TLC’s newest reality series offers a peek at life in an unusual family.
Polyfamily follows two married couples – Alysia and Tyler and Sean and Taya – who live together and raise their kids in a closed quad. Tyler is married to Alysia and dating Taya, while Sean is married to Taya and dating Alysia. (Sean and Tyler are not romantically involved.)
“We never set out to live our lives like this, but we realized we could love more than one person and make our own rules as to what we want our family to look like,” Alysia says in the trailer for the show, which premieres April 29.
‘TV demands drama,’ ‘Polyfamily’ star says
But what sounds good on paper can be hard to navigate in practice. The Polyfamily teaser hints at major drama for the foursome involving jealousy, parenting conflicts, and a big reveal about who really fathered Taya’s unborn baby. Plus, the tension heats up when one person suggests bringing another person into their relationship. Will the quad be able to survive it all?
Spoiler: Alysia, Tyler, Sean, and Taya are still together and going strong. After TLC announced the new show, Taya took to Instagram – where she posts updates as @polyfamory – to assure their 125,000+ followers that they had not broken up.
“Just a reminder that filming was not recent, TV demands drama, and our family is stronger than ever,” she wrote in an Instagram Story on March 17. “Thank you for all your love and support.”
In another post, Taya reminded people that what they’d see on the show wasn’t necessarily an accurate portrayal of their day-to-day lives.
“PSA: If you can’t separate real life from TV, then protect your sanity and don’t watch,” she wrote.
In a comment on another post, she noted that she has “zero control” over the show show and how her family is portrayed.
Taya explains why they agreed to do the TLC show
Given that there’s a risk that Polyfamily might misrepresent their lives, why do the show at all? Taya said that they still wanted to take the opportunity to show people what polyamory is really like.
“We’ve always promised to take every opportunity that we could to normalize polyamory—and this is a big one,” she wrote on Instagram. “No matter what, one thing is for sure, we did our absolute best to represent love, family, and community in all its beautiful complexities.”
“We are so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you who have shown us love, kindness, and support, you are the reason we get to share our story so far and wide,” she added. “Now.. buckle up! It’s going to be a wild ride.”
Polyfamily premieres Tuesday, April 29 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC. Episodes also stream on Max.
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