Jinger Duggar Opens up About Growing up on Reality TV Following ‘Counting On’ Cancellation

Counting On star Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) shares there was a lot that happened beneath the surface while the Duggar family was starting in the public eye. The reality TV star admitted to having to “wrestle through a lot” while growing up on the TLC series on the Dinner Party podcast with Jeremy Fall. “I think a lot of people do look into fame, and they think it’s all beautiful, it’s all wonderful, and yes, as I’m saying, there are tons of perks. But then, you also have to wrestle through a lot,” Jinger explained. “They can think, ‘Oh, you don’t wrestle with anything, you don’t struggle with being depressed one day…’ I think it’s been more challenging for me personally to figure out how to move past that, and how to truly open up to people.”

She continued, adding: “We do all feel these things, we have times where we’re walking through very challenging deep, dark times and other people may not know about it or they may not understand that that’s something that’s common to all of us as humans.”The family hasn’t hidden their ties to religion, and the former 19 and Counting star claims that her faith played a major role in bringing her through her tough times. “We all walk through difficulties and challenges and that is definitely something I think about for us,” she shared on the July 1 podcast episode. “We are people of faith and we have faith in God and so I think for me in those times when I wrestle the most, I just run to God.”

TLC announced the cancellation of Counting On last week amid Vuolo’s brother Josh Duggar‘s legal troubles. The show, a spinoff of 19 and Counting which ran from 2008-2015, spawned 11 seasons. Vuolo and her husband responded to the cancellation news in a statement. “We wholeheartedly agree with TLC’s decision not to renew Counting On and are excited for the next chapter in our lives. We’d like to thank our fans, friends and the amazing film crew who have shown us love and support. We look forward to continuing our creative journey in Los Angeles and seeing what the future holds,” it read. Jinger started her TV career at just 10 years old when her family began filming a documentary for Discovery Health Channel. “I don’t think any of us understood how long it would last,” she said of the fame. “We thought maybe a year, maybe one documentary and then it just kept going.”

It wasn’t long before the family began to feel the downsides of fame including negative headlines and public opinions. “I think that initially even my parents didn’t understand,” Jinger expressed. “They didn’t understand the level of what people could say. Some people may be out there not looking for your greater good and that was just hard to accept.”