In 2008, a new TV show called 17 Kids and Counting premiered on TLC. It featured Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, a fundamentalist Christian couple from Arkansas who homeschooled their gaggle of kids and imposed strict rules about modesty, technology, and more. As they added to their family, the name of the reality TV series eventually became 19 Kids and Counting.
After TLC canceled the show in May 2015 when Michelle and Jim Bob's eldest son Josh's "inappropriate touching" scandal came to light, a spinoff called Counting On ran from December 2015 to September 2020. That show was ultimately canceled in June 2021, following Josh's Ashley Madison scandal.
Despite the multiple Duggar scandals, viewers have continued to keep up with members of the family who remain active on social media. Some fans even clamored for a Duggar family reunion special in the comments of John David and Abbie's recent photos of their two kids.
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Abbie recently shared adorable photos of her and John David's kids picking strawberries.
On May 18, John David and Abbie shared a handful of sweet photos on Instagram featuring their two kids. "Strawberries and sunshine!" Abbie wrote. In the snaps, her daughter, Grace, 4, wore shorts and a blue shirt, and Charlie, 20 months, donned overalls, as they enjoyed picking strawberries.
In the comments, Instagram followers gushed at how cute the kiddos were.
The couple's Instagram followers reacted in the comments, with one person writing, "They are so cute! beautiful pics! Thank you for sharing with us!!"
"BEAUTIFUL little people!!! Thanks so much for sharing They are truly day brighteners!!! ❤️ ," another commenter declared.
Another Instagram user thought Charlie resembled his cousin, Joy-Anna's son Gideon Forsyth, commenting, "Thought it was Gideon, look so similar."
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Others brought up the idea of having a Duggar family reunion special.
Yet another Instagram user proclaimed in the comments, "TLC should do a family reunion. I would love to see all the cousins together."
"Excellent idea! ❤️," someone else agreed, and another replied, "That’s an awesome idea! I vote yes!!!"
That might not be too easy, however. As another Instagram user pointed out, "TLC cut ties with them but so have many other networks."
Other folks were adamantly against a Duggar return to reality TV.
In the comment thread about a potential family reunion special, one Instagram user emphatically exclaimed, "NO!"
Another person pointed out how the Duggars returning to reality TV likely wouldn't be in the best interest of the grandkids.
"Sorry but absolutely not," the commenter wrote, noting that Josh "has shrouded this family in scandal and shame and the last thing they need is publicity again. I’m not a fan of this family in general but none of those kids deserved to be dragged through the mud and exploited for views their whole lives and they deserve to live relatively normal lives now."
The person concluded, "Plus it’s not like they’re very interesting anyway, they are just run of the mill fundamentalist Christians living otherwise normal everyday lives."
Even without a show, the Duggar siblings have spoken out about their upbringing through memoirs and a documentary.
Although a return to television probably isn't likely for the Duggars, some of Michelle and Jim Bob's kids have spoken out about their problematic-at-times upbringing. Jill published a bombshell memoir in 2023 titled Counting the Cost, and Jinger dropped Becoming Free Indeed earlier that same year. Also, Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, appeared in Prime Video's Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
Between Jill and Jinger spilling the tea and all of the Duggar grandkid updates on social media, followers of the family have plenty of content to enjoy.
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