Peeling again the curtain. Jill Duggar is utilizing her voice within the new docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
The 32-year-old is one among many former followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) featured in Prime Video’s four-part collection, which debuted on Friday, June 2. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s daughter appeared alongside her husband, Derick Dillard, and cousin Amy Duggar in the deep dive into the Duggar family’s rise to stardom — and fall into scandal.
“There’s a story that’s going to be told,” Jill mentioned within the first have a look at the collection final month. “And I would rather be the one telling it.”
Jill and her siblings received their begin on TLC in 2008 with the premiere of 19 Kids and Counting. The actuality collection gave followers a glimpse contained in the lives of the Duggar household, who raised their kids to comply with strict fundamentalist beliefs and conservative existence.
After 10 seasons, TLC canceled the present in 2015 after Jill’s brother Josh Duggar was accused of molesting a number of women when he was a young person — a few of whom have been his sisters. Jill and her sister Jessa Duggar have been later recognized as a number of the victims, and so they appeared on Megyn Kelly‘s show at the time to defend their family’s identify.
“This was something that’s already been dealt with,” Jill mentioned by means of tears in the course of the 2015 broadcast, claiming that she felt “revictimization” by means of the media frenzy surrounding the scandal. “We’ve already forgiven Josh. We’ve moved on.”
Looking again on the state of affairs almost 10 years later, Jill confessed in Shiny Happy People that she would’ve dealt with it in a different way. “I believe strongly that victims should always be protected. Victims should always be cared for,” she mentioned.
Jill claimed she felt “obligated” to downplay her brother’s actions for the sake of her household. “It’s not something I’m proud of,” she added.
The Arkansas native — who shares three sons with Dillard — wasn’t keen to discuss the 2015 controversy on digital camera. Elsewhere within the docuseries, she hesitated to handle Josh’s 2021 arrest and subsequent sentencing for receiving and possessing youngster pornography. The scandal prompted TLC to formally minimize ties with the Duggars, axing the spinoff collection Counting On. (Josh is at the moment serving time in a Texas jail and is predicted to be launched in October 2023.)
Before Shiny Happy People premiered, producers Olivia Crist and Julia Willoughby Nason opened up about how they approached the delicate subject of the Duggar household’s status and their ties to the controversial IBLP world.
“What we ultimately explore in the show is — there’s the shiny, happy facade, and then beneath the surface is this insidious cult behind the family, called the IBLP,” Willoughby Nason defined on the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” in May. “The Duggars are a jumping off point for us for a much, much larger story. … This sort of structure is just ripe with abuse.”
The staff hopes viewers come away with a deeper understanding of the inside workings of the Duggar brood and the approach to life they comply with. “A lot of things have been swept under the rug that should have been looked into,” Willoughby Nason added. “I think once you watch the show, you know … there’s a lot that should have been looked into that wasn’t.”
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Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is accessible now on Prime Video. Scroll down for the largest revelations:
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