Steven McBee Jr. and Jesse McBee epitomize the contemporary western lifestyle in the second season of Bravo’s The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys. Entrusted with McBee Farm and Cattle operations by their father, Steve McBee, who stepped back for personal reasons at the conclusion of Season 1, Steven and Jesse, along with their brother Cole, have taken the reins. “My dad stepping back was beneficial as it allowed us to embrace our responsibilities,” Steven Jr. remarked. “Despite our disagreements, we’ve managed to resolve them, which accounts for our success.”

Jesse echoed his brother’s sentiments, expressing excitement about the cowboy lifestyle gaining prominence. While Cole is the most passionate among the siblings, Jesse tends to be more calm and reserved. Now married to Alli Ventresc and a father to their daughter Summer, Season 2 will depict the challenges Jesse and Alli faced managing their relationship over long distances before their marriage. “Reliving past conflicts is tough,” Jesse stated. “It stirs old emotions, but also highlights what we’ve overcome and how we’ve emerged stronger.”

Steven Jr. is familiar with relationship turmoil too, given his fluctuating (currently off) relationship with Calah Jackson. “Calah has always been supportive of my ambitions when we are alone,” Steven Jr. explained, discussing what draws him back to her. Although they share a deep affection, aligning publicly has been elusive for them. “Calah and I have shared wonderful moments, but being around family or friends often leads to chaos,” Steven Jr. acknowledged.

The McBee men are very familiar with tumultuous relationships. Just look at their father’s love triangle with his ex-girlfriend/ current company CFO Galyna Saltkovska and his current love (and Galyna’s ex-best friend) Masha. His sons were forced to leave a gender reveal party for Cole’s and partner Kacie Adkison’s daughter to go do damage control after Galyna let all of Masha’s chickens out of the coop and left a wake of destruction in Steve’s lodge. “It seems like every time there’s a situation with my dad’s relationships, we’re there to pick up the pieces,” said Steven Jr. For his part, Jesse was shocked at the mess he saw in his father’s home. “We still don’t know how the frying pan got bent in half,” marveled Jesse.

Steven Jr. and Jesse stopped by the Decider studio to talk about the new season, their deal with Kansas City’s legendary barbecue spot Arthur Bryant’s, and the Galyna of it all.

DECIDER: Since the Season 2 premiere, The McBee Dynasty has been sitting comfortably in Peacock’s Top 10 shows. Jesse, is it nice to see audiences embrace the return of the series?

JESSE MCBEE: Yeah, it is, especially moving networks from season one to season two. It’s nice to see that people are still interested in the different personalities on the show and in the way that us boys have stepped forward. It’s cool to see the cowboy way of life take flight. Steven, how has the reception been within your company and with various investors?

STEVEN MCBEE JR.: Everyone has really loved the show and been supportive of everything so far. From an investment/banking standpoint, we’ve had some conversations about like, “did Galyna really do that?” We’re like, “yeah, yeah she did.” It was not a great season for her. It was a rough time, but we’re over that now. Things have gotten better, we think. We hope.

The family farm was in jeopardy while you filmed in Season 2, but your business is currently in the best spot it has been in the past 5 or 6 years, at least according to Cole. What did it take to get you out of the red?

SM: I would say teamwork and family support. Also, I think it was good for my dad to relinquish the reins a little bit and let us boys step into our roles. Jesse, Cole and I do not want to pat ourselves on the back too much , but we have done a really good job of working together. We have had our fights, but we have been able to work things out between us. That’s why we’re seeing the success we’ve seen. 



JM: I think Dad has taken on the world by himself for so long. He carried all that on his shoulders and his shoulders alone.

SM: It’s just impossible to do that with a company of our size.

He must be so proud of you three. What did he say after he saw the Season 2 premiere?

JM: He was a little shocked, but he was happy for us. He had to set aside his pride just a little and realize that we’ve gotten to the point in our lives where we’re old enough to make business decisions without him. We all have the same goal moving forward.

SM: Even though we may not make the exact same decision he would have made, he knows that we always have the welfare of the farm at heart. We put aside our egos and asked ourselves, “okay, how are we going to keep this farm for the next generation?” His trusting us to do that has helped us over the last six months become the company we have.

JM: Yeah, completely agree.

My favorite addition this year has been Mama McBee, Ms. Kristi herself. I know she initially was hesitant to join the show, but Jesse, how does she feel now that the episodes are airing?

JM: She’s feeling good. She’s excited to show everyone who she is as a person. She’s definitely the opposite of my dad in every way. She’s very introverted and doesn’t like to be in the spotlight whatsoever. We convinced her to join the show because we wanted to show the world how much we love her and just how much she means to us. She also gives us great advice, both personally and professionally. She’s a really successful business woman.

SM: Every time I get a DM—and I’ve gotten a lot here recently—from a guy asking, “hey, no offense whatsoever, I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, but can I take your mom on a date?” I screenshot it and send it to my mom. She loves it [laughs]. She also wants me to send those screenshots to my dad. Like, a playful little jab at him, like “yeah! I can get it too.”

Galyna is clearly vital to your business. Anyone who watched Season 1 knows that. Steven, how hard it is to keep defending her when she continues to act out against your father and Masha?

SM: It has gotten tougher, I can’t lie. Over the last five years, Galyna has been the most important person in our company. She has gone through so many battles for us. Truly, she has our backs like no one else . Then you see the personal train wreck that sometimes comes with Galyna. People who don’t see all the work she does want her gone, saying: “we’re better off without her. We’d be way more stable and consistent if she wasn’t around.” It falls on me to tell everyone to calm down. I’m like: “guys, if you only saw how hard she works and how much she supports all of us behind the scenes. She is such a key player in what we have going on.”

