Gil Bates siblings are Greg Bates and Jennifer Fleming. Gil Bates has a large family with 19 children and 23 plus grandchildren.
Bates is the patriarch of the family. People may remember his family from their appearance in the American reality television show Bringing Up Bates, which aired on Up TV.
The show revolves around Bates, his wife, Kelly, their 19 kids, and their extended family. The first season premiered on January 1, 2015, and concluded on March 26, 2015.
After ten successful seasons, Up TV cancelled the show on January 18, 2022. The Bates family and film crew had already filmed for the eleventh season, which didn’t air due to its cancellation.
The last episode of the reality series (Season 10) aired on June 24, 2021.
The family was previously featured in TLC’s United Bates of America, a 2012 TV series. Later in October 2014, it was shared that the family would return in a new series, Bringing Up Bates.
Besides, TLC has several other famous reality shows like Sister Wives and 1000-lb Best Friends.
Gil Bates Was Raised In A Small Family
Gil Bates younger siblings are Greg Bates and Jennifer Jane Bates Fleming. The trio grew up in Honea Path, South Carolina.
The oldest brother, Gil, was obsessed with football from a young age. He had a uniform at age two and started playing at eight. As a child, he studied at Methodist churches.
Growing up in Honea, Bates, Greg, and Jennifer would work at the store that their beloved parents owned for 18 years.
Sister Jennifer Fleming
Gil Bates sister Jennifer is the only daughter and the youngest child of Bill and Jane Bates. She is best known for being the sister of Gil.
She grew up in Honea with her family and attended Belton-Honea Path High School and Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina (2000-2003).
Per Jennifer Fleming’s Facebook, she works at Anderson School District 2 in South Carolina. Unlike her older brother, she opted to live in their hometown.
She was married to Craig Fleming, who sadly passed away on April 1, 2023, at AnMed Health Center. He was 55 years old.
Born in Anderson County, Criag was a 1985 graduate of BHP High School. He served as a manager of CVS Pharmacy of Belton.
Jennifer loves and adores all her nieces and nephews. And despite wanting to be a mom, she struggled with infertility her whole life. The topic has also sparked discussion on social platforms such as Reddit.
Brother Greg Bates
Gil Bates brother Greg is married to Casey Bates. The second child of Bill and Jane, Greg, lives on the same streets as his parents.
He and his sister chose to have their resident on a portion of the family’s 80-acre farm just off S.C. 252 near Honea Path.
Greg completed his studies in his hometown and learned to work at his parent’s Craytonville Grocery store at a young age.
Unlike his older brother, he prefers to stay away from the limelight and leads a healthy life with his family.
Gil Bates Parents
Gil was born to parents William “Bill” Bates Sr and Jane Hartsell Bates on January 1, 1965. He was the first child, and they had two more kids after him.
The Hornea couple lived on their farm, where their three kids grew up, outside Hornea Path. Jane was a nurse, and Bill worked as an Anderson County magistrate judge for many years.
The couple never imagined experiencing such celebrity status. They admitted to being nervous sitting in front of the television to watch United Bates of America in 2012.
Jane felt nervous as she was about to watch her son, daughter-in-law, and their kids share their daily lives on their Tennessee farm.
On November 9, 2022, Gil shared about their mother’s demise on his Instagram. His mother, Jane, passed away after a long Lung-related illness.
Gil Bates family filled Jane’s room with much love during her final hours with all of her children. “There’s no way to tell how greatly she will be missed!” Bates said in the caption.
On July 4, 2022, Bates marked his father, Papa Bill, and son-in-law, Kelton’s birthday. He shared several loving pictures of them on his Instagram and wished them the happiest birthday.
“PAPA BILL, words can’t describe the place you hold in all of our hearts!” he wrote in the IG post.
Gil Bates Wife Kelly Jo Bates
Bates met his beautiful wife, Kelly Jo Callaham, at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina. Both served on the same ministry team.
The pair then went to Jefferson City, Tennessee, and attended Carson-Newman University. He proposed to her in October 1987 while they were still in school.
Kelly and Gil walked down the aisle on December 19, 1987, two months after being engaged.
December 2022 marked the loving pair’s 35th marriage anniversary. They are the proud parents of 19 children and 23-plus grandkids.
The matriarch of the Bates family, Kelly Jo, was born on October 26, 1966, as the fourth child of Betty Callaham and Kenneth Callaham, Sr. Her mom went on to adopt two more kids after her.
Her parents divorced when she was just a child, and her mother remarried once she was an adult. Her mother, Betty, married for the third time after the passing of her second husband.
Gil Bates Family Tree
The Bates couple had agreed not to start their family until they had been married for five years. But fate had different plans for the couple.
Kelly Jo got pregnant only a few months after their wedding, welcoming their first child, Zachary Gilvin, on December 30, 1988,
Their second child, daughter Michael Christan, arrived on January 23, 1990.
Similarly, their third child, Erin Elise, was born on the following year on May 2, 1991. Over the years, she was joined by sixteen more younger siblings.
Other kids born in the 90s are William Lawson, Kenneth Nathaniel, Alyssa Joy, Tori Layne, Trace Whitfield, Carlin Brianne, and Josie Kellyn.
Their 11th kid, Katie Grace, was born on Oct 5, 2000, and was followed by Jackson Ezekiel, Warden Justice, Isiah Courage, Addallee Hope, Ellie Bridget, Callie-Anna Rose, and Judson Wyatt.
Jeb Colton, the youngest addition to the family, was born on February 1, 2012.
The pair’s oldest child Zachary Gilvin
Zachary, 34, is the father of their four kids, Bradley, Kaci, Khloe, and Jadon. He married Whitney on December 14, 2013, at First Baptist Church in Lake City.
His brother, Lawson, wrote a beautiful song for the newlyweds that was sung at the wedding.
He then pursued history and criminal justice in college and completed EMT training with a full score.
Zach started working as a Police Officer after graduating from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department in Clinton. He retired from the department in 2020 and served the family tree business in Rocky Top, Tennessee.
Zach and his siblings were homeschooled by their parents.