Jill’s Top 5 Revelations in ‘Happy Shiny People: Duggar Family Secrets’

I’m finally done watching Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets and I’ve put together the top 5 things Jill said in the documentary series.

The documentary features a lot of people that have a lot to say about the IBLP, including Bill Gothard, but honestly, I was most interested in what Jill said. And of course, this is her perspective and everything is alleged on her part. I’ll also sprinkle in a few honorable mentions that had me on the edge of my seat at the end. Let’s get started!

The top 5 things Jill said in Shiny Happy People are:

5 – Jill Regrets Interview

Jill says that she regrets the infamous Megan Kelly interview where she cried and kind of stuck up for Josh and made it seem like although she was the victim, that everything that happened wasn’t really that bad. She says she was bearing the burden and the weight of it all and felt obligated to volunteer to help.

Derick then chimed in and said he wouldn’t call it volunteer, but more like they needed to take the fall to save the show. 

Jill says she had never said no to her parents before that and thought something bad would happen to her if she did say no.

Ironically in the IBLP religion, everyone is given this spiritual gift, and Jill’s was mercy giver, which basically means she removes distress and shares and collects burdens. Another person interviewed said that a lot of women were given mercy givers (not surprised).

4 – Birth Drama

A few weeks out from the birth of her first child Israel, the production company asked Jill about being there during the birth. They said maybe one camera will be there and Jill said she pushed back and said “I don’t want you guys in there at all”. She didn’t want to have the same experience as Anna who it looked like on the footage gave birth on a toilet. (!?!?!) She says I knew for sure no one was in my delivery room. But ultimately production won, and they were given cameras to film their own footage with.

Then, Jill says she contacted TLC and asked for money to cover out-of-pocket costs for the birth that was filmed, but they said they paid the family so take it up with Jim Bob. Money became an issue and Jill says she never received any pay cheque for 7 and a half years of her adult life while being a star on Counting On. Which is insane.

3 -Contract Issues

Jill says that the day before her wedding to Derick, there was this thing everyone was signing on the kitchen table and everybody signed it one by one, she didn’t even know what it was for. What they found out later is that it was a commitment for 5 years for the show.

2 -El Salvador Drama

Seems like things got more contentious when Derick and Jill went to El Salvador, remember that whole thing? While doing mission work over there Jim Bob just had the show back up and running with Counting On and TLC was pressing Jill and Derick to come back for a shoot. And Jill was like we’re here for 10 months, it was a matter of principle for them and they pushed back and said no. It was an aha moment and they realized they had no choice. She says Jim Bob send them the signature page and the obligation page of the contract and she realized that she had signed that agreement before her wedding. 

Derick says that at one point Jim bob asked him “what do you want like 10 dollars an hour?”, And he kept offering 10 dollars an hour. Ten dollars a freaking hour!!!! Is that lower than minimum wage?

Around that time Jill says Jim Bob said that thanks to Derick he’s going to pay some of the older kids a lump sum but you had a sign another deal with Jim Bob with his production company forever. And from there, they found out on social media that their relationship with TLC came to an end.

1 – Creepy Text

Derick apparently got this weird text message from a burner phone that was super scary and he reported it to the police. He didn’t say who it was from, and honestly, Derick probably did not know what he was getting into with the Duggars at the beginning of it all when he asked Jim Bob to be his prayer partner. Wonder who sent that message!? And who operates a burner phone?

Honorable mentions from the series: Michelle I think blames the birth control pill for a miscarriage, and this is seemingly the reason why she just let god decide from then on.

Also, Jill’s grandparents she says were not like super on board with the fact that Jim Bob, and Michelle had a million kids, and the Duggars would always be on the lookout for kids eat free places.

And finally, Jill says that you have to go through hell before you risk everything to get out of those situations then you start making your own decisions little by little to do what you need to to survive.