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Prime Video’s new docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets aims to expose the truth about the 19 Kids and Counting family and their conservative Christian ideology. But don’t expect to see many members of the Duggar family sitting down for interviews in the four-episode series. Only one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 kids agreed to talk to producers. But what she has to say is pretty explosive.
Jill Duggar is the only Duggar family kid in the new documentary
Jill Duggar is the fourth of Michelle and Jim Bob’s 19 kids. She’s the only member of the immediate Duggar family who agreed to appear in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
Jill and her husband Derick Dillard sat down for a joint interview for the series, which premieres June 2. There are some topics she refuses to discuss. That includes the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of her older brother, Josh Duggar. Jill says she wishes that information had remained private.
However, an emotional Jill does reveal that she regrets doing her infamous interview with Megyn Kelly where she and her sister Jessa Duggar minimized Josh’s abuse.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the Megyn Kelly stuff. I felt like I was in a place again of like bearing the burden and the weight of just … even though you volunteer, it’s like you feel obligated to help,” she says in the doc.
Derick describes the interview as “a suicide mission.” He says Jill was “collateral damage” in the family’s effort to keep 19 Kids and Counting on the air.
Jill also confirms that she wasn’t paid for time on TLC and that conflicts over money led to her and Derick leaving Counting On. In addition, the couple opens up about their effort to keep TLC cameras out of the delivery room when Jill gave birth to her first child in 2015. They were ultimately unsuccessful.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar aren’t interviewed in ‘Shiny Happy People’
Shiny Happy People is sharply critical of the Duggars and how they used their reality show to promote the conservative teachings of Bill Gothard and his Institute in Basic Life Principles. The series features interviews with several people who were raised in IBLP families. Former Duggar family friends Jim and Bobye Holt also speak about their relationship with the Duggars.
Unsurprisingly, the series doesn’t feature interviews with Jim Bob and Michelle, though both appear in archival footage. The couple declined to comment for the series. However, they did share a statement with producers through their representative.
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In the statement, the former TLC stars said that they “love each of their children tremendously and always desire each live their God-designed lives to the fullest.”
None of Jill’s 18 siblings were interviewed for the series. However, Shiny Happy People does feature a clip of her younger sister Jinger Duggar where she describes the teachings of the IBLP and its leader Bill Gothard as “so harmful.” Jinger recently published a book about rejecting the faith of her parents and developing a new relationship with Christianity.
Amy Duggar and her mother Deanna Duggar are also interviewed
Shiny Happy People producers also sat down with Jill’s cousin Amy Duggar King, who periodically appeared on episodes of 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On. Amy’s mother (and Jim Bob’s sister) Deanna Duggar is also interviewed. Neither was part of IBLP, but both had a front-row seat to the inner working of the Duggar family.
In the series, Amy reveals that Jill defended herself when Josh tried to prey upon her as a child.
“Jill has strength and tenacity,” she says. “She is not one to just keep quiet and silent. And so she’s the one that really did something about Josh and hit him the night he tried to do something to her.”
Meanwhile, Deanna says Jim Bob downplayed the federal raid on Josh’s used car lot. During the November 2019 raid, investigators discovered a computer containing child sexual abuse material.
“I talked to my brother and he said, ‘It’s just this ex-con that worked at his car lot and it’s all gonna be fine,” she recalls. “‘This is all gonna blow over. It’s not true. None of it’s true.’
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets premieres Friday, June 2 on Prime Video.
How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.
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