Who Is Dale Mills? Get to Know Everyone’s Favorite ‘OutDaughtered’ Uncle

He’s not a regular uncle, he’s a cool uncle! Dale Mills — a.k.a. Uncle Dale —  is notorious for cracking jokes on OutDaughtered. Though he may not be the main star of the popular TLC series, the show just wouldn’t be the same without his loveable personality and quick-witted clapbacks. In fact, he’s managed to make quite a splash thanks to his charming, thick southern accent and hilarious facial expressions.

From Busby family vacations to surprise sleepovers with the quints, Uncle Dale has been there through it all … but there’s more to America’s favorite uncle than meets the eye. Keep scrolling to learn more!

He has kids of his own (just not six of them!)

The reality star is a father of two to McKenzie and Bronson. His wife, Crystal Mills — who her nieces lovingly call Aunt Kiki — is Danielle Busby‘s sister. In January 2021, they welcomed a (seriously cute) pup into their family named Kobe.

He lost one of the quints once

In an early episode of the series, Dale lost Hazel while babysitting — oops! — and fans were entertained by the chaos that ensued. One Twitter user commented, “Literally best episode ever. Dale seriously makes the show that much better! Love him,” while another added, “Uncle Dale might be the realist person on reality TV.” A third, meanwhile, chimed in, “Haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Thanks, Uncle Dale!”

Despite that mishap, he has a special bond with Hazel

In addition to spending time together on OutDaughtered, Uncle Dale has posted more than a few pictures of himself with Hazel on social media.

One reason for the unique connection is that she was the first quint he got to hold in the hospital. Recently, he shared a photo of that special moment. “And this is where #DAZEL all began,” he captioned a photo holding a tiny Hazel. “Buzz found this picture from the first time I visited the NICU.”

He’s close to his brothers-in-law, too

Though he’s filmed being silly more often than not, Dale has a serious side to him as well. Back in 2017, Danielle’s husband, Adam Busby, underwent his first session with his therapist for postpartum depression. At the time, the father of six explained that fatherhood was “the one thing” in his life that he believed his depression hasn’t affected. “I will pour everything into them,” he said. “And I feel like I do that so much, to the point where I don’t have anything left for anything else.”

Up until that point, he hadn’t told Dale or his other brother-in-law, Nick, about his struggles. “Dale, for one thing. I mean how the heck is he going to react to something like that? He’s just going to make jokes,” Adam said.

Surprisingly, Dale took the news well. He admitted, “It’s hard for me to be serious sometimes, but this isn’t something I would joke about. Ever … I’m glad we got to talk.”

He’s the Director of Sales at Sprint Safety

And he’s gotten rave reviews! According to his LinkedIn profile, a former coworker wrote, “Dale is a true professional, very detailed and always comes through for his client. Dale is quickly becoming the ‘go-to guy’ for all project communication needs. You would be hard-pressed to find a better professional when it comes to refinery project communications.”

He’s been with his wife since they were teens

On an episode of the “Good Old Boy” podcast, the reality star explained how he and Crystal first got together.

“We were dating at 19, so the going out years,” he revealed to host Buster Caballero. Dale added that his eventual wife fell for him when he was at a pretty low point in his life. “I lived in a rent-house in Lake Charles with three of my buddies, and so it was just a party house, dude,” he said. “We had no door on the stove. That’s where I met Crystal, I was living there … it was nasty, it was filth.”

He owes his marriage to Danielle

In an Instagram post wishing Danielle a happy birthday, Uncle Dale revealed he wouldn’t have married Crystal without Danielle’s help.

“We have been friends/family for about 17 years!” he gushed. “It’s all your fault I met and married your crazy sister [Crystal] but for that, I’m grateful that we met in this crazy life. Never would have imagined what has happened in our family’s life over this span but I wouldn’t change anything about it.”

He’s a ~fan~ of his fans

While on the “Good Old Boy” podcast, Dale admitted that he’d been a longtime fan of reality television, even before he was part of it.

“Dude, I was always a fan of reality TV, even when the first Real World started, you know, from then on,” he explained.

“For me … I might seem cocky or whatever [but] people just pump me up,” he said. “It’s awesome; I live it up, I love the fans. We’re just some real people that happen to be on a TV show.”

He met Drake

Just when we thought he couldn’t get any cooler! TBH, we wish Uncle Dale was our uncle. Don’t worry, Nick, the kids love you too.

OutDaughtered premieres Tuesday, February 23, at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.

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