Jill Duggar On Exposing Family's Dark Secrets In Documentary: 'Hard To Go Through'

Jill Duggar says she hesitated before participating in the upcoming docuseries about her family's "cult-like" religion.

The entertainer is best known for starring alongside the Duggar clan on the reality TV series "19 Kids and Counting." The second oldest daughter of the large brood received her spinoff following the cancellation of the family's TLC show.

However, the 32-year-old lost the "Counting On" program because of her brother Josh Duggar's child pornography scandal. A new Amazon Prime Video series promises to unveil how the TV personalities ultra-conservative beliefs negatively impacted their lives.

As seen in a recent snippet from the docuseries "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets," the mother of three got candid about starring in the four-part series. In the sneak peek, the socialite sat down with her husband, Derick Dillard, to drop bombshell revelations about her relatives' religion.

The Arkansas native confessed she debated addressing her life and that of her loved ones as a part of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP.) The conservative Christian organization was founded by the disgraced pastor Bill Gothard and widely publicized by the Duggars.

However, the family's doctrine was not as innocent as it seemed. Jill acknowledged that revealing the dark side of the IBLP's teachings was difficult. "Yeah, I mean, interviewing this isn't easy, and I didn't want to do it," the media personality said nervously.

"There's a lot there," she continued, "Like, do I want to open that can of worms?" Despite her wavering spirit, the TLC alum shared her side of the story, adding more fuel to the fire that began burning in 2014.

That year, Gothard resigned from the IBLP after his former employees accused him of sexual harassment. The allegations came from over 30 individuals, a scandal that matched the tragedy of the eldest Duggar son. Josh was incarcerated in 2022 for receiving and possessing child pornography.

Unfortunately, this was not the disgraced TV personality's only crime. In 2015, the family revealed that Josh was guilty of inappropriately touching four of his sisters and one babysitter during his teenage years. The victims included Jill and her sister Jessa.

Surprisingly, instead of blaming Josh, the Prime Video series promised to explain how the IBLP teachings created a "breeding ground" for predators. Nonetheless, the ordeal left a dark mark on the Arkansas native's life.

"It's just hard to go through," Jill confessed in the snippet. "There are a lot of families that are in a similar situation. But it was very different, in the sense that my family was on television."

Patting herself on the back for being brave enough to share her story, the mother of three noted in the trailer for "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets" that she wanted to be in charge of her narrative. "There's a story that's going to be told, and I would rather be the one telling it," the 32-year-old declared.

Weeks earlier, the "Growing Up Duggar," the streaming platform, announced the co-author's participation in the Prime Video series. On May 18, the explosive trailer for the upcoming documentary was dropped on the broadcast company's YouTube channel.

The two minutes clip captured interviews with former IBLP members, including a teaser shot of Jill and her husband. According to the second oldest Duggar daughter, her family had been inducted into Gothard's controversial group for as long as she could remember.

Sharing similar sentiments, former practitioners of the conservative religion noted that the disgraced pastor used the Duggars' TLC series to spearhead his insidious campaign. "World domination was the goal," a man claimed.

Another male source accused the Christian organization founder of turning fathers into "cult leaders" and making their homes an "island." On that same note, a female quipped: "The IBLP teachings aren't Christianity. They're something entirely different."

One of the documentary's stars declared that "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets" covered more than the TLC stars' dark lives. The show focused on revealing Gothard's diabolical schemes for political power, using groomed IBLP children.

"You give these kids training and political engagement, and from there, you send them to the halls of Congress, into the White House as interns," the female participant explained, claiming that the religion's heads were "playing the long game."