A member of the 19 Kids and Counting crew talks about working with the Duggars while filming the TLC reality show that brought the family to the national spotlight nearly 15 years ago.
The anonymous crew member spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about his experiences with father Jim Bob, mother Michelle — and, of course, their famously prolific brood — ahead of the premiere of a new docuseries about the family and their connection to the scandal-ridden Christian fundamentalist Sect Institute in Basic Life Principles, or IBLP.
The series, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which releases June 2 on Prime Video, portrays the Duggars in a less than flattering light. The trailer likens Jim Bob to a “cult leader,” acting in accordance with IBLP’s creed, which sees men’s position as “head of the house” as the “natural order.”
However, the crew member remembers his interactions with the family on set as generally “pretty positive.”
Shiny Happy People trailer compares dad Jim Bob Duggar to a ‘cult leader’
Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle, 56, along with their many children, rose to fame through the TLC series 19 and Counting, which aired from 2008 to 2015
The docuseries Shiny Happy People aims to “uncover the truth behind the healthy Americana surface of reality TV’s favorite megafamily,” according to Prime Video’s synopsis.
This is actually why they didn’t want to interview me for the [docuseries]. They kept asking me a lot of questions like, “What did they do? Did they like sneaking in and doing weird things?” I was like, “No, not really. They were actually really nice,” he told DailyMail.com
The source emphasized that the parents were nothing but gracious and hospitable when it came to their treatment of the crew.
“They fed us, they always made us feel comfortable at home. They made sure their kids didn’t bother us, and they made sure their kids were very polite to us…” he continued.
He added, “I feel like the family’s intentions have always been very positive.”
What’s more, while the four-part docuseries is seemingly intended to portray Jim Bob, 57, as an authoritarian-minded patriarch, the crew member noted that this wasn’t necessarily the case.
In fact, it was actually Michelle, 56, who was in control.
“This is the weird thing… Michelle is actually in charge of the situation,” the source said. “She actually runs the family. Even if it is a patriarchal family [structure].’
“When you spend enough time with the family,” he continued, “you realize that Michelle actually makes a lot of decisions.”
The anonymous crew member recalled his on-set interactions with the Duggars as generally “pretty positive”
The source told DailyMail.com that, contrary to what one might expect given the IBLP’s explicitly patriarchal religious doctrine, he found Michelle doing most of the shooting.
The anonymous source (not pictured) emphasized that the Duggars treated the film crew well and always “made sure we were comfortable at home”
The crew member added that he felt “the intentions of the family were always very positive”
“Jim Bob is kind of crazy, and Michelle is the one who makes sure things are really functional,” he added.
From guiding the family as they ventured outside of their church-focused community in Tontitown, Arkansas — to NYC and a number of international locations — the source recalled that they were “very fish out of water.”
“They’re pretty careful about how they behave,” he continued. “I think Jim Bob is like the rowdy American. And then Michelle is the one who’s like, “Okay, maybe we shouldn’t do that.”‘
The source further emphasized that “respect for other people is a central theme for them. They don’t dissing other cultures on camera, or even in person.’
He explained that what they “often lean away from is anything to do with sex, or anything to do with religion. For example, if they go to a country and worship a different deity, they want to make sure they don’t participate in that.’
The Duggars’ sane Christian image came crashing down in 2015 after it was revealed that their oldest child, Josh, now 35, had groped some of his sisters and an underage babysitter as a teenager in the early s, around 2002 and 2003.
TLC subsequently canceled 19 Kids and Counting as advertisers began pulling out of the time slot.
Later that year, it was revealed that Josh, who married wife Anna in 2008, was active on adultery-driven dating website Ashley Madison after a hack exposed the site’s user credentials.
Josh Duggar (pictured) was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison earlier this year on charges of child pornography
The anonymous crew member (not pictured) emphasized that he doesn’t see Josh as representing the rest of the Duggar kids
The Duggars raised all of their children, including fifth oldest Jessa (pictured), to follow the teachings of IBLP
IBLP was founded in the early 1960s by disgraced Christian pastor Bill Gothard (pictured)
The fourth oldest of the Duggars, Jill, 32, (pictured) features prominently in the docuseries
In 2021, Josh, who now shares seven children with Anna, was arrested on child pornography charges. He was found guilty in December 2021 and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison last March.
While Josh’s sex scandals have irrevocably tarnished the family’s squeaky clean image, the crew member was adamant that Josh is not representative of the other Duggar kids.
“I think the family was trying to educate him to make him better, but I think Josh just has his own demons he’s dealing with,” the source said.
Jinger Duggar Vuolo, 29, wrote a memoir describing her realization that IBLP’s teachings skew what is actually in the Bible
“I almost see Josh Duggar as a separate entity… his younger brothers and everyone else are, they’re great. They are all nice guys. They are respectful. Sure, they have their teachings that I don’t agree with at all, but as far as just not being a sexual predator…they’re not,” he continued. “Josh must not infect the rest of the boys with his behavior as a sexual predator to the rest of the family.”
In recent years, two of the Duggar daughters have criticized their upbringing, particularly regarding the impact IBLP’s teachings had on their childhood and self-image as girls and young women.
Jinger, 29, the sixth oldest of her siblings, wrote an autobiography titled Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear, which hit shelves in January.
In the book, she describes how she came to the revelation that IBLP’s rigid doctrine deeply skews what is actually written in the Bible.
IBLP was founded in the early 1960s by disgraced Christian pastor Bill Gothard. One of the core tenets is that heterosexual married couples should have huge families – a concept known as Quiverfull. The traditional gender hierarchy is also strictly enforced, with women explicitly encouraged to “submit” to their husbands.
Gothard resigned in 2014 after being accused of sexual abuse by more than 30 women.
Meanwhile, court records unsealed in May 2022 document Jill, 32, the fourth eldest, speaking officially of her father Jim Bob, saying of him, “Unfortunately, I realized he had become quite controlling, anxious and reactionary. He was verbally abusive. Our relationship is not good. It got pretty toxic.”