May 29 (UPI) -- Former Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson says he has an adult daughter from a past affair.
Phil, 74, and his sons Alan Robertson, 55, Jase Robertson, 50, Willie Robertson, 48, and Jep Robertson, 42, discussed on Thursday's episode of their Unashamed with Phil Robertson podcast how Phil learned he has a daughter, Phyllis, from an affair in the 1970s.
Alan and Jase said they received letters from a woman who believed Phil was her father.
"So basically, it was from a woman who said that by a DNA search, she thinks that Dad might be her dad," Alan said.
The brothers initially dismissed the letter, especially since the woman's birthday was after the time Phil had become a Christian. Phil married his wife, Marsha, in 1966, and became a Christian in his late 20s.
"I started thinking about it -- I thought there's a 45-year-old woman out there that doesn't know who her dad is, and she's looking," Alan said. "And I thought, even if it's not Dad, she needs to know it's not Dad."
Alan ultimately approached Phil, who did not remember any specifics. Alan said his dad was "drunk the whole time" and not in his "right head" when Phyllis was conceived.
Phil took a DNA test, which showed a 99.9 percent match with the woman. Phil and Phyllis have since met.
"It's a pretty cool explanation of redemption, reconciliation, love," Phil said. "As it turns out, 45 years, you have a daughter that you don't know about, and she has a father she doesn't know about ... So finally, after all those years, we come together."
Phil also shared the news Thursday on Instagram.
"After 45 years, I met the daughter I never knew I had," he wrote.
Phil and his family came to fame on the A&E series Duck Dynasty, which aired from 2012 to 2017.
