Rumor Control: Derick Dillard's Mom Is Not Dead

Counting On fans, it's time to set the record straight. A panic arose among fans of the TLC [...]

By Libby Birk

Counting On fans, it's time to set the record straight. A panic arose among fans of the TLC reality show when rumors surfaced that Derick Dillard's mother has died — but she's actually alive and well.

Cathy Dillard, Jill (Duggar) Dillard's mother-in-law, posted on Instagram last month that she's been cancer free for four years.

"Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 4 years ago today... celebrating being cancer free by riding a stationary bike at work cuz they're building new cubicles in our office!" she wrote on April 10.

Jill Dillard responded to her mother-in-law by writing, "Praise the Lord!! We love you Mima!!"

Cathy Dillard was diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma just two weeks after Derek and Jill got engaged, and was so sick that the only way she could make it to the wedding was straight from the hospital in a wheelchair.

But four years later, she's made it through treatment and is thriving.'

"[Four] years ago today I had a CT scan that showed my liver & spleen looked 'like Swiss cheese', as the doctor put it," Cathy wrote on Twitter in April. "He wouldn't refer me to an oncologist. 'It wouldn't do any good' were his actual words...and so it began. Pass the turkey & rye please!"

It's possible Counting On fans may be mistaking Cathy for her first husband and Derick's dad, Rick Dillard, who passed away in 2008. Derick Dillard paid tribute to him in 2017, writing, "Nine years ago today I said goodbye to the greatest man I knew. The greatest, namely, because he taught me in word and deed about Jesus Christ. He protected and served the public as a police officer, and he loved God and his family. His time came sooner than expected, but I know he would have loved being grandpa Dillard to little Israel too. He is my dad, and I look forward to seeing him again on the other side of eternity. Rick W. Dillard (1957-2008)."

Settling another rumor about the TLC show, Derrick Dillard wrote again on Twitter last week that he wasn't fired from the show despite his recent homophobic remarks about fellow TLC reality personality Nate Berkus.

Dillard posted some inflammatory remarks on Thursday, April 26, attacking Berkus and his husband, Jeremiah Brent, over their new show on the network, Nate and Jeremiah By Design. The series follows the couple as they raise their daughter, Poppy, while helping distressed homeowners renovate their homes.

"What a travesty of family," Dillard wrote of the show. "It's sad how blatant the liberal agenda is, such that it both highlights and celebrates a lifestyle so degrading to children on public television as if it should be normal."

Dillard has been fielding responses to those posts ever since, including several fans pointing out that he was the one who was fired while their show just started. However, he said that was not the case.

"They won't tell you that I was ever fired because I wasn't," he wrote. "We wanted to leave and they didn't want us to. That's the truth."

Dillard was reportedly fired by TLC after he tweeted an angry rant against transgender reality star Jazz Jennings. He has been disputing this story the entire time, however. In March, he tweeted that he and his wife, Jill Duggar "were going in a different direction as a family and decided to stop doing filming."

Dillard continually doubled down in defending his comments last week, asserting that there was an "agenda" to promote certain lifestyles.

"I'm not bashing the people, I'm just calling out the public agenda at play and how a network chooses what they highlight," he wrote. "Christians should love all as Christ loved all. Take advantage of capitalism: boycott what you don't believe in, but don't boycott relationships."

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