Five kids, a cancer scam and an abortion controversy: Inside the Internet's most-watched family.

They’re arguably the Internet's most-watched family. The picture-perfect LaBrant clan - including couple, Cole and Savannah, and their four children, Everleigh, Posie, Zealand and Sunday - have amassed more than 13 million followers on their YouTube Channel The LaBrant Fam since 2017.

While the family has positioned itself as America’s sweethearts, posting wholesome Christian content, controversy has followed them since their meteoric rise to online superstardom.

Watch: Every family has a secret. Post continues after the video.

On Christmas Eve, the family announced they’re expecting another baby, via a YouTube video that revealed Savannah’s ‘raw’ reaction to her pregnancy test. Viewers were then treated to Cole’s ‘shocked’ response to the news their family of six was about to grow to seven. 

Here’s what you need to know about the LaBrants. 

The picture-perfect family. Image: Instagram@sav.labrant

Who are they? 

Despite their incredible popularity, The LaBrant Fam does what many YouTube families do - post a range of viral trends, challenges, pranks, vlogs and Q&A videos. 

Together, they’ve got more than 13 million subscribers, but the couple already had impressive individual followings before they got together. 

Back in 2013, Cole LaBrant - now 27 - garnered around 3 million followers on short video platform, Vine, with two mates, dubbing themselves Dem White Boyz. The group of friends took the online world by storm after posting a comedic twerking video that went viral. Promptly the trio become Internet heartthrobs, remaining popular with their six-second routines to rap songs.

When the group was hacked, losing most of their content, Cole went solo and rebranded his presence, posting more Christian content, along with funny sketches and family friendly dancing routines, and doubling his following to more than 6 million. He was ultimately nominated for a Shorty award for best Viner. He then gained further popularity after his “Senior Promposal” YouTube video, which show him ask Selena Gomez to his prom, was widely covered by mainstream media. He even appeared on season 28 of the reality show, The Amazing Race. 

Savannah also had an impressive following on the now defunct app, Musical.ly, where the professionally trained photographer regularly posted photos of herself and her daughter. 

After getting together, the pair joined forces to create the YouTube channel Cole&Sav, which ultimately became The LaBrant Fam. The channel now generates around US$5.5 million in advertising revenue every year. 

How did Cole and Savannah meet?

Cole and Savannah happened to be at the same shopping centre one day. Cole with his brother and Savannah with her sister. He knew he’d seen her before, recognising her from social media, but didn’t have the courage to approach her. Turns out she’d spotted him too, eventually sending her sister over to make an introduction. 

They exchanged numbers, but were reluctant to pursue anything at first, given their physical distance and age difference - Savannah is four years older than Cole and was a single mother to Everleigh. 

The pair caught up a few times, deciding to help each other grow their respective social media pages. They became fast friends, and eventually developed feelings for each other, which they promptly took online, ensuring their popularity soared even further. 

In 2016, Cole proposed to Savannah and six months later they were married, rebranding their YouTube channel to The LaBrant Fam and posting daily. Their wedding video, including vows to Everleigh who was four years old at the time, amassed more than 50 million views. 

Who is Eveleigh's Dad?

Savannah and Tommy Smith were just 19 when Everleigh was born. In the LaBrant's book, Cole And Sav: Our Surprising Love Story, Savannah reveals Smith cheated on her around six months into the pregnancy. 

“I dumped him, but we got back together when Everleigh was born. He promised me he’d changed, and I let myself believe him because I felt like I had to do everything I could to try to make a relationship with Tommy work for our daughter’s sake. He hadn’t changed. Within a matter of weeks after Everleigh was born, Tommy left me. Again," she wrote.

They endured an on-again-off-again relationship for several months, according to Savannah, with Smith continuing to cheat, she wrote.

“He’d show up and swear to me that he was done with all of that and that he’d changed and everything was going to be different. And I’d believe him, only to get hurt again. And again. And again.

"I wasn’t a happy person... My mom told me she was always praying for me to leave him and had her friends praying as well. I know she was also asking God to send a decent, godly guy into my life. I never imagined Cole might be the answer to that prayer."

After Savannah moved on with Cole, Smith found happiness with Courtney Santaella, frequently posting photos of the two of them with his daughter, Everleigh. 

