Are Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Still on ‘Counting On’? They Confirm They Attend Family Events But Are Edited Out for TLC Show
It’s been three years since Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard left Counting On. Since then, they’ve made it clear they have no plans to return to reality TV.
Many viewers miss seeing the couple on the TLC series and are holding out hope that Jill and Derick might rejoin the show. But in their latest Q&A, the couple indicated they were comfortable with their decision to part ways with the network. And they shared that when they do attend events with her family, the footage is edited so they don’t appear on the show.
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard address their decision to leave ‘Counting On’
In the video, which was posted to YouTube on Oct. 7, Jill answered a fan question about why she and Derick left Counting On.
“We left the show three years ago now because, basically, our family goals that we had for ourselves didn’t align with what we found out … we ended up finding out that we didn’t have as much control over our lives as it related to the show,” the mom of three explained.
Derick added that shortly before exiting the series they “learned some information” that forced them to make the decision to choose their “family goals” over filming. He didn’t elaborate on what that information was, but in the past, he’s said he and Jill weren’t paid for their work on the program.
The couple has a strained relationship with the Duggar family
In the 7-minute video, Jill and Derick also talked about their strained relationship with the rest of the Duggars. Jill confirmed she and her husband are “not on the best terms” with some of her relatives and said they have had “some disagreements.”
Though there is tension between Jill, Derick, and certain Duggars, that doesn’t mean they are totally cut off from her family. The couple did clarify that they sometimes attend family events that are filmed for the show. However, they are edited out of any footage and don’t appear on TV.
“We have been at weddings and funerals, and I guess if we’re not shown, it’s because we’re edited out,” Derick said.
Jill and Derick attended her grandmother’s funeral
One event Jill and Derick attended was the funeral for Jill’s grandmother Mary Duggar in June 2019. At the time, Jill shared several photos from the event on her Instagram.
“The service was lovely and very honoring to my Grandma and the one she loved more than anyone or anything else, Jesus Christ!” she wrote.
But when the Counting On episode featuring Grandma Mary’s funeral aired, Jill, her husband, and their kids were nowhere to be seen. Derick later explained that the network made it seem they were not present.
“TLC cut out any family that they don’t want viewers to see in attendance,” he wrote in an Instagram comment, according to In Touch Weekly. He added that “it wasn’t in the script” for either his family or Jill’s cousin Amy King and her family to be there.
“The show is only about what TLC wants it to be about,” he added. “If there’s something about the family that they don’t want viewers to see, then they’ll just edit it out or create their own storyline.”
