Dark Secrets That Plague the Duggars Behind-the-Scenes of ‘Counting On’

When the Duggars landed 19 Kids and Counting in 2008, the massive family shared an inside look into their unique style of living.

A devout and strict religious bunch, the show followed Jim Bob, Michelle and their gaggle of “J” named children. Fans watched their walk through a moral life, homeschooling and chaperoned courtship with fascination of their odd choices.

The family seemed to live according to a wholesome, pure path until a molestation scandal involving the couple’s eldest son Josh left the Duggars without a reality show and with mud smeared on their family name.

As this single scandal unfolded, more family drama came to light and fans began to see more chilling accusations than proper moral strides from the family.

Though a spin-off series, Counting On, aired five months after the original series’ cancellation in 2015, dark secrets and drama continue to follow the Duggars while the cameras aren’t rolling.

Keep reading to see some of the reality family’s most startling secrets.

1. Josh’s molestation scandal:

The family’s largest scandal came when eldest son Josh was accused of molesting five girls — four of whom were his younger sisters — by fondling them. The alleged sexual abuse occurred between 2002 and 2003, when Josh was 14 and 15 years old. He admitted to these allegations and issued a public apology in May 2015.

“Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends,” Josh said in a statement on the family’s Facebook page. “I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.”

But the most disturbing part of this situation is the role parents Jim Bob and Michelle played. Rather than turning their son over to police for inappropriately touching their daughters, they sent Josh to work and counseling sessions after consulting with church elders.

They also say Josh confessed to a family friend and state trooper in 2003, but was merely given a stern talk.

2. Sisters suing police station:

While Josh was being investigated for his sexual misconduct, four of his sisters (and victims) sued the Springdale Police Department, the precinct that leaked the original reports to InTouch Weekly in 2015.

Though their brother’s crimes against them were foul, Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy claim the police had no right to release details of Josh’s investigation outside of proper legal channels. Their case trial began this week on September 25th.

3. Josh’s affairs:

As his molestation charges came to light, Josh was soon embroiled in another scandal after he confessed to cheating on his wife Anna, developing an internet sex addiction and holding two paid subscriptions to Ashley Madison. 

Adding to the infidelity controversy, adult film star Danica Dillion filed charges totaling  $500,000 for emotional and physical damages she claimed to have suffered after a consensual sexual encounter with Josh. Dillion originally said Duggar “manhandled” her during a rough sexual encounter, but later dropped the charges against him.

Through it all, wife Anna has stuck by her husband’s side and the couple welcomed their fifth child on Sept. 12.

4. Religion, cult followers:

The Duggar family hasn’t kept quiet about their devotion to religion and living on a Godly path, but their dedication to the Christian ministry, The Institute In Basic Life Principles, is concerning. The extreme organization touts it is “giving a ‘new’ approach to life” through strict principles concerning every facet of life from homeschooling to sexual purity. 

Though the head of the religious organization was accused of multiple rape and abuse charges that caused him to retire in 2014, the devout Duggars still find solace in the cult group.

5. Michelle’s twisted ‘role in the home’:

Wife Michelle’s view of traditional patriarchy and gender roles in the home takes things to a new extreme. In fact, she says you should always say yes to sex with your husband, even when you feel too tired.

“In your marriage, there will be times you’re going to be very exhausted,” she told TODAY. “Your hubby comes home after a hard day’s work, you get to bed, and he is going to be looking forward to that time with you… Anyone can fix him lunch, but only one person can meet that physical need of love that he has, and you always need to be available when he calls.”

As the mother of 19 children, this is a twisted view of marriage to place in her kids’ minds.

6. Jim Bob’s lies about birth control:

During a 2014 appearance at the Value Voters Summit, father Jim Bob told attendees that birth control — something the family is vocally against using — causes miscarriages.

“Something we didn’t know is that the pill can actually allow women to get pregnant, but then it can be aborted,” he said, OK! Magazine reports. “That’s what happened with Michelle… she went on the pill after Josh and then got pregnant, and then the pill actually caused a miscarriage.”

This line of thinking, which has no scientific basis, is likely a disturbing thought that has scared his children into avoiding contraception (thus creating their rapidly growing family).

7. Family’s treatment of gay crew members:

In another rather public scandal, Jim Bob and the Duggars are said to have brutally harassed a crew member once they found out that he was gay, leading TLC to assign him to another project. 

But as a result of this incident, the family was never reprimanded for their harsh actions, and there are still no openly gay crew members working on Counting On. Now, other crew members on the show reportedly lie about their religious affiliations out of fear they’ll lose their jobs or face scrutiny from Jim Bob.

8. Jill’s husband bullying transgender teen:

Jill Duggar’s husband, Derick Dillard, was accused of bullying a transgender teen who appears on TLC’s I AM Jazz after tweeting insensitive remarks about the show and teenager.

Upon trying to clarify his remarks, Dillard only made the situation worse by replying with the male pronoun, writing, “I want to be clear. I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.”

More than anything, this controversy highlights the family’s inherent intolerance of those who do not follow their aggressive adaptation of the Christian faith.

9. Children’s claims of abuse:

Amy (Duggar) King had previously opened up about the abuse she faced as a child from a family member, but on a February episode of WEtv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, she revealed the abuser was her own father, Terry Jordan.

“He picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling,” she said of one particular incident. “And I was scared sh-tless.”

Other sources close to the Duggar family allege parents Jim Bob and Michelle spank their children with a rod.

10. Joy-Anna’s alleged ‘shotgun’ wedding:

In late August, newlyweds Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth announced that they were expecting their first child. Joy-Anna proudly put her baby bump on display, but fans were quick to comment about the size of her bump.

“This is more than 3 months pregnant,” one person wrote, questioning the math since the pair married in May.

The couple surprisingly moved their wedding date forward six months after originally planning on getting married in October, further fueling rumors there was foul play in their relationship. Since the Duggar kids aren’t allowed to give front-facing hugs to their significant others until they are engaged, having a child out of wedlock would be a major violation of the family’s strict rules. 

Did the family’s suppression of their kids’ sexual urges backfire? It’s could be what led daughter Jessa to reportedly consummate her marriage before her wedding reception even started.

 

11. Jana and Jessa’s feuding:

Sisters Jana and Jessa might be related by blood, but that doesn’t change their clear disdain for one another. 

In the tell-all Duggar book Growing Up Duggar: It’s All About Relationships, Jana says she was always told to put up with Jessa, even if she was being a pain in the butt. The feuding sisters were also reportedly forced to sleep in bunk beds together when they didn’t get along as children.

As the girls have gotten older, evidence of their fights have been witnessed as they periodically delete each other from their social media accounts, which is the ultimate burn for the millennial women. 

12. Jinger’s Nike outfit’s hidden message:

Known for rebelling against her family’s strict rules, Jinger Duggar posed in an all-Nike ensemble for her husband Jeremy Vuolo’s Instagram. The seemingly innocent video could reveal the Duggar daughter’s breakaway from the family’s strict rules and traditions.

“Her first pair of J’s. Retro 7’s,” wrote Jeremy, a soccer pro-turned-pastor. In the photo, Jinger also sported a Nike t-shirt, which reportedly holds interesting significance to the family.

There’s nothing racy about the snap but because of Jinger’s strict religious upbringing, the picture is significant on many levels.

In fact, in Growing Up Duggar (a book that explains that the daughters dress modestly because their bodies are “a special gift from God that He intends for it to be shared only with our future husband”), the Duggar sisters wrote that they used the code word “Nike” to warn men in their family that a woman in revealing clothes was crossing their path. The men were supposed to look down at their shoes to avoid temptation.