Earlier this month, MTV brought us a new series called The Busch Family Brewed. The show follows the adventures of the Busch family, which is made up of mom Christi, dad Billy Sr., and seven mostly grown kids.
It’s a new kind of reality show
The Busch Family Brewed offers viewers a new type of show. It combines the large-family reality genre pioneered by TLC with the partying shows MTV is known for.
The Busches are heirs to a fortune. Billy Sr.’s great-grandfather, Adolphus Busch, founded Anheuser-Busch, one of the world’s largest beer companies.
Although they no longer own the company, the Busches are still extremely wealthy. The family is worth an estimated $13 billion — making them one of the 20 wealthiest families in America — so their lives are little different from your standard reality TV family.
Who are all these people?
With such a large family, it’s tough to keep track of everyone, but we’ve got the breakdown.
The OG and patriarch of the Busch family is Billy Senior, 60. Billy is portrayed as a pretty happy-go-lucky family man on the show, but he does have a strange criminal past that includes assaulting an 11-year-old.
Matriarch Christi Busch grew up much differently than her husband. She was raised in a regular, middle-class family. Billy’s family was even suspicious of Christi’s motives when the couple started dating, but after seven children and 30 some years together, we think it’s safe to say that Christi is in it for the long haul.
At 28, Billy Jr. is the eldest of the seven Busch kids. His storyline this season revolves around his relationship with his girlfriend Marissa, who his family thinks is dating Billy for the wrong reasons.
The oldest daughter in the family is Haley, 23. Haley has a long-term boyfriend, Clark, and their relationship will also be a focus of the show.
Abbey is the third born. She’s 25 and graduated from Lynn University in Florida in 2017. She still lives in Florida with her boyfriend Matt and is characterized on the show as the “wild child.”
Gussie might be the breakout star of the show. He’s a hard-partying 24-year-old who played football for Alabama. He was named after his great-grandfather, August, but there are quite a few August Busches. Gussie is actually the fifth with the name.
Grace is 22 and an accomplished equestrian. She’s characterized as a blunt, tell-it-like-it-is kind of girl.
Maddie, 17, is the youngest daughter in the family. She’s still in high school, but her siblings say she’s very mature for her age — possibly a consequence of having five older siblings.
At 14, Peter is the baby of the family. His siblings call him a “brat,” though he prefers the term “boss.”
All in all, they’re a huge family, but you can get to know them all on the show.
The Busch Family Brewed airs on Thursdays at 9/8c on MTV