Jill Duggar (m. Derick Dillard)
Jill was born on May 17, 1991. In a love story reminiscent of her parents’, Jill first met Derick (who grew up about 45 minutes away) on Christmas 2011 when he stopped by the Duggar family abode while out caroling with his church group.
She didn’t think much about it at the time, but Derick asked Jim Bob if he would be his prayer counselor when he went to Nepal for two years for his mission. In March 2013, Jill remembered in a story posted to their wedding website, “Derick called my dad to give him an update and pray together and I happened to walk in the room. Unlike the other times when I had just listened in, this time my dad told Derick I had just come in the room and asked him to tell me a little bit about himself. We talked briefly that evening, however in the months following I didn’t think much about him.”
So Jim Bob played matchmaker, and Jill and Derick hit it off, growing closer over email and Skype. Father and daughter went to visit Derick in Nepal that November and Jill and Derick continued to fall for each other. In February 2014, Derick asked Jim Bob for his daughter’s hand in marriage, and they tied the knot on June 21, 2014. They are parents to three sons—Israel, born on April 6, 2015, Samuel, born July 8, 2017, and Frederick, born July 7, 2022.
The couple starred on 19 Kids and Counting and later, Counting On. Derick was fired from the show in 2017 after making homophobic remarks about fellow TLC reality star, Jazzy Jennings.
Jill and Derick reflecting on the controversies and religious beliefs surrounding her family in the Amazon Prime Video documentary Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, set to premiere June 2, 2023.
