What is “Gypsy Sisters”?

Longtime fans of “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” (“MBFAGW”) fondly remember its first spin-off show, “Gypsy Sisters”, which chronicled the haphazard lives of the Stanleys and their extended family members. With a total of 32 episodes over four seasons, “Gypsy Sisters” premiered in February 2013 and allowed thousands of viewers to witness how Romanichal women lived.

Negative think pieces, bad publicity, and a horrifying animal cruelty case linked to a main cast member forced the show to an end, although the official excuse given was low ratings. For the majority, “Gypsy Sisters” was their go-to guilty pleasure show; for Romanichal people, the Stanleys were impostors who were playing up to harmful stereotypes. Today, we’ll discover the truth about “Gypsy Sisters”.

Cast Members

The star of “Gypsy Sisters” was Nettie Stanley, a West Virginia native born in July 1974 and mother of nine children. With her bleached blonde locks and signature spray tan, she was TV’s most glamorous mother hen with a strong personality to match. Nettie, who was known for wearing pajamas outdoors and getting into bust-ups during family events, was the rock of the clan and supported her three younger sisters and 12 grandchildren throughout their numerous rough patches in life. When her stepson, Rocky, tragically died of stab wounds when leaving a basketball game, Nettie stepped away from the world of reality TV, and made all her social media accounts private.

Nettie’s younger sisters are Dovie, Mellie and JoAnn. In the show’s third season, the matriarch and her husband, Huey Stanley, renewed their wedding vows to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Despite Nettie’s strong and feisty personality, she was also a responsible individual, and helped her mother, Lottie Mae, raise the rest of her numerous brood.

Lottie Mae’s criminal activities raised a few eyebrows amongst viewers of “Gypsy Sisters”. The great-grandmother was convicted of bank fraud in the early 2000s, and sentenced to nine years in prison a few years later for a separate offence – namely, removing her son and grandson from foster care. Lottie Mae was arrested in a Madison Heights motel along with her husband; thankfully, she has been a model citizen since completing her sentence.

Nettie’s children are Nukie, Kat, Chasitie, Destiny, Huey Jr., Albert, Heath, Sheila and Dallas. They were born to three different fathers, one of them being Huey. Media sources claim that she has up to twenty grandchildren, eight more than when the show first aired. Nettie is highly involved in their upbringing, and prides herself on putting family first.

Next up is Mellie Stanley, the youngest sister and self-described black sheep of the clan. Her children – Richard Joel, Brandy’Wyne Leveniya, Divinity Rose, and Serenity Faye – were born within seven years and all had different fathers. The public was shocked to learn that Mellie became pregnant with Richard Joel after drinking too much; in fact, the West Virginia native wasn’t sure if going ahead with the pregnancy was the right decision.

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As it happens, Mellie and Richard Joel’s father divorced less than a week after tying the knot, and the former TV star isn’t believed to be on good terms with any of her children’s fathers. After giving birth to Serenity Faye, the rambunctious Stanley seems to have calmed down slightly, and is allegedly taking precautions to avoid further unplanned pregnancies.

Before giving birth to Richard Joel, Mellie was a nightclub stripper; she hoped that the arrival of her first son would help her mature and grow as an individual. Nevertheless, she still indulged in numerous vices, and wasn’t averse to drinking, cursing, and fighting both on- and off-screen. Shortly after the cancellation of “Gypsy Sisters”, Mellie and her then-husband were convicted of coupon fraud scam, and she was sentenced to five years on probation in 2019; one of the conditions was that she pass her General Education Development Test (G.E.D). Mellie will hopefully be off probation in 2024.

JoAnn Wells, who was introduced to the audience as an aspiring nurse with a gentle and unassuming personality, was also arrested for coupon scamming in the early 2010s. She was sentenced to pay Target almost $15,000 in 2014, and was also placed on supervised probation for two years. To carry out her elaborate scheme, Jo befriended a Target cashier, and successfully scammed the supermarket out of $14,000 before being busted.

One of the main storylines in season three was the acrimonious divorce between JoAnn and her partner at the time, Belcher. Despite a brief reconciliation, the differences between them were too great, and they soon parted ways again. JoAnn and Mellie’s love lives were startingly similar, although JoAnn avoided having children with every man she was involved with.

