The Family From ‘Downsized’: Where Are They Now?

where are they now 2013
Where are they now?

NOTE: This story was updated in September 2014.

Back in 2010, one of The Ashley‘s favorite reality shows was a WeTV show called Downsized. It focused on the Bruce family, which consisted of husband and wife Todd and Laura Bruce, and their children from their previous marriages. (There were seven kids altogether!) Billed as the “Modern Day Brady Bunch” the family struggled to make it financially after filing for bankruptcy and losing pretty much everything in the great recession.

It was an awesome show and The Ashley was completely bummed when Laura Bruce told her that WE had cancelled it after two seasons. The last episode aired in October 2011 and we’ve barely heard a peep out of any of the Bruces or Rumseys since. After the show, the family moved from their home in Anthem to Chandler, Arizona. In June 2014, then moved to Austin, Texas.

So what has the “Downsized” clan been up to since we last saw them? Of course The Ashley had to find out!

downsized

Todd Bruce: Todd is still married to Laura and they now live together in Austin, Texas. Todd’s company Stone Canyon Construction is still operating out of Texas. He no longer runs his other company, Banner Solutions., which was featured on the show.

downsized

Laura Bruce: Laura and Todd are still married. After moving to Austin, she got a job as a kindergarten teacher. She is active in her local Multiple Sclerosis chapter.

Downsized 2013

Heather Bruce: After graduating from high school in 2011, Heather, the biological daughter of Todd, went to Glendale Community College, where she played soccer for the team there. She is now 21 years old and recently moved to Austin, Texas to be with her family. She is currently attending school and plans to become a nurse.

downsized

Dylan Rumsey: After graduating high school in 2013, Dylan, the son of Laura, got a scholarship to Grand Canyon University, but lost it (not sure how that happened!). He stayed in Arizona to finish out his school year, but joined his family in Austin, Texas in July. He is currently a sophomore in college and is working a part-time job while attending school. He has traded baseball for golf.

 

downsized

Bailey Rumsey: Laura’s daughter, Bailey, is now 21. She graduated high school and now attends community college in Austin. She is currently working at a restaurant.

downsized

Levi Bruce: After graduating from high school, Todd’s son Levi moved to Kansas (where the family is originally from) and now lives with Todd’s oldest son Cody (who was featured on the show a few times.) He now works as a laborer for a company in Kansas, and does not appear to be very close to his family featured on ‘Downsized.’

downsized

Rex Rumsey: Laura’s son Rex is now studying to become a priest. He is currently studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio. (He graduated high school with Dylan in 2013.) Rex is very dedicated to his religious faith. Here’s a video from December 2012 in which Rex talks about how he and Todd were never very close because he wasn’t a Godly man. (Ignore the creepy cameraman breathing.) He is currently a seminarian in Diocese of Phoenix.

whitney rumsey 2013

Whitney Rumsey: Whitney, the biological daughter of Laura,  has taken on a very different look since the ‘Downsized’ days and now sports bright red hair and much heavier makeup. After graduating from high school, she went to cosmetology school and then moved to Las Vegas. After living there for awhile, she moved to Georgetown, Texas, which is just a half hour away from where her family lives. Whitney works at  Sephora and does special effects makeup. She does not sing anymore.

2014

Danielle Rumsey: The littlest Rumsey is now in high school! Danielle, who is Laura’s daughter, attends school in Austin, and appears to still be cheerleading.

UPDATE: Reruns of ‘Downsized’ will begin running on the Bio Network starting May 18, 2014!

(Photos: WeTV)

80 Comments

  1. I LOVED thst show! It really brought up memories when I lost my Advertising Sales job making almost six figures! I traveled the U.S. and raised a daughter on my own. I also got my Real Estate License. Bad timing! I was also diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. We lived in a nice condo by the beach in Ventura, California. After a year of losing my job in 2010, we were forced to move out and in with my daughter’s father. I had to cash in all my savings, IRA, Life Insurance policy and my 401K. We started buying second hand furniture, refurbishing it and selling it all at garage sales and flea markets. I thought they would be the new poor Kardashians.


  2. wow, how all the kids have changed I am sad that Levi is not close to the family, As someone who has lost both her mother and father nothing is more important than family and I hope the family tries to get Levi to come back to the family fold.


  3. I hated to hear that they canceled your show. I truly enjoyed watching and learned a few ways to pinch pennies. I lost my job and was working 3 jobs just to pay my bills during this time. The show really kept me from feeling so hopeless. May God bless your family.


  4. I would love to continue watching this show I loved it and miss seeing it on T v need to do a follow up season on them all !!


