife Kay have been married since 1966. "Well once we get into that and start looking at it a little more deeply," Al continued. "I'm like, 'Oh whoa, whoa ... there might be something to this.'"

Not wanting to bring up the letter to his father right away, Al conferred with Jase, who also received a letter. Deciding that Phyliss' outreach wasn't "frivolous," the two agreed they had to pursue things. "I started thinking, there's a 45-year-old woman out there who doesn't know who her dad is, and she's looking. And I thought, even if it's not Dad, she needs to know it's not Dad," Al said. He said that his parents took the news well, with Phil agreeing to take a DNA test. The test ended up being a "99.9 percent match," with Phil chiming in to say that when he got the results, he wanted to meet his daughter straight away.

"We know that in all things — in all things — even sin, God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose," Phil said, adding that Phyliss will make an appearance on an upcoming episode of the podcast. "It's a pretty cool explanation of redemption, reconciliation, love. As it turns out, 45 years, you have a daughter that you don't know about, and she has a father she doesn't know about. 45 years that doesn't sound like very long but you say, that's a while. So finally, after all those years, we come together."

As for the rest of the Robertson family, Phyliss' existence came as welcome news. "It was super awesome, I was so excited," Jep said, adding he had always hoped for a sister growing up. "It was like a dream come true."