After welcoming sextuplets in 2007, Jenny McClendon and her then-husband, Bryan Masche, opened their home to America.
“We were so excited to have our lives documented. But at the same time, it was hard not to think about what happened with the Gosselins,” McClendon, 50, tells TODAY.com, referring to TLC’s drama-filled “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”
We TV’s “Raising Sextuplets,” which premiered in 2009, followed the lives of a seemingly-happy couple in Arizona raising six toddlers: 3 girls and 3 boys.
That year, when former network president Kim Martin was asked how the Masches were different from the Gosselins, she explained that they were “really grounded” and raising their children in a “really healthy environment.”
Behind the scenes McClendon says she and Masche were “fighting nonstop.”
“My marriage was so awful and the show was an escape. It gave me something to look forward to,” McClendon says. “Filming days were my favorite days.”
In 2010, Masche was arrested for threatening domestic violence. (He pleaded guilty to threatening McClendon and her father). Days later, McClendon filed for legal separation.
McClendon remembers appearing on TODAY shortly before Masche was taken into custody.
“Oh my gosh. It was a total disaster. The kids were picking up on our tension and were acting crazy and crawling all over,” McClendon recalls. “And I was just mentally checked out.”
“I get sad when I think about that,” she adds, softly.
It’s been 14 years since McClendon stepped out of the limelight, and she’s happy to report that “things are much, much better now.”
Savannah, Bailey, Molli, Grant, Cole and Blake are now 17 — and they have more siblings!
In 2012 — the same year her divorce was finalized — McClendon wed her childhood sweetheart, Levi McClendon. The couple, who live in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, share sons Cash, 11, and Walker, 7. Levi is also dad of Treyton, 24, and Griffen, 22, from a previous marriage.
“For six kids that have literally shared everything, they could not be more different,” McClendon says. “But they always have each other’s back. If you mess with one of them, you’re toast.”
According to McClendon, Bailey, who stands 5 feet, 9 inches, is a “natural athlete and extremely smart,” while Molli “an introvert” is known for her creativity. Savannah, the first born, is “super strong willed” and dreams of becoming an undercover FBI agent.
“I had a hard time with the girls when they were 14, 15, 16, — they were vying for attention, vying for friends,” McClendon says. “But after they hit 17, I was like, ‘Everything is going to be OK.’”
Blake, an aspiring race car driver, is “no nonsense” and “knows everything about everything.” Cole, who loves to lift and discuss current events, is a “good friend to everyone.” Grant is the “most chill” of the brothers.
“Grant is really coming into his own and it’s amazing to watch,” McClendon says. “He’s tall and handsome and very justice oriented. With Grant, everything has to be fair.”
The sextuplets, who are now high school juniors, opened up to TODAY in their own words:
Molli
On the hardest part about being a sextuplet:
“Having the same birthday is difficult, which I think makes sense!”
The best part about being a sextuplet:
“You have a built-in support system for life.”
Savannah
“I don’t think any of us would be who we are without each other; we all complete each other, and I think each strives to be different parts of each other. Like how Bailey is joyful, Grant is funny, Molli is empathetic, Cole is strong, and Blake is authentic. The hardest part about being a sextuplet for me is my individuality. I strive for it every day because I feel like anyone who knows us or meets us puts us in a box. It’s like, oh, there’s the sextuplets, there’s the Masches. Always categorizing us as one thing when we are all so different.”
Bailey
On watching old episodes of “Raising Sextuplets”
“I literally don’t remember any of it, but it’s kind of fun to see us when we are little… and then to see how we’ve all obviously grown and changed but some aspects of our personalities are exactly the same.”
Grant
“The best part about being a sextuplet is it’s never boring, The worst part is it’s always loud and there’s zero privacy!”
Blake
On his mom Jenny McClendon:
“She is probably the single greatest multitasker I have ever seen and the fact that she hasn’t gone crazy and thrown one of us off the porch yet amazes me.”
Cole
“The best part about being a sextuplet is always having someone to talk to, hang out with or do schoolwork with.”
McClendon loves talking to parents who are scared when they learn they are having multiples.