  5. Hope you are all doing well. We loved your show. It gave us ideas that helped us out financially. We were so sorry when it was canceled. You all should be proud of the good that you did. Best of luck in the future. Wish your show would be reinstated. Thanks for sharing your life with us. Terri


  6. Where is the loser dad, Dan Rumsey, that was mentioned in the show as having no real commitment to his kids?


  7. I noticed the son that is becoming the priest is standing away from the family in the picture. He had already seen first hand there is more to life than money and is subconsciously already separating himself from it.


  8. I loved the show and the family too. Miss them a lot. Wish they could do another show to entertain us. It would be nice to see them all on TV again.


  9. English teacher? (Laura).. Teach your children (and husband) how to speak grammatically correct. I was so sick of the “Me and Dylan”, “Me and Laura”, “Me and Levi” (Rex).. (It’s “Levi and I”), etc.. The other person’s name comes first, then I, not me. Some teacher.


    1. Get em Max! Btw, when shit goes downhill little things like grammar and impressing others go out the window.

      Besides, she is only teaching kindegarten where social skills, emotional intelligence and common sense are honed…..hey, u should do another lap there.


  10. I never understood why the two kids belonging to the father weren’t living with their rich mother instead of their “broke” father. That would’ve been two less mouths to feed. Also all the drama when the dad had to go Missouri (how awful! how horrible!) to work a job. If the whole family was so fragile that it was going to fall apart over this I’m surprised they managed to make it at all. And the mother making the girl quit gymnastics and the son sell the baseball glove – but I never saw her give up a thing. She was a disgrace!


    1. She gave her daughter a choice- cheer or gymnastics they could not afford both. As far as the glove I believe that he sold that on his own.


    2. She gave a choice of cheer or theater camp. She had to take back and not let her do either. I think they only suspended for the show for the summer. I don’t understand why the boys could not come up with $200 to do baseball themselves? I wish she had done some simple park district or school district program for the 10 year old. Far cheaper and an alternative many could duplicate. The thing is they tried to maintain their standard of living despite having less income. I felt bad for laura. Always doing another job. Why could Todd wait tables or clean house? Why couldn’t the kids get small vehicles. Why did Laura’s car not get repaired but he got another super sized truck. She is a saint. Why was Todd all mad the son read a magazine after having a bad grade. It’s before school. Todd still finds time for him away from homework working for him on jobs.


  11. I enjoyed the show until one episode when the wife (Laura) admitted she is “submissive” to her husband….really? I felt like asking her, “You feel like you are not as important a person as your husband? How sad.” That one comment kind of turned me off. No wonder then her daughter (Bailey) thinks it’s okay that a boy beats her up! And what the heck does any of this have to do with “downsizing” anyway?


  12. Hey middle class america!! Come to the “hood” and find out what it’s like to live the downsized life hahaha… You guys have no idea what poverty is…..Go cry a river to oprah yo…hahahaha…wow this show made me laugh. … they had a nice house…food to eat… clothes on their backs… Starbucks to drink. … and they’re struggling???…hahahahahahaha….. You don’t even know….. God bless america


    1. Hey, Legend in Your Own Mind, these people were trying to WORK their way out of economic hardship. Don’t compare them to the financial parasites in the so-called ‘hood’.


      1. Hey MsKenya I have lived that life all my life
        I am not now nore ever been a Parasite but I made my own way in life and did not put my kids to work as slave labor (sorry saw that in one show he stood there giving orders wile the kids did all the work and then he complained about how much work it was) he took away from the kids stuff they paid for because the family could not afford it all this man taught was how to be a lazy Dictator


  13. I have watched it on and off between history channel commercials. I have to tell u I was just impressed with the young girl ( I think Laura) has she wanted to go to ASU. I actually wanted to know if there was a way to help her – if so – please contact me. What I found refreshing was she was worried and concerned and knew she needed to go to college and so afraid of all the larger comments – tried ( in vain) to talk to her mom about that while walking the dog. The last time I saw a kid that intent on a parent was to borrow a credit card or buy clothes. She deserves good things to happen to her.


  14. I really wanted to like this show as I feel like my family and so many others can relate to everyday financial crunches. However I have to agree with an above post, on more than one episode I have noticed the kids wearing multiple Under Armour outfits. That brand of clothing is expensive for what it is as I have three boys and have purchased it a few times here and there. Also seeing the mother make frequent trips to Starbucks absolutely infuriated me! Hello, you are doing a show claiming to DOWNSIZE your lifestyle!! Starbucks and Under Armour IS NOT a necessity, especially when youre worrying how bills will be paid and how youre going to provide groceries for your family! That is a no brainer sorry. And to place themselves on national tv doing this under scrutiny lol blows my mind. Needless to say I have not watched or will not ever again


    1. Maybe they had the Under Armour before they “downsized” I also would not consider a few stops to Starbucks that extreme she was working 2 jobs and has MS- and there is an episode where Todd gets the recipe for her coffee rinks so she can make them at home.


