Did Jim Bob Duggar Want Amy Duggar on ’19 Kids and Counting’ to Distract From Josh Duggar?

Amy Duggar King has a theory about why she was part of the cast of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, and it has to do with Josh Duggar. 

The Duggar family member opened up in a recent interview about her time on the controversial reality show and her thoughts on Prime Video’s explosive docuseries about her relatives, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. Her uncle, Jim Bob Duggar, had a heavy hand in the production of 19 Kids and Counting, she says. He wanted her on the show to distract from Josh’s problematic behavior, which Jim Bob was trying to hide from the public. 

Amy Duggar was the ‘wild’ cousin on ‘19 Kids and Counting’ 

Amy isn’t part of the core Duggar family. But as Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s niece, she popped up on many episodes of 19 Kids and Counting. She was raised in a more liberal household than her cousins, and her occasional appearances helped to highlight the strangeness of the Duggar family and their strict rules. Amy, for example, attended school, wore pants, and was allowed to date, while the Duggar kids were educated at home, dressed in frumpy, modest clothing, and “courted” rather dated. 

In other words, Amy had a fairly normal childhood. However, to her ultra-conservative aunt and uncle, Amy was a “bad, wild girl,” she said in an interview with The Sun.   

Why Jim Bob Duggar wanted Amy on his family’s TLC show

If Jim Bob and Michelle were so judgmental about their rebellious niece, why include her in 19 Kids and Counting? Amy told Vanity Fair she believed her presence was used to distract viewers from what was really going on in the family. That included strict discipline and corporal punishment. (Amy said the beatings happened out of sight, but that she knew her aunt and uncle were embracing “blanket training” and other techniques to control their children.) Jim Bob also wanted to hide the truth about Josh’s sexual abuse of several of his younger female siblings.  

“My uncle had control over a lot of the show, [including] what happened and who was on it,” Amy said. 

“Why else would I be targeted like that? There was a major thing going on that could be detrimental to the wealth of the show, and the popularity of the show,” she added. 

Amy was ‘pissed’ when she learned the truth about Josh

When she was involved in 19 Kids and Counting, Amy didn’t realize the extent of the abuse in the Duggar household. But she knew her cousins were different. 

“I didn’t know what they were being taught. I just knew that they were homeschooled,” she said in Shiny Happy People. “At a young age, you realized really quickly that it was a very strict household.”

Amy, who was raised by a single mom, also admired her uncle, whom she saw as a “father figure.” So when it came out that not only had Josh abused his sisters, but that his parents had helped to cover up his actions, she felt deeply betrayed. 

“I was pissed,” she told Vanity Fair. “I felt like I wasn’t worth telling … that they didn’t want to protect me. They didn’t want anyone to know, [and] they wanted to keep it inside their little bubble. Secrets breed in the IBLP. Things are hidden.” 

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.

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