As of 2022, JoAnn is believed to be in a serious relationship, but with an anonymous man. She’s shown no desire to return to reality TV, and has either deleted her social media profiles or made them private. She and Belcher share two children who are being kept out of the spotlight for now.

Had to share ? @joannwells84 pic.twitter.com/NxMRCdG9qy

— Gypsy Grapevine (@grapevine_gypsy) July 31, 2015

Dovie Carter is the fourth Stanley sister and family mediator. The most enigmatic sibling, she was a minor character on the show, only appearing a few times in its last season. The dark-haired beauty keeps her private life under wraps, so much so that there’s no available information regarding her relationship status, or possible children.

Annie Malone and Kayla Williams are two siblings who were extended family members of the Stanleys. Annie was no stranger to reality TV, and made her small-screen debut in an episode of “MBFAGW” in which she and her first cousin, James, tied the knot. The short-lived marriage ended for unknown reasons, and James moved on and formed a family with Dallas, Nettie’s daughter and Annie’s cousin. A rather unsavory character, Annie was charged with several felonies, amongst them exploitation of an elderly person, in 2017.

Meanwhile, the marriage between Kayla Williams and Richard lasted almost twenty years. Her next two weddings – and divorces – happened in quick succession; although Richard took his time in moving on, he already shared two sons with James’s sister, Danielle Malone. Viewers found it understandably challenging to keep up with the vast Stanley-Malone-Williams family tree, as almost everyone was related either by blood or marriage.

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These days, Kayla’s five children – Richard, Danielle, Lexi, George, and Sissy – are all grown and starting their own families. Meanwhile, Kayla is an aspiring lifestyle influencer who uploads cooking and beauty videos onto her YouTube channel; she’s also helping to raise her various grandchildren, when not busy providing content for her thousands of subscribers.

Kayla and Annie had one brother named Gus whose wife was Laura Johnston. The couple shared three daughters named Bailey, Hailey and Savannah. Laura rarely appeared on the show, but was seen at a few family functions; reliable sources confirm that she and Gus are still together.

Another minor character is Sheena Small, who further complicated the family trees by sharing four children with Henry Stanley, who happened to be Nettie and Mellie’s brother… and her first cousin. Sheena and Henry’s children were Shirley, Shakira, Shania, and Frankie; the couple made sparse appearances in the show, and weren’t given any of their own storylines.

Next up is Dallas Nichole Williams, one of Nettie’s eldest children and a mother of six who also had an unfortunate love life, being married at least twice. Her children were named London, Richard, Demi, Aaron, Huey and Archie and were born to different fathers who were rarely mentioned in “Gypsy Sisters”. As mentioned earlier, her ex-partner James Malone married Annie, Dallas’s cousin, but Dallas somehow overlooked that relationship, and took him back in late 2016, which didn’t sit well with Annie at all. Instead of going back to Annie when he and Dallas broke up yet again, James moved on and looked for love outside of the family.

Nettie “Nuckie” Williams is the last cast member and was vilified even more than Mellie Stanley, for her poor mothering skills. Sparking controversy after ditching her partner, Pookie, and their son to see the world with her drug addict boyfriend, Nettie was somehow convinced to return to her family when Pookie and his wife at the time found her and brought her back to West Virginia. Two months later, Pookie divorced his then-wife and went back to Nettie; they would have two daughters together named Delilah Lee and Ivory, to complete their dysfunctional family unit.

The Truth

For a time, dwindling ratings and negative publicity were cited as the reasons for the cancellation of “Gypsy Sisters”, however, the true motive was far more sinister. In July 2015, Mellie Stanley and her then-husband Randall Scott Vuncannon were embroiled in a sickening animal cruelty case, the details of which were so gruesome that advertisers decided to stop sponsoring the reality series. The network, realizing that the show would be far less profitable without sponsors, unceremoniously cancelled “Gypsy Sisters”, and moved on to presumably bigger and better things.

Reports may vary, but the official story is that Mellie and Randall were arguing over rent when he suddenly picked up the TV star’s small pet dog and threw her across the kitchen with such force as to kill her instantly. After being alerted, police officers found Mellie bruised and barely able to move in the street outside her home, which she and her children shared with Randall.