      1. I agree. She did teaching, tutoring, cleaning houses, she did work in the fitness industry for a time, she waited tables. Let her drink her beverage of choice. She was the only one bringing in steady income. I was really mad not only did Todd not seem to do any other jobs, he constantly had the boys age 14 and 17 with him doing parts of the labor. It could not have been that steady. Then he is complaining to the older girls to cook dinner. Or laura to do dinner. The older girls were in school, then worked a part time job. Laura worked more than 40 hours. Take 20 minutes to grill chicken or set the crock pot. How lazy. If anything Rex and Dillon and Whitney and Rex shoud have been making dinner. None of them appeared to have steady employment. Doing Todds work and a few hours selling popcorn at games leaves plenty of free time. Heather Bailey and Laura had plenty on their plate. I wonder why we’re always on Laura’s insurance or where their dad/mom may have had expenses or insurance to cover such things. When you have money you can make mistakes spending it and be okay. When you suddenly have less money you can’t afford the mistakes anymore. I think Todd was always looking out for the big payout. I wish he had not begrudged the small jobs he wouldn’t have bothered to take before the situation. I read he finally took a 9-5 type job. I hope he can take direction from a boss. With a family with medical stuff going on you need the insurance and steady income. Unless you we willing to sit on a cash pile of 6 months living.


  15. She may have seems spoiled and dense but she was a kid. A kid who did manage to work at a job in addition to going to high school. The only one who wasn’t working was dad; and the 9 year old. We saw him work the boys or get a job and totally lose it because instead of doing the job he spent time trying to get other work off it. I felt bad the mom had to carry the load with reliable income. The show was poorly edited. What about child support. Why wasn’t the family on insurance through Laura’s job. Especially with MS and asthma and the heart meds needed. Three member of the family needed more medical care than an annual physical. Not to mention if dad worked at labor he would need insurance in case of injury. Also it didn’t look like they really lived in that house. They sure didn’t have enough stuff to suggest that wasn’t staged. And it just got weird with him suddenly asking the kids for money to sleep in the house. They had money ethic. Even the 15 year olds were paying some expenses from money earned from outside mom and dad. It made no sense instead of spending a few dollars on heart med, she decided to spend hundreds on a couple of raw meals loaded with oil. I really wanted to love it and watched them all.


  16. Me and my wife watched this family when we were going through the samething. Our family is smaller, but I have to give props to this family for waking up everyday and moving forward. Glad to hear the family is doing so well, best of luck.


  17. i watched the episode where the son sold his baseball glove, but yet the mother was sporting a Tiffany necklace and a giant diamond on her finger. as a mother i would sell my stuff before my children had to sell their items. i just thought how selfish, and a piss poor example of a mother! needless to say i watched no other episode


  18. I watched the show thinking that the family was really in a bind. But now after seeing how they lived and where they was living Anthem, AZ is still a pretty classy place to live in. If they had of really been in the bind that so many of us have been in and some still are, they wouldn’t of had the things they had. If you can’t make a house payment month to month then you don’t live in a nice big 2 story house. You REALLY DOWNSIZE, as the show is named for, you put girls in one room together and boys all in one room together. Ask all the people who are still struggling and barely have the money to buy gas to go to work.Cut the cell phones off tvs and no more Starbucks,you’ll see how you can save money. Everyone these days has a cell phone, few years ago noone knew anything of the sort and made it just fine. My thoughts are if you are going to put a show like that on TV REALLY show how it is to be BROKE and have NOTHING but the faith of the Good Lord to get you by.


  19. I wish there was some way we could get WE TV to pick up this show again, because they sure are putting on some crappy shows these days. Really miss the Bruce family. Hope the wife’s MS hasn’t gotten any worse.


  20. Where was the biological father of the 5 kids ?I’ve just begunto watch season 1 as i didn’t catch it in 2010.


  21. I would like them to bring the show back with a different family. I didn’t care for the religious tone.


  22. Watched this series when it fiest aired. I enjoyed it,, however Bailey may yt? ave came off as a little dense, whiny and spoiled. I did not agree to her not being able to attend her prom, if todds daughter had grandparents fund her night, why didnt laura ask her family to fund baileys night, JS! I didnt like that, also why was everyone allowed access to the food card, especially the kids.
    But in the end, it was a great series, wished they wouldve renewed it for one more season


  23. I caught the show for the first time last night and watched all the episodes. My heart went out to this family ’cause my husband and I went through the same thing a few years back. We didn’t have as many mouths to feed, but we experienced the same struggles and the embarrassment this family went through. I have to defend Bailey though. Have to understand that the way she was behaving was pure and it was out of fear. Todd and Laura Bruce, I commend your efforts in trying to be better and do better. Much luck to all of you and blessings abound.


