Jill Duggar’s ‘Distancing’ From Her Family Explained: Timeline of the Drama

No family is perfect — even famous ones. Since 19 Kids and Counting skyrocketed Jill Duggar into the spotlight, she’s experienced plenty of ups and downs with her parents and siblings.

Fans first met the Duggars in 2008 when their TLC reality series, originally titled 17 Kids and Counting, premiered. The show highlighted the devout Baptist family’s day-to-day lives, from homeschooling to courtships. However, the network suspended the series in May 2015 after it was revealed that Jill’s brother Josh Duggar had molested multiple girls as a teenager.

One month later, Jill and her sister Jessa came forward as two of Josh’s victims. The siblings shared their story during an in-depth interview with Megyn Kelly. “This is something that we chose to do. Nobody asked us to do this,” Jill asserted at the time, adding that she had “forgiven” her brother for his past behavior.

Jill also praised her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, for how they handled the situation behind closed doors. “Being a mother now, I look back and I realize my parents did such an amazing job for me,” she said in the sit-down. “As a mom, I hope I can set up the same safeguards with my family that they did.”

The Arkansas native welcomed two sons — Israel, born in 2015, and Samuel, born in 2017 — with her husband, Derick Dillard. Although 19 Kids and Counting was officially canceled by TLC in July 2015, Jill, Derick and other members of the Duggar brood returned for a spinoff titled Counting On later that year. After six seasons, the couple exited the series in 2017.

“We found out we didn’t have as much control over our lives as it related to the show and stuff, as we needed,” Jill explained in a YouTube Q&A three years later, noting that she and Derick “don’t regret” the choice they made to leave. “We had to make a decision at that time to kind of put the show aside … to pursue our own goals and everything.”

Though the pair believed they did what was best for them and their kids, not everyone was pleased with the decision. “There’s been some distancing there,” Jill said of her family’s strained relationship. “We’re not on the best terms with some of my family. We’ve had some disagreements, but we’re working toward healing definitely and restoration, but we’re having to kind of just take some time and heal.”

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Four months later, Jill told Us Weekly exclusively that there was still “drama” between her and some relatives, adding that she and Derick were “learning to develop boundaries” in therapy.

“We were ready to leave and felt strongly about leaving. … There are definitely some issues there,” she told Us in February 2021. “We definitely feel like we’re in a healthy place now for our family and have control over our lives. … Certain people are more supportive than others. I think it ebbs and flows with a family of that size. Every family has drama and so when you’ve got that many more people giving opinions or whatever, it can get crazy.”

As fans continue to speculate about Jill’s tension with the other TLC stars, Jinger Duggar and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, told Us she hoped to see some improvement there soon.

“They’re working through some things,” the pastor said in April 2021 of his sister-in-law and Dillard. “We’re giving them their time to do that … but we’ve got a great relationship [with them].”

Scroll down to learn more about Jill’s ups and downs with her family:

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In her book Growing Up Duggar, cowritten by Jana, Jessa and Jinger, Jill opened up about feeling pressure within her family’s strict guidelines. “We can’t conform ourselves to other people’s molds. But we try sometimes, don’t we?” she wrote. “It’s inevitable that human beings, particularly teenagers and especially teenage girls, go through times when they may try to remake themselves into something, or someone, they’re not.”

Jill and her sister Jessa sat down for a revealing interview with Megyn Kelly, coming forward as two of their brother Josh’s molestation victims. “We’ve already forgiven Josh. We’ve moved on,” Jill said at the time, claiming “most of the stuff out there” about the situation was “lies.”

Though the network pulled the plug on 19 Kids and Counting following Josh’s cheating scandal and rehab stint, several of the Duggar sisters returned for the spinoff, titled Counting On. The earlier episodes focused specifically on Jill and Jessa as they expanded their own families.

After season 6 of Counting On came to an end, Jill and her family announced they would not be returning for future episodes. Soon after, Dillard came under fire for his controversial tweets about transgender TLC star Jazz Jennings. “The network has no plans to feature him in the future,” TLC noted in a statement amid the backlash.

Jill’s husband seemingly threw shade at his father-in-law in a lengthy Twitter thread, hinting that Jim Bob had “negotiated” family members’ TLC contracts “without telling anyone.” When one fan asked why the patriarch “get[s] all the money” from the show, Dillard replied, “I don’t know. You would have to ask him that.”

In a clear deviation from Duggar family beliefs, Jill and her husband told their social media followers that they’d been using “non-hormonal birth control methods.” The reveal came shortly after she drank an alcoholic beverage during a September 2020 date night, another small rebellion against her relatives’ rules.

The couple went into detail about their decision to leave the TLC franchise in a YouTube vlog, revealing, “We found out we didn’t have as much control over our lives as it related to the show and stuff, as we needed.” Jill explained that the pair chose “to kind of put the show aside” and instead focus on pursuing other passions. “It was a really difficult decision. … We’re not on the best terms with some of my family. We’ve had some disagreements,” she added. “But we’re working toward healing definitely and restoration, but we’re having to kind of just take some time and heal.”

“Up until around the time we left the show, we hadn’t been paid for anything,” Jill claimed in a YouTube video describing her and Dillard’s exit from Counting On. “Of course, there were perks that came along with filming. … We hadn’t been paid until we were really pressing about it and ended up getting an attorney involved and stuff.”

At the time, Dillard noted that the lawyer helped them “to recover at least something” of the lost funds, but it was only “a little more than minimum wage at most.”

One month after she detailed the ongoing family “drama” to Us exclusively, Jill revealed in a YouTube video that she and Dillard hadn’t visited her childhood home — a.k.a. the “big house” — in “probably a couple years.” The law school grad added, “There’s a lot of triggers [at the house].”

In a series of fiery tweets, Dillard claimed the “rebranding” of 19 Kids and Counting into Counting On wasn’t convincing. “Same business structure as 19K&C (I.e., one person makes the decisions for all and one person got paid),” he wrote after Josh’s April 2021 arrest continued to make headlines. “But it would be ‘rebranded’ to make people think it was different. We pushed back often, and we were threatened often. … Finally, we called their bluff and quit.”

When TLC officially cut ties with the Duggar family following Josh’s April 2021 arrest, Jill and her husband reacted in a post on their website titled “Better Late Than Never.” The couple wrote at the time, “Our statement about the cancellation of Counting On is a little late because we just learned the news with the rest of the world last Tuesday + this season of life is quite busy for us. We first heard of the cancellation when both a friend & a cousin each texted us after seeing TLC’s statement online. We do not know how long the cancellation had been planned.”

While reflecting on the many “great experiences” they had as part of the show, the duo concluded, “Our family’s departure from 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On has allowed us to make our own decisions, including the ability to have a choice in what we share. For now, we will move forward on our own terms, and we look forward to whatever opportunities the future holds.”

Before Josh was convicted of two counts of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, Dillard tweeted, “Praying for justice this morning.” As for why the couple attended part of the hearing, he told People, “We just wanted to, among other things, see the facts for ourselves. America is the best country to get justice.”

Jill and her husband participated in the Prime Video docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. In the dramatic first look at the four-part exposé, she declares: “There’s a story that’s going to be told. And I would rather be the one telling it.”