Jill Dillard and Jim Bob Duggar. D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra; Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
- Jill Duggar Dillard opened up about her strained relationship with her father, Jim Bob Duggar.
- In an interview with People, she said that they wouldn’t see each other “individually.”
- Dillard also spoke about the toll reality TV took on their marriage.
Former TLC reality star Jill Duggar Dillard shared rare and raw honesty on the TLC series “19 Kids And Counting” about the toll of growing up in front of cameras and how that experience affected her relationships with her Father Jim Bob Duggar and her husband Derick influenced Dillard.
In a new interview with People, Dillard called her current relationship with her father “difficult” and revealed that she no longer has personal contact with him. “We don’t agree on a lot of things,” Dillard said.
The mother of three, who has been married to Derick since 2014, said she made the decision to distance herself from her father because he tried to manipulate her when approaching Dillard individually. Dillard told People that while she loves her father, she needs to set “healthy boundaries” with him.
She attributed at least some of the tension between her and her father to intensity Dillard said her father required her and Derick to stick to this filming schedule after they got married. According to People, the couple said in their book “Counting the Cost”: announced on September 12 that they wanted to step away from the spotlight, but were contractually obligated to be available to TLC’s cameras for 20 hours per week.
Dillard appeared in more than 50 episodes of the “19 Kids And Counting” spinoff “Counting On” from 2015 to 2020, after the original series was canceled due to the alleged harassment scandal surrounding her brother Josh Duggar.
Jill Dillard, Derick Dillard, Michelle Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar. D Dipasupil/Getty Images; D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra
Dillard told People that her family’s involvement in the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP) — an ultra-conservative, controversial Christian organization — made it difficult for her to go against her father’s wishes. She said she was always taught to obey her parents more than anyone else, regardless of her age or the milestones she wanted to share privately with her husband away from the rest of the world.
Derick told People that his father-in-law would say “damaging” things to him and Dillard when they disagreed with him about filming.
“He would weaponize the relationship and say, ‘Is that you, Jill, or is that you, Derick? Are you misleading your wife and doing things that are not conducive to marriage?’ And I think that was a red flag,” Derick explained.
Dillard told People that she ultimately realized that she and Derick had to “fight this fight together” against her father’s alleged demands or their marriage would fall apart.
In a statement to People, Duggar and his wife Michelle said they had no comment on the matter. They said it was “painful” for them to be at odds with the Dillards, but they didn’t want to “resolve” conflicts through the media or in public.
Dillard on “Shiny Happy People” (left); Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (right). Prime Video; Kris Connor/WireImage
Dillard and her husband have previously spoken out about Duggar’s alleged demands to film the family’s TLC reality shows. The couple took part in “Shiny Happy People,” a Prime Video documentary about IBLP victims that aired in June. In interviews for the docuseries, the couple claimed that Duggar tricked them into signing a contract to film their wedding for the original series the day before their wedding in 2014.
In the docuseries, Dillard also said that she felt “obliged” to participate in an interview with Fox News host Megyn Kelly in 2015 to support her brother Josh following his alleged harassment scandal, and that she agreed with her decision to leave the interview lead, repent.
They did not respond to specific allegations in Shiny Happy, People, but on June 1, Duggar and his wife released a statement about the docuseries on their website.
“We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships or reconcile differences is through love in private. We love every member of our family and will continue to do everything we can to have a good relationship with everyone,” the statement read in part.
The Dillards left IBLP in 2020, preferring to raise their children away from the spotlight. They also told People that they go to therapy and that it has helped them redefine their identities away from television cameras.
The couple said they still see Michelle and the Duggar siblings at family events. While some of her brothers and sisters support her unspecified decisions “behind closed doors,” Dillard said others have expressed concerns about her decisions for her family, which she understands.
Representatives for the Dillards and TLC did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The Dillards’ book “Counting The Cost” will be available on September 12th.
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