Jill Duggar opens up about strict rules set by her parents when she was a child – from six-inch ‘modesty’ regulation with men to ‘buddy’ system set up to ensure one of their 19 kids ‘didn’t slip through the cracks
Jill Duggar Dillard has opened up about the strict household rules her parents set as a child – including a six-inch ‘modesty’ rule towards men.
The mother-of-three also revealed that her large family had a ‘buddy’ system, where she was assigned a younger sibling to look after – and she was given the job when she was just six years old.
‘We had a buddy system. An older child would be paired with a younger sibling, or two or three,” Jill, 32, explains in an episode of The unplanned podcast on Wednesday.
“That way no one slipped through the cracks,” the 19 Kids And Counting star added.
Jill, 32, explained some of the bizarre childhood rules she lives by on an episode of The Unplanned Podcast
The 19 Kids And Counting star appeared on the podcast with her husband Derick (pictured left), where they discussed some rules in the ultra-conservative household she grew up in
“There was always someone who made sure they got lunch and changed their diapers.”
While her 34-year-old husband, Derick Dillard, admitted he didn’t change a diaper until age 26, Jill estimated she was “probably six” the first time she changed one.
“I got my first buddy when I was about six,” she explained.
According to Jill, the role of the ‘buddies’ changed as the children got older.
“There’s, you know, different levels,” she explained.
Despite being a hands-on sibling, she insisted that her parents — Michele Duggar, 57, and Jim Bob Duggar, 58 — always took care of the kids.
“Even at night, like we woke up with a child, they would help,” she recalls.
She added that her mother had a “nurturing personality,” insisting she was “very involved all night long and everything with the kids.”
Jill said her parents (pictured) implemented a ‘six-inch rule’ which meant their daughters had to have six inches of space between them and men unless they were married
The 32-year-old revealed her complicated relationship with estranged father Jim Bob Duggar in her book Counting The Cost
Jill explained that one of the key pillars of the Institute In Basic Life Principles values was “authority” (Derick and Jill pictured with her parents, Michelle and Jim Bob)
Jill and Derick didn’t hold each other until they were engaged and shared their first kiss when they were married
‘If someone is sick, it is she who has to deal with it. It’s not us,” she added.
As seen on the show, Michelle and Jim Bob relied heavily on their older daughters — which also included Jessa, 31, and Jinger, 30 — to care for the younger Duggar siblings.
Jill, who later starred in Counting On, revealed another rule in her household – which involved how she interacted with her now husband Derrick.
She said her parents instituted a “six-inch rule,” which meant they had to have six inches of space between them and someone of the opposite sex at all times until they got married.
‘Actually? Was there a 6 inch rule? Can you hold hands?’ asked the podcast host, Matt Howard, who shares hosting duties with his wife, Abby, in disbelief.
Jill responded that she and Derick couldn’t hold hands until they were engaged.
“And we didn’t kiss until our wedding day (in 2014),” she added.
Jill explained that one of the core pillars of the values of the Institute in Basic Life Principles — the ultra-Christian organization of which the Duggar family is a member — was “authority.”
“Jill and I have talked about this — with or without the reality show, this control issue would have been a thing,” Derick mused. “But it blew everything out of proportion. If the patriarch has more money, there is more control.”
She went on to explain that according to Church teachings, she must “remain forever under the authority of her parents” or risk “opening herself to evil.”
“Getting into a car accident can be the result of disobeying your parents, even well into adulthood,” she explained as an example.
Jill also mentioned wearing pants as a way in which she had gone “against the grain” of her parents’ upbringing.
“I grew up wearing skirts all the time, like that was a big deal,” she explained.
“I made decisions in their eyes that could potentially harm me,” the TLC alum continued. “I would go so far as to say that in their opinion (I) jeopardized my salvation.”
She said her parents introduced a ‘six-inch rule’ which meant they had to have six inches of space between them at all times until they got married in 2014 (pictured)
The 32-year-old has opened up about her strict upbringing as a member of the Christian group known as the Institute in Basic Life Principles
Jill opened up about her upbringing in the Duggar household and what it was like to be raised by ultra-religious parents in the spotlight in her 2022 memoir, Counting The Cost.
She has also spoken openly about her fraught relationship with her father, whom she accused of not paying her for her appearances on the various TLC shows.
It is reported that the Duggars received $18 million over the course of their 21 seasons on TV, but according to Jill, 32 — the fourth oldest of the Duggars’ 19 children — she and her siblings didn’t get a cent of it during their performance. time in the show. Instead, she claimed it all ended up in the pocket of her father, Jim Bob.
She spoke about her struggle to get distribution in the upcoming explosive Amazon Prime docuseries about the family, titled Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which aired last year.
She claimed that her father tricked her into signing a contract that forced her to continue filming against her will, and that she was given no choice but to videotape her son’s birth, despite having the production crew told her she didn’t feel comfortable with it. It.