    1. Agreed! You do what you have to do to get back to basics, when the basics are all you can afford. Family is a wonderful thing. I enjoied their family sharing their story with us.


  24. I guess I have a big heart,this breaks it,,but I too have downsized and working on moving into a 400 sq ft cabin with my dog which is all the family!y I have left,


  25. I think they all should’ve looked into “Dave Ramsey total money makeover” that would help a great deal even to this day… And its not too late for any of you all looking at trying to get out of debt or what ever. There’s always hope for anyone just don’t give up* Look it up and you can always go to look him up thats “Dave Ramsey” and then you can shout I’M DEBT FREEEE!!!!! 😀


  26. Hard to feel sorry for the family when the mom continues to go to STARBUCKS…….really?!
    Also saw the boys wearing Under Armour…..if you cannot pay your rent you make sacrifices……Come on people.


  27. At first I thought this show looked promising but as all other “reality” TV, it turned to BS. I don’t watch realityTV because of this, they’re all pretty stupid…a lot of script writing goes into these which is why they’re ON TV. I don’t understand how people think all these shows are so real, in any case, spoiled Bailey brings it home…sge really needed the “reality” check. I caught an episode sitting in a Drs office of all places and tried to watch another episode at home, it was sad. Trying to reach out to people really going through REAL hardships with these people? I was amazed people even related but then again, these same people watch these shows religiously so what else could one expect? Glad it was cancelled, I felt it was insulting to good folk who were truly struggling. (I’m probably the only person who thought this based on most of these posts, lol)


    1. Everyone here really doesn’t take the time to get the real idea of the show. When a family makes tons of money…then loses everything, it is a struggle to the life they WERE accustomed to. Paying for all the sports, cheer, OWNING a home and then losing it all. Teaching the kids material things aren’t everything doesn’t mean they have to move to the slums. And none of these kids were spoiled brats. These kids were the nicest, genuine good kids. Now get the concept of the show and pull your foot out of your mouth. Talking crap about people on the internet shows you need religion.


  28. I can relate to the show because I lost my job after 34yrs. No matter how much you think you have saved, believe me it’s NOT enough. I was lucky I didn’t have 7 kids. It’s a wake-up call to us all. The show should come back on or at least an update so people can see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you can come back from from the brink, I’m still crawling back from the edge but they inspired me and gave me ideas to save and cut out things. The channel owes its viewers and the family to at least show an update on the them. PLEASE!


    1. Iagree with the lady above.its very eduation iwent threw the same thing .I LOST MY JOB AND MY HUSBAND HAD TO FOLD HIS COMPANY UP .AND WE ALMOST LOST OUR HOUSE WE DIDN’T HAVE KIDS THEY ARE GROWN UP. BUT I WATCH AND REALY THAT I WASN’T ONLY ONE. THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE GOING THREW IT.AND STILL.ITS BETTER THEN SOME THESE NEW SHOW THAT AREON NOW ALSO THEY SHOULD SHOW DIFFENT FAMILY.LIKE DEVORVE WHEN THERE A DEATH OF ASPOUSE AND A OLDER COUPLE THAT LIVING ON FIX INCOME,


  29. Bailey really comes off as a spoiled brat. seriously, this is such a great teaching tool for her and it wasn’t used. “we use to spend money without even thinking about it” per Bailey…well if you had thought about it and saved some of it for a what if…common sense. But not taught, they just tried to be sympathetic toward her and it was ridiculous, she should have sucked it up and tried to help out the family instead of bitching. The other kids recognized they needed to pitch in and they did it without boasting or bitching. Good for them. Sorry Bailey you should have been taught better instead being given sympathy. I live on 741.00…Im thankful I have a roof, friends, family. I sure hope she has outgrown that stage, that is truly an embarrassment.


    1. Well let me tell you she was and is not a spoiled brat. Nicest girl in the world. All of these kids were raised amazing and don’t judge on what the show clips to be on TV. This family was truly a loss to our community when they moved away. You would never meet nicer kids.


  30. Is this a new season? Really enjoyed this show. The Direct tv guide shows for the May 28, past shows from 2010. Will this date be new shows/new season?


  31. I wish this show had continued, because it was one of a few reality shows that was reality-based. It inspired me to make better choices during the recession, and reminded me what was important. The shows on now are horrific, and there are no family values to these, just petty fighting and mud-slinging.


  32. In case anyone is interested, I actually tweeted Dylan to ask about obtaining copies of the show. He said the entire series is available for purchase on iTunes. I really miss this show and the weekly fun. I still wonder why We cancelled it. It was so much better than a lot of the other shows that it kept running.


  33. I was kind of hoping for something more detailed. But they all seem to be doing good, so that’s great. I’m happy for them.

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