Randall was promptly arrested and hit with a felony animal cruelty charge; since then he’s faded into obscurity, and hasn’t been heard of or seen in years. There was a resounding lack of sympathy towards Mellie in the aftermath of the scandal, as her parenting skills were questioned and criticized, especially the fact that she’d married a violent individual and allowed him to live with her minor children after a relatively brief courting stage. It remains unclear if Mellie wishes to return to TV or not, but in any case, no self-respecting network has agreed to give her or her sisters a platform, since “Gypsy Sisters” was canned.

Similar Shows

Although the popularity of gypsy shows has plummeted around the world, they were all the rage in the mid-2010s, and have spawned quite a few pseudo-celebs. The most well-known reality series in the niche genre is, obviously, “MBFAGW”, which premiered on TLC in early 2012.

However, “MBFAGW” was plagued by controversies for years, leading to its cancellation in 2016. Although we can generally assume that much of reality TV is carefully planned out and scripted before the cameras start rolling, it turns out that the show in question was so fake that many of the weddings weren’t even legal.

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Priscilla Kelly, who participated in the show’s first season, blew the lid off the sensational story in a since-deleted Facebook post, which was quoted by various news outlets. According to Priscilla, the show’s producers were so interested in pushing narratives that they hired actors and faked many of the weddings. Priscilla said: “Basically [producers] told me if I would just get married it didn’t matter who it was with, it didn’t have to be legal just so they had something to put on TV… I’m so ashamed that I even did the show.”

“[Producers are] offering people to marry but without even paperwork, just to have something to put on the show,” Priscilla added. Given that her post was shared thousands of times and made headlines, fans of the show began asking other participants to post their marriage licenses as proof. Priscilla also lambasted the show’s producers, for their inaccurate depiction of Romani culture.

Things get even worse, however, as Priscilla claimed that many participants weren’t travelers or Romani. One commenter claimed that she had been contacted by the show’s production team despite being Italian and having nothing to do with the ethnic group the series was supposedly focused on. Many “traditions”, such as the annual gypsy ball that was discussed and depicted on the show, were also made up for the sake of entertainment.

We could discuss Priscilla’s claims all day – apparently, she was also told to say she lived in a trailer, despite it being untrue – but some netizens think that the integrity of Romani and traveler people who would willingly participate in such an outrageously fabricated show must also be questioned. As it happens, there’s no possibility of “MBFAGW” returning to the screen, and similar shows have been cancelled after just a few seasons. For now, it remains to be seen whether gypsy shows will have their big comeback, and relive their glory days or not.

What is “Yellowstone”?

“Yellowstone” is a new Western drama series created by John Linson and Taylor Sheridan for Paramount Network. With a premiere date of 20^th June 2018, the stars of the show are Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Gil Birmingham, Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley, and Cole Hauser. The main storyline of the gripping show is the conflict that thrives in the shared borders of an Indian reservation, a vast cattle ranch, and land developers. The series has successfully aired season five in November 2022.

Just as many soap operas and drama series focus on one or more main families, the Duttons are the main family of the “Yellowstone” universe. Owners of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, which is the largest in Montana, their personal drama is just as interesting as their spats and quarrels with land developers.

Taylor Sheridan began working on the series in 2013, using his life experiences in Wyoming and Texas to write one of his first screenplays, after leaving the acting world behind. “Yellowstone” was initially pitched to HBO, who turned the idea down, but Taylor persevered until the show was picked up by Paramount Network as its first scripted series. Taylor was the show’s director, executive producer, and main writer; executive producers included David Glasser, John and Art Linson, and Harvey Weinstein, most of whom worked for The Weinstein Company and Linson Entertainment.

In the midst of the #metoo storm that shook Hollywood up, the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey became too much for Paramount, who announced in October 2017 that the disgraced producer’s name – and that of The Weinstein Company – would be removed from the show’s credits. Despite The Weinstein Company being heavily involved in the production of “Yellowstone”, the president of Paramount Network confirmed during a press tour in January 2018 that the company’s credits or logo would not appear in the series.

Most of the filming, which began in August 2017, took place at the Chief Joseph Ranch in Montana, and Park City, Utah. Utah Film Studios was crucial for the production of the show, as all three of its soundstages were used. Production lasted until December 2017, utilising over 20 locations in Utah and several more in Montana for filming. In August 2020, filming operations moved to Montana, where the production companies rented out an undisclosed location.

