Alaskan Bush People was one of the most interesting and widely acclaimed survival reality TV shows on air from 2014 until its ending in 2022. The show followed the Brown family homestead, as they lived their lives away from civilization in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.
Of Billy and Ami Brown’s children, fans still fondly remember Joshua, AKA Bam Bam, as the most educated and well-spoken member of the family. Although, many of his siblings found him difficult to work with.
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Over the years, Bam Bam has gone through quite a journey, experiencing many personal tragedies. So let’s dive into Bam Bam’s life and see where he’s at now.
Joshua is the second oldest of the seven Brown siblings. He was born in Alaska on September 18th, 2024.
Bam Bam was raised in the Alaskan wilderness, learning how to survive on the homestead alongside his siblings. Of course, when the family relocated to Washington State, Bam Bam joined his parents and siblings. Shortly after moving out to Washington, two great tragedies struck the Bam Bam and the Brown family.
The Brown Family Faced Legal Troubles
But long before that, toward the beginning of Alaskan Bush People, Joshua was caught in a nasty legal dispute. According to Distractify, the entire Brown family was charged on over sixty counts. Of these counts, most were of first-degree unsworn falsification, with other counts of first and second-degree theft in addition to those base charges.
The family allegedly lied on legal documents about how much time they were spending in Alaska. By lying about this, the family was able to get extra money from the government.
This government money comes from Alaska giving its residents yearly oil revenue checks. So if the Brown family lied about spending extra time in Alaska, they could cash more money. It may have been a lie, or it may have been an honest mistake as the family wasn’t “technically” living in Alaska.
Billy and Bam Bam plead guilty to the charges to protect the rest of their family. As a result, they served thirty days under house arrest in a hotel, were required to complete forty hours of community service, and had to pay damages.
In the aftermath of this legal drama, Billy came forward to claim this was all a misunderstanding. With People Magazine, Billy said, “Because of the way we live our lives and the way we often unconventionally travel, I didn’t keep good track of our movements… I accept full responsibility for filing for benefits without confirming that we met the requirements.”
After that legal fiasco, the Brown family seemed to be home free. But a major personal development would soon take place in Bam Bam’s life.
A Producer Caused Bam Bam to Leave the Show
In 2017, Bam Bam actually temporarily exited the show in order to pursue a relationship. It was around this time that Joshua actually ended up dating one of the producers on the show, Allison Kagan.
According to Screen Rant, Allison directed a little over a dozen episodes of the series. She is also known for working on other reality TV shows like Teen Mom 2, and 90 Day Fiance. From 2015 until 2018, she served as one of the main supervising directors on Alaskan Bush People.
Bam Bam first spoke about his relationship with Allison on the show. However, in this initial confession, Bam Bam didn’t share any details about who his girl actually was.
Joshua said that he had fallen deeply in love with what he referred to as a “city girl.” He went on to say that Allison “stirred something inside me and made my soul wake up.”
Despite Joshua’s musings about how well their relationship was going, not everyone was on board. Sources close to the family claim that Bam Bam and Allison’s relationship caused a rift in the Brown family.
Supposedly, the Browns weren’t as welcoming to Allison as they had been to other partners. No one is sure why there was some sort of rift, but it may have had to do with Allison being about ten years older than Joshua.
So, Joshua exited the show briefly in 2017, although rumors had already begun to swirl that Bam and Allison had split up. These rumors proved to be false.
To this day, the couple seems to still be together. Although, no one for sure knows if they’re still together, as Joshua keeps a low profile on social media.
Bam Bam Lost the Compound and His Father
Of course, Bam Bam returned to Alaskan Bush People around 2019, right before two tragedies occurred.
First, in August of 2020, the Washington wildfires made their way to the Brown compound and burnt it to the ground. According to The US Sun, the family was forced to leave their 1.6 million dollar compound after it caught fire.
It was a devastating loss to all in the family, but the greatest loss was still yet to come. In February 2021, Billy Brown, the family patriarch, unexpectedly and tragically passed away. His cause of death was revealed to be a seizure, leading to congestive heart failure complications.
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Billy’s son Bear took to Instagram in order to announce his father’s passing. He said, “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved patriarch Billy Brown passed away last night after suffering from a seizure. He was our best friend.”
In the wake of both of these tragedies, Bam Bam and the rest of the Brown family were left reeling.
Bam Bam Was Involved in a Tragic Accident
For a while, things seemed to quiet down for Bam Bam. He seemed to be doing well, living off the homestead in Washington state with Allison.
But in mid-2022, things took a drastic turn for Bam Bam after he was involved in a terrible accident. According to The US Sun, Joshua was caught in a car accident that landed him in the hospital.
Luckily, Bam Bam only sustained minor injuries. The other drivers involved were not so lucky.
The accident took place on May 20th, 2022 on a Washington state freeway. Bam Bam’s GMC was involved in a collision with a Camaro driven by Gabriella Garcia Harrison.
Camaro “lost control and crossed the centerline into the opposite lane of travel.” This slight swerve caused a head-on collision with Joshua’s car.
Gabriella’s passenger passed away after the two were airlifted to a nearby hospital. The identity of the twenty-four-year-old passenger was never revealed to the public.
After being struck, Bam Bam’s car swerved off the road and landed in a ditch. Officers at the scene of the crime reported that Joshua was in no way at fault for the horrific accident. It was never revealed whether or not drugs and alcohol played any role in the accident.
Bam Bam Wants to Move Forward
After all of these harrowing events, Bam Bam now seems to be set on a new life path. According to Screen Rant, Bam Bam has been trying his best to be a nicer person in recent years.
In the past, some of his siblings have found Joshua difficult to work with. Many have even gone as far as to call the former reality TV star a know-it-all. But now, Bam Bam says that he’s a nicer person, and is trying to do better.
He’s also moved on from his job as the resident fisherman of the Brown family. Instead, many fans may be surprised to learn that Joshua is now pursuing a career as a photographer.
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From his Instagram page, fans can see that Bam Bam is experimenting with all sorts of photography. Recently, he’s posted a lot of nature photography, including orchid photos, and sweeping landscape photos of the natural beauty of Washington.
While he doesn’t post much about his siblings or Allison, he does post a lot with his mother, Ami. On September 17th, 2024, he revealed that he took a trip to the DMV with his mom. Earlier, the two of them did a meet and greet together at a local farmer’s market.
For now, one can hope that Joshua has been able to overcome all of his personal tragedies and move forward as a successful photographer.
