Jinger Duggar and her 18 siblings became famous overnight thanks to TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting and its spinoff Counting On. Still, having cameras follow you around from a young age did have its drawbacks. Recently, Jinger confessed one of the “most unique challenges” of growing up on TV.
In her memoir Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger opened up about her “cult-like” upbringing based on the teachings of Bill Gothard’s Institute for Basic Life Principles. Her parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, raised their brood of children with strict rules regarding modesty, gender roles, purity, and more — and Jinger has certainly “disentangled” from some of those beliefs. The mom of two, however, recently opened up about a lingering effect of growing up as a reality star.
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Jinger and her husband, Jeremy, recently got vulnerable in a YouTube video.
In late September, Jinger and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, sat down to reflect on their first year of marriage on their YouTube channel. (They will celebrate eight years of marriage on November 5.) The parents of two discussed a variety of topics. It was Jeremy, however, who brought up an interesting struggle the Duggars have dealt with in their everyday lives since becoming reality-TV famous.
During their conversation, Jeremy brought up the ‘most unique challenge’ she and her siblings have faced.
“One of the most unique challenges that you and your family have is the reality of preconceived ideas of who you are,” Jeremy said. “Because people have seen you in a setting on a show, they’ve seen you so intimately for so many years, that really any setting you walk into where there is a pre-knowledge of you, you’re having to deal with preconceptions about you. And I can’t imagine how difficult that is to overcome.”
Jinger opened up about seemingly experiencing a bit of an identity crisis.
“On the show, I was so outgoing, had so much personality, was just rolling my eyes, acting silly, goofy,” she explained. “And then, I think the older I got, I went through a season where I thought, ‘OK, to be a mature Christian I just don’t need to laugh. I just need to be all pious and keep it together, so I look like I’m extra spiritual … But I think a lot of it was the temperament and personality of what people thought I was.”
She continued, “On the show, I feel like I wasn’t living in a character because that’s legit who I was … Coming out of that and then growing into an adult as you’re filming, I think there was a time where I’m like, ‘Am I an extrovert? Am I more introverted?’”
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She also admitted that growing up on TV caused her to be 'more guarded.'
“I think I just became more guarded. I don’t know how much of it was the reality of what everybody thought I was supposed to be,” she confessed.
“I just kept playing into it, right? Realizing, OK, I like to have fun. I like to be spontaneous. That is me,” she added. “But I’m also not going to be this wild person, you know? That’s really not me at my core. And a lot of people had a preconceived idea that I was going to run off and be this rebel, and they had painted a character of who they thought I was going to be.”
On Instagram, fans reassured Jinger.
Jinger also shared a snippet of the YouTube video with her Instagram followers. In the comments, followers reacted to Jinger’s confession of struggling internally with others’ preconceived notions and her own self-discovery process.
One person wrote, “Maybe it’s the editing of the show…you seemed incredibly shy and introverted. You seem so much more outspoken and outgoing now! At least that’s my perception. ❤️”
Another Instagrammer commented, “I loved the show, however I always saw the pressure it placed on you and your siblings. It always seemed like a complete clash with the ultra conservative life your parents had chosen. It must have been hard to find yourself after you got married. ❤️❤️.”
Meanwhile, someone else shared, “I am an ambivert! It sounds like you may be too! Also, healing can make us much more introverted. At least it has for me! I’m SO proud of you!”
Jinger’s new book People Pleaser will likely delve further into the topic and more.
