Duggar Family Courtship: Jill and Derick Dillard’s Real Relationship Timeline
Jill and Derick Dillard have emerged as the Duggar family rebels. Though they’ve broken away from the rest of the Duggar family in recent years, their romance started just like most other Duggar family courtships. Their early marriage mimicked the early marriages of Jill’s siblings, too. Let’s take a look back at how Jill Dillard and Derick Dillard’s relationship started.
How did Jill and Derick Dillard meet?
Jill and Derick Dillard’s early relationship was captured on 19 Kids and Counting. While younger sister Jessa Seewald was courting her now-husband, Ben Seewald, around the same time, the siblings’ relationships could not have started more differently. Jessa met Ben at church when the Seewald family traveled to the Duggar Family’s home base. Whether they traveled explicitly so Ben could meet Jessa is up for debate. Regardless of why the Seewalds were in town, a meeting happened, and the couple ended up together.
Derick initially contacted Jim Bob Duggar to become “prayer partners” while Derick was a missionary in Nepal. The now-enemies became friends, and Jim Bob decided Derick would be a good fit for his second-oldest daughter. The duo hit it off and started talking via video chat. Still, they didn’t enter into a relationship until Jill traveled to Nepal, accompanied by Jim Bob and a camera crew for 19 Kids and Counting, in November 2013.
Did the couple have a traditional courtship?
While Jill and Derick initially called their romance a “courtship,” it seems the couple probably didn’t court in the way the Duggars described it initially. In a Q&A video uploaded to their YouTube account, the couple revealed they were in a more typical “relationship” and would call their early romance dating instead of “courtship.”
Regardless of what they called it, Jill and Derick Dillard kept their relationship pretty tame before marriage. The duo did not kiss before they were legally wed and had chaperones during their dates. Despite keeping things chaste, the couple quickly knew they were meant for each other. The relationship began in November 2013, and Derick returned from Nepal in January 2014. They were engaged in March and married by June.
Where are Jill and Derick Dillard now?
Since their wedding date, Jill and Derick Dillard’s relationship has weathered more than one storm. Between two Duggar family scandals, both caused by Josh Duggar, a family fight over fair pay, and eventual estrangement from the Duggar family, they’ve dealt with a lot. The couple, however, has emerged stronger.
Derick and Jill now live in an Arkansas town near the Oklahoma border. The move occurred shortly after Derick landed his first job out of law school. In recent years, Jill has appeared in a docuseries criticizing the controversial ministry the Duggars are involved with. Jill has also published a memoir about her life.