Jesse, it’s tough to watch you and Alli navigate the problem of distance as you decide where to make your home. Obviously, you two are married and have a daughter now, but what’s it been to relive that time in your life?

JM: It’s never easy going back and reliving the fights that you’ve had. It’s definitely not fun when you’re both asking, “did I really say that or did you really say that?” It’s especially awkward when you are watching it with family [laughs]. It brings up some old feelings, but it also shows what you’re able to get through and how much stronger you came out on the other side. What has been nice about the show is that you learn who you are as a person and who you are as a couple. It’s been neat to see.

Steven, I’ve gotta know. Other than her beauty and humor and savvy, what keeps you coming back to Calah after all the ups and down you’ve experienced in the relationship?

SM: Whenever Calah and I are alone together , apart from my family, away from the public eye, she has always been so supportive of everything I’m trying to do. I feel like I’m always defending her to my family and friends. It feels similar to the situation with Galyna. I’m like, “you guys don’t see what happens whenever we’re away from everyone else.” Calah and I have had so many amazing moments together, but when we are around my family or friends…it turns into a bit of a train wreck. I know how our relationship is behind closed doors, and that’s what keeps me going back.

Jesse, I would love your take on Steven’s and Calah’s on-again/ off-again relationship.

JM: Relationships are tough. There are always going to be ups and down in even the most stable of relationships. I think Stephen and Calah have had probably more ups and downs than most couples. It’s just one of those things. Sometimes a relationship doesn’t work out. Sometimes it does. And in this case, it didn’t work. Obviously, we, as a family, want the best for her, and I think she wants the best for us, at least most days. Sometimes two people aren’t meant to be together. Just like our parents getting a divorce. They are two great people but just not meant to be together.

I want to get into Episode 3 a bit. Steven, that deal between Arthur Bryant’s and McBee Farm & Cattle Co. is huge! And they came to you! Can you talk about how that all came to pass?

SM: I got a random email one day from Andy Miller, who’s the owner of Arthur Bryant’s. Arthur Bryant’s is not your normal barbecue joint. Kansas City has a great culture of barbecue, and Arthur Bryant’s sits at the very top . After our initial meeting, we realized just how big of an opportunity it was for our meat company. A deal with Arthur Bryant’s would put our name on the map and really integrate us into the Kansas City culture and market. I was so excited about it. I knew it was going to be very tough to pull off, but I felt like we could do it.

Let’s talk about the gender reveal. I didn’t love seeing you three boys leave the party to check on Masha’s chickens. Did you wish you would have stayed? It really pained your mom to see you go.

SM: Yeah, I wish we could have stayed as well. It seems like every time there’s a situation with my dad’s relationships, we’re there to pick up the pieces. Unfortunately, this incident couldn’t have come at a worse time. But the way we were getting blown up and hearing what potentially happened at the lodge, we knew we needed to get over there and check out the damage and do damage control.

The destruction in your dad’s lodge was insane. Jesse, you found your dad’s bent-in hats. Steven, you found the twisted frying pan. How could that tiny woman do so much damage?

JM: Honestly, we’re still questioning that to this day. We still don’t know how the frying pan got bent in half because whatever it hit should have been broken. It was cast iron. I didn’t even think it could bend. SM: It was like a tornado went through. The doors were left open, there were raccoon tracks on the kitchen counters. I mean, there were wild animals in the house! It just was mass destruction.

Steven, you have a very frank discussion with Galyna at the office about whether it’s time to part ways if she can’t control herself. In response, she then brings up the FBI investigation on camera. You can see the shock on your face because it was such a betrayal. Can you walk me through that moment?

SM: Everyone here, all of us McBees, and Galyna, who we consider pretty much a family member at this point, has always said, “hey, we’ve got each other’s backs and we’re always looking out for what’s the best for the farm and what’s best for our companies.” For her to decide to bring that up during an argument… I felt like she crossed a line. That comment sent shock waves down my spine. I was thinking, “I cannot believe that she just brought this up out of nowhere, especially given the fact that we just had to go over to the lodge and clean up/find out what happened during her meltdown.”

JM: With families, as everybody I’m sure knows, there are some things you just don’t talk about in front of other people. There are secrets that you keep. We consider Galyna as family. At least we did until that moment. The FBI investigation is not something that we ever bring up in a conversation, and we trusted that she wouldn’t bring it up in a conversation.

Jesse, how did you react when you found out that Steven had been carrying the burden of this knowledge about your dad’s legal issues?

JM: It wasn’t a good feeling. Being the oldest brother, Steven’s always kind of carried the burden, whether it was dealing with this FBI investigation or my parents’ problems or financial issues with the businesses. He keeps us informed, but also tries to shield us. It was one of those things I wish he could’ve or would’ve told us about earlier. Maybe we could have helped out or at least relieved some of that stress from him because that’s what we’re here for. That’s what brothers do.

Steven, how did it feel when you were finally able to tell your brothers?

SM: Good. I also think I should have told you guys earlier because I had some crash-outs and some very tense moments leading up to that. You guys were probably like, “why is he freaking out about something so small?” It wasn’t any specific moment; it was knowing what all was going on behind the scenes.

New episodes of The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys air Monday nights at 9/8c on Bravo