Amy Duggar King Draws Firm Lines With Duggar Clan While Championing Cousin Jill Dillard
Amy Duggar King recently clarified her relationship with her Duggar relatives during an exclusive interview with E! News. Kai Montgomery here. Look, I did not want to be the one to break it down, but boundaries in the Duggar dynasty are apparently headline material now.
In a sit down with E! News, the 38 year old niece of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar revealed she has put up firm lines between herself and her 19 Kids and Counting cousins. She made it crystal clear that her life choices and personal values no longer align with those of her extended family. “Boundaries are just very important,” Amy told E! News. “If you are not necessarily lining up with mine, then there is going to be a line drawn. Unfortunately, that is where we stand.”
Granted, this is not the first time someone from the Duggar tree has distanced themselves, but let us not pretend this is old news. Amy admitted she spent weeks in heartbreak before coming to terms with the split. She confessed she was “really sad” for a bit, but then decided she needed to speak her truth and live her own life without guilt.
Meanwhile, Amy’s cousin Jill Duggar Dillard remains her rock. Jill, 34, has gradually moved away from the family’s Christian Fundamentalist lifestyle alongside her husband Derick Dillard and their sons Israel, Samuel and Frederick. The pair lean on each other so much that they tackled season one of Amazon’s Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets together. “We were very vulnerable with each other,” Amy said. “We would say ’This is hard, this is scary, we are going to be open about it.’”
Amy is Jill’s lifelong cheerleader. She praises her cousin’s decision to reshape the way her boys will be raised and regularly reminds Jill how proud she is of her. In fact, Amy is set to babysit Jill’s sons overnight soon, proving this cousin collaboration goes beyond cameras and confessional rooms.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled about the docuseries. In the first episode of season two, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar slammed the project as sensationalized and hurtful to loved ones. Amy read their statement on camera and admitted her uncle still “ticks” her off. Regardless, she stands by her decision to participate in the series and has already signed on for the next installment, which tackles the rise and fall of Teen Mania, once America’s largest evangelical youth group.
When asked why she would do it all over again, Amy answered simply “If you can shine a light and help other people heal from their religious trauma in any kind of way, then count me in. I will be an advocate for that.” And there you have it. That is the latest from the Duggar frontier. Well, that clears up practically nothing. Moving on.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