In September 2022, Smith passed away at just 29 years of age. 

“You were taken unexpectedly to be with Jesus. My heart is broken into a million pieces writing this,” Santaella wrote in an Instagram post. 

“I feel numb and can’t think of words to say other than I wish this was a horrible nightmare. What I do know for sure is that I would not be the woman I am today without you. You taught me so much and I am forever thankful that you came into my life and that we were able to make so many amazing memories together. I will cherish those and hold them so tightly to my heart the rest of my life. I know you’re dancing and cracking jokes in heaven now. You will forever hold a special place in my heart. I love you so much Tommy.”

Tommy with partner Courtney. Image: Instagram/@courtsantaella

The controversies.

While the LaBrant family is well-loved by millions globally, they’ve also received plenty of backlash, both for their personal views and decisions, as well as their use of clickbaity and misleading headlines. 

The cancer scam.

Probably the family’s biggest controversy was their so-called ‘documentary’ titled: She got diagnosed with cancer, posted in 2021. The controversy arose from the thumbnail accompanying the title, an image of Cole, Savannah and their three children holding hands in their backyard, leading many to believe (unsurprisingly) that it was one of their own daughters who had been diagnosed with cancer. 

Instead, the video was about their fear that Posie may have had cancer. Within 10 minutes, viewers find out that Posie is cancer free, and the “she” in the headline refers to the many other families the LaBrants discovered were dealing with childhood cancer. 

The thumbnail has since been changed to Cole leaning over the sickbed of another child with cancer, but the damage was done.

“The LaBrant family should be absolutely cancelled for scaring their young fans into thinking one of their daughters was diagnosed with cancer. They knew what they were doing. Why do they still have a following? (sic)” wrote one X user. 

“The LaBrant family has been losing my respect for a while, but they really crossed the line with this one. How DARE they use childhood cancer as fxking clickbait and spend the first 10 minutes talking like one of their kids has cancer. this is disgusting (sic),” wrote another. 

The homeschool debate.

When Savannah’s daughter Everleigh was just nine years old, the couple announced they were pulling her out of school and home-schooling. 

While home-schooling is already controversial for some, it was their reasons for doing it that made viewers angry. 

“I want to homeschool Everleigh to have a second set of hands at home when the new baby comes,” Savannah said, with the couple admitting in a video that prior to becoming pregnant with their second child, they did not consider the workload of raising two kids. 

The Fire evacuation.

During 2018’s Californian wildfires, the LaBrants implied they had been forced to evacuate their home in a video titled: We left our house because of fires in California, accompanied by a thumbnail of Cole, Savannah and Everleigh looking scared, with a doctored image of a fiery mountainside behind them. 

It soon became clear that the family wasn’t forced to leave, nor had it been suggested they do. Instead, they left simply because their daughter was afraid of fires, leaving many viewers furious. 

The abortion debate.

In 2022, the LaBrant family stirred up more controversy after posting a documentary about abortions, two months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in America, reversing the federal right to receive an abortion. 

In the video, the family compared the number of abortions in America to that of the Holocaust. 

The move to Tennessee.

Not long after Smith’s death, the LaBrant family sold their Californian home and purchased a multi-million dollar property in Tennessee. 

Cole’s name is reportedly the only one on the deed of the home, which is said to have cost around US$4.5 million. 

Image: Instagram/@sav.labrandt

The new baby.

On Christmas Eve, the couple revealed Savannah was expecting her fifth baby. In the video, Savannah takes the pregnancy test, sharing her ‘raw’ response to the unexpected news with viewers. 

“I'm obviously so excited because I love babies so much, but I was not expecting this. Oh my goodness, we were not trying it all and we were so careful. Cole's mind is going to be blown.”

She then asks her son to share the news with Cole, whose mind is, in fact, blown by the revelation. 

But the couple agree it’s a gift from God, and the news is something to celebrate. 

“Baby 5 might have come by surprise to us but not to God. We know this babies (sic) life will carry such an incredible purpose and we can't wait to bring you into our already crazy family!”

Feature The LaBrants will soon be a family of seven. image: Instagram/@sav.labrant