Main Cast

The sixth-generation Dutton patriarch is John Dutton III, who operates the family ranch and becomes the Governor of Montana in season five. He started a family with his wife, Evelyn Dutton, and they had a total of four children – Lee, Jamie, Beth, and Kayce. In March 1997, Evelyn’s horse was spooked and fell over while she was riding with two of her children; as a result, she suffered internal bleeding and a spinal injury which led to her death.

The tragedy didn’t stop there, as John’s eldest son, Lee, died while feuding with the Broken Rock Indian Reservation in an attempt to protect the family ranch. He was fatally shot and died after his brother, Kayce, arrived too late to help.

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John took in an orphan boy named Rip Wheeler a few months after Evelyn’s death. Rip had killed his father after the latter brutally murdered his mother and brother; as Rip was essentially alone in the world, John took him in and allowed him to work on the ranch. Eventually, Rip and Beth grew close, became engaged and then married, making him officially part of the Dutton family.

Later on, John’s daughter-in-law Monica was involved in a car accident while driving to the hospital to give birth. Although Monica gave birth to a son, who was named John after his grandfather, he died shortly afterwards due to the complications he suffered during the car accident. The incident haunted John for a long time, and it took him a while to come to terms with his grief.

In his 60s, John was diagnosed with colon cancer after a tumor was detected,  but which was successfully removed after an operation that involved removing two feet of John’s colon. The Dutton patriarch didn’t tell his family so as not to worry them, but he was forced to confirm the news when Governor Perry told his son Jamie.

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John visited the hospital for a CT scan after the operation. Dr. Fielding saw a mass on the scan and wanted to book John an appointment for an endoscopy, but John left the hospital as he had no time. The he began coughing up blood, was hospitalised again, and underwent major surgery. Spooked by his failing health, John took Dr. Fielding’s advice, and began physical therapy.

Despite remaining loyal to Evelyn in his heart, John was lonely and tried to find love a second time. He had a brief but passionate relationship with his childhood acquaintance Lynelle Perry, the former Governor of Montana; the pair had grown up together and shared a lot in common, as she was also a widow. Although the relationship didn’t work out, John and Lynelle remained on amiable terms.

Previously, John was a Livestock Commissioner of the Montana Livestock Association. He became Governor of Montana when Lynelle announced that she was relocating to Washington and wanted Jamie to run for the position. John disagreed with Lynelle’s proposal and announced his own candidacy, eventually winning the election and being appointed as the new governor.

Kayce Dutton was born in April 1990, and was riding with his mother on the fateful day when she was thrown from her horse and died. While his sister Beth went to look for help, a young Kayce tried to stop Evelyn from dying, but his efforts were in vain. For Kayce, it was a traumatizing and unforgettable experience.

Later on, Kayce started his own family and married Monica Long, granddaughter of the Indian elder Felix Long. Coincidentally, her brother Robert was responsible for the death of Kayce’s brother Lee. Kayce and Monica lived in the Broken Rock Indian Reservation and had one son named Tate, who was in his adolescent years when Monica became pregnant again. Of course, the death of his and Monica’s second son was particularly distressing for Kayce, but even more so for Tate, who was in the car with his mother at the time.

Previously, Kayce served in the military as a US Navy SEAL. One of his missions took him to Pakistan, where he was forced to kill a man and his wife and daughter. The man was a highly valuable target who tried to protect himself by using his family members as human shields; although Kayce was forced to shoot him in self-defense, he left military service shortly afterwards.

After returning home, Kayce tried to earn a living as a horseman on the Broken Rock Reservation, taming and caring for wild horses. Later, John gave Kayce a chance to return to the ranch and live in the bunkhouse while working there. Kayce was later appointed as the ranch’s new foreman, a position previously held by his brother Lee and his brother-in-law Rip. Following in his father’s footsteps, Kayce later worked as a Livestock Agent for the Montana Livestock Association.

Kayce’s character has been involved in several near-death situations. While driving with his wife, they witnessed the explosion of a drug lab, and Kayce was forced to shoot a man who had suffered serious wounds, to put him out of his misery. On a separate occasion, he and his son Tate found an abandoned van which contained an abducted girl. Kayce killed the girl’s two abductors and was helped by the girl’s father to sweep the incident under the rug. The remains were later discovered, and Kayce was arrested by the Tribal Police, but explained what had happened and was let go.

