Jill Duggar Dillard revealed that her father Jim Bob Duggar once offered to send her husband Derick Dillard to rehab — after he had a beer during dinner.
The bizarre story was revealed in her recently released book: Counting The Cost. The former reality show star revealed what it was like growing up in the public eye and in an ultra-conservative Christian household.
Jill and her siblings rose to fame on the TLC show 19 Kids And Counting, a TV series that aired in 2008 and followed parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar as they raised their huge family in Arkansas.
The film lasted seven years and was canceled in 2015 after their eldest son Josh admitted to abusing four of his sisters.
Jill, who is now a mother of three, also appeared in a spin-off about her and her sisters called Counting On, but left the series in 2017.
Jill Duggar has candidly revealed how her appearances on reality shows almost destroyed her marriage to husband Derick Dillard
She gave some insight into her upbringing and life on the show, growing up in the controversial church, The Institute in Basic Life Principles, in her memoir.
In her memoir, co-written with her husband Derick Dillard and writer Craig Borlase and released Tuesday, she provided some insight into the family’s trials and tribulations growing up on television.
She also spoke about growing up in a strict fundamentalist Christian home and being a member of The Institute in Basic Life Principles.
The 32-year-old also opened up about how the series affected her relationship with her family and husband, telling stories about their conservative upbringing.
In one story, Jill recalled the bizarre time her father offered to send her husband to rehab after accusing him of being an alcoholic because he had a beer at dinner.
She told how Jim Bob heard that 34-year-old Derick had drunk a beer – something that was forbidden in her family during her childhood – and the confrontation that followed.
“Pops had reached out shortly afterward and offered to send Derick to the same rehab center Josh had been at, in hopes of curing Derick’s clearly raging alcoholism,” she explained.
She said her husband quickly said no to the invitation, noting that they posted a photo of themselves with a piña colada next to her at dinner, which Jim Bob did not comment on.
“Since he had never been drunk or had ever had more than two beers in a row, Derick refused,” she said.
Jill also claimed dad Jim Bob (seen with wife Michelle) offered to send her husband to the same rehabilitation center as her pedophile brother Josh.
Jill admitted that filming the TV series almost ruined her relationship with her husband (pictured)
The family’s dark side was exposed in the Amazon Prime docuseries: Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets
Jill assured readers in the book’s foreword that it is not an attempt to “shame” her family or “get their attention.”
Instead, she said she felt like her family’s voices were still being “silenced” and that “the real damage was still being done by not telling.”
Jill expressed her views on the conservative Christian upbringing she had within the IBLP organization, which was founded in the 1960s by shunned minister Bill Gothard.
She discussed how that has affected the way she raises her own children — including the choice to send her eldest child Israel to public school.
“Our decision to enroll Israel in public school marked an important step in my own path out of IBLP—an organization that I could finally see clearly,” she said in the book.
She described the church as a “cult” that thrived on “a culture of “fear and manipulation”” – and said her husband helped her change her view of the church.
“Derick – who was a perfect example of how a godly man can thrive in a public school,” she explained. “(He) helped challenge my thinking.”
Jill had also opened up about the show’s impact on her relationship with Derick, admitting it almost destroyed her marriage and she feared being on the show constantly would ‘tear them apart’ – especially after the couple tied the knot in 2014.
Jill and Derick said they often felt obligated to commit 20 hours a week to filming, she said. People in an interview, adding, “It caused a lot of frustration in our marriage.
“Especially in the beginning when he had some opinions about filming something,” she explained. ‘ I would say, ‘I hear you, I feel you, I don’t want to do whatever they ask us either. But we have to.’
Jill claims her parents Jim Bob, now 58, and Michelle Duggar, now 56, knew about the abuse and failed to report it
19 Kids and Counting aired on TLC from 2008 to 2015, focusing on Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar as they raised their huge family in Arkansas
The now controversial show came under fire earlier this year, following the release of Amazon Prime’s docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
In the series, Jill also spoke of her disgust after discovering the extreme measures Jim Bob took to cover up brother Josh’s crimes, following shocking claims in 2015 that the now 35-year-old had admitted to killing four of his siblings years earlier have abused. .
Josh was arrested in 2021 on child pornography charges.
The claims alleged that his own parents, Jim Bob, now 58, and Michelle Duggar, now 56, knew about it and failed to report the abuse. during their multiple TLC reality shows.
Jill also revealed that the Duggars were paid $18 million over the course of their 21 seasons on TV, but according to Jill, she and her siblings received no money during their time on the show.
Instead, she claimed it all went into her father’s pocket
Following the release of Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, Michelle and Jim Bob released a statement saying, “The recent documentary that talks about our family is sad because it shows us that the media and people with bad intentions are making people we love keep hurting.
“Like other families, ours has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public way.
‘This documentary portrays so much and so much in a derogatory and sensational way, because unfortunately that is the direction of entertainment today.’