'Doubling Down With the Derricos': Deon and Karen Derrico Talk the 'Issues and Strain' They Faced This Season (Exclusive)

Deon and Karen Derrico have had their ups and downs moving their family into their new dream home.

By Anna Rumer

It's a season of change for the Doubling Down With the Derricos family! With a household of 14 kids and a dream home under construction, Karen and Deon Derrico had some serious highs and lows to navigate this season on their family's TLC show – and they're getting real about all of it with PopCulture.com. Catch an exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday's all-new episode of Doubling Down With the Derricos as Karen and Deon open up about the "issues and strain" they faced this season. 

"I think each year in a marriage, you reach different heights of that relationship," Deon told PopCulture. While he originally wanted to surprise his family with their dream home after five years of waiting, Karen was going through "such an emotional roller coaster" with their chaotic house that Deon said he had to ditch the surprise plans and break the news to her before construction was done, "not knowing that that would bring yet another level of issues and strain between she and I."

Karen explains that moving a household of the Derricos' size was harder than they even imagined. "You think you got a new house, you're ready to move in, and then it's all of the things that entail moving a large family of our size into this house," she explained. On top of filming and homeschooling, she recalls, "I was excited like, 'Yeah, we can get in here, let's get started,' and then as things start happening throughout the season, I'm just like, 'Oh my gosh. Like, will we ever move in?'"

In addition to their big move, the Derricos are balancing eldest daughter Darian, 17, getting ready for college while their younger children – 12-year-old son Derrick, 11-year-old twins Dallas and Denver, 9-year-old quints, Deonee, Daician, Daiten, Deniko and Dariz, 5-year-old twins Diez and Dior, and 3-year-old triplets Dawsyn, De'Aren and Dyveall hit big milestones of their own.

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Even with all of that going on, Deon said he and Karen lean on their strong partnership to make it work. "Believe it or not, it's much easier than you would think because it's still, she and I. Whether we have 14 children, if we have 100 children, we're still a team no matter what," he said. "We always come together for the team, even if we have a disagreement or don't see eye-to-eye. ... So that's the thing I'm thankful to her [for] – is that I know that she and I have each other's back when it comes down to taking good care of our 14 babies."

Doubling Down With the Derricos airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.

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