Main Cast – Part 2

Next on the list is Beth Dutton, who was born in July 1984. Beth and her brother Jamie shared a close bond and she turned to him for help when she accidentally became pregnant and wanted an abortion. Trying to keep the surgery a secret, Jamie took Beth to the free clinic on the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. However, when he learned that Beth would be sterile after the operation, he chose not to tell her. She was understandably horrified when she learned the news, and their relationship never quite recovered.

Despite being manipulative and emotionally unstable, Beth took a liking to Rip when he moved onto the Dutton ranch. The pair went through various rough patches together but were always drawn to each other in the end and embarked on a relationship. Beth is bisexual and has alluded on multiple occasions to being attracted to Victoria Jenkins, Cassidy Reid, and other women; she also had a brief fling with her lawyer’s girlfriend in season four.

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Beth took matters in her own hands and proposed to Rip when her father said it was unlikely that he would ever ask for her hand in marriage. After a bad day at work, Rip was understandably surprised that Beth proposed to him by saying: “The only thing I ask is you outlive me, so I never have to live another day without you.” Rip accepted and they tied the knot impulsively when Beth forced a Father of the Catholic Church to officiate the marriage, which took place at the ranch house. Rip’s best man was his cowboying tutor, Lloyd.

At first, Beth ran the Mergers and Acquisitions department at Schwartz & Meyer and had a good working relationship with the firm’s partners and her assistant. After Lee’s funeral, Beth began handling business activities and legal matters at the ranch when her father asked for help. She was later offered a job by Caroline Warner, CEO of Market Equities and one of her father’s many enemies, and accepted. Beth accepted the job to take revenge on her former boss, Bob Schwartz, and became the president of the company’s Montana division.

While going through a depressive episode, Beth put a gun to her head and almost killed herself as she felt guilty for letting her mother die when she was young. Luckily, she came to her senses and chose not to pull the trigger. In a separate incident, she was attacked by two masked men who were rivals of the Dutton family. Beth’s assistant at the time, Jason, was brutally murdered by the men, who came close to raping and killing Beth themselves. This time, Rip saved the day as Beth had gotten in touch with him and asked him for help just before being attacked.

Last but not least is Jamie Dutton, John and Evelyn’s adoptive son. He was born in Bozeman, Montana, and given the name James Michael Randall by his parents, Garrett and Phyllis. Just three months after Jamie’s birth, Garrett beat Phyllis to death and the newborn was adopted by the kind-hearted Duttons.

Jamie’s love life became messy and entangled when he embarked on an affair with his assistant, Christina. The relationship between them deteriorated when tensions in the workplace became too much for them to handle; after they broke up, Christina discovered that she was pregnant and gave Jamie an ultimatum: stay with the Duttons or start his own family with her.

“I’m celibate. Because I’m terrified of getting someone pregnant and passing on the gene that made you.” – Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) #Yellowstone pic.twitter.com/qdORnS1KrL

— Yellowstone (@Yellowstone) June 28, 2018

Shockingly, Jamie stayed with the Duttons, whom he thought were his biological family at the time. The truth was later revealed to him, and he distanced himself from John and the rest of the clan to build a bond with his biological father. Christina learned about this and chose to reunite with Jamie and introduce him to his son, which she chose not to do previously because she loathed the Duttons.

Jamie graduated from Harvard Law School and began working as an attorney almost straight away. Eventually, he would help John out with the ranch’s legal matters. Governor Perry and Attorney General Stewart asked Jamie to run for the Attorney General elections; against John’s wishes, Jamie ran and even made John look bad to garner himself more votes.

Before the elections, he changed his mind and withdrew, unable to stand the pressure of the conflict with John. Jamie was appointed as the new Livestock Commissioner, but later Governor Perry pulled strings to make him Attorney General, also convincing John to let his son have the job he really wanted.

Despite being seemingly unoffensive, Jamie has a dark side and killed Sarah Nguyen, a reporter who interviewed him during the elections and published information that he didn’t want her to. After murdering the reporter in a fit of pique, Jamie made her death look like a kayaking accident, with help from his brother-in-law Rip.

Sarah’s death began weighing heavily on Jamie’s conscience, and he took one of John’s firearms and went into the fields to shoot himself. John noticed he was missing a gun and caught up with Jamie in time to stop him from committing suicide. It remains to be seen whether Sarah’s murder will catch up to Jamie and lead to his arrest and incarceration, but it’s unlikely, given that it occurred in season two of the show.