Watch: Jinger Duggar Details "Wild" Visit to Family's Home in ArkansasAmy Duggar King isn't counting on her entire family. Amid the 38-year-old's estrangement from her Uncle Jim Bob Duggar and Aunt Michelle Duggar, she shared insight into her complicated relationship with her 19 Kids and Counting cousins. "I'll just say boundaries are just very important," Amy told E! News in an exclusive interview. "If you are not necessarily lining up with mine, then there's going to be a line drawn. Unfortunately, that's where we stand." The reality star-who was often seen spending time with her cousins, including Jana Duggar, Jessa Duggar and Joy-Anna Forsyth on the 10-season TLC series-doesn't have a great connection with her extended family these days, though she added, "I'm not coming from a bitter place anymore." "For a little while, I was really sad," she admitted. "I was really heartbroken. It was really difficult to make that choice, and now I stand by it. It's OK to say we're living different lives, and I wish them all the best, but I'm going to speak my truth."readWhy Amy Duggar King Felt Like Her Cousins Wearing Pants Was a "Slap in the Face"However, Amy's relationship with Jill Duggar Dillard has only continued to deepen after her cousin began distancing herself from her family's Christian Fundamentalist lifestyle. "Jill and I are extremely close," she gushed. "We trust each other. We have this great cousinship. She has told me intimate details and things that have happened. She trusts me and I trust her." So, when Amy and Jill-who shares sons, Israel, 9, Samuel, 7, and Frederick, 2, with husband Derick Dillard-starred in season one of Amazon's Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, the pair leaned on each other while delving into their trauma onscreen. "We were very vulnerable with each other, and just being like, 'Hey, this is hard, this is scary. We're going to be open about it,'" Amy recalled. "I'm her cheerleader for life, and she's mine. So it's like, 'Let's do this together.' We're stronger together because we can rely on each other."Courtesy of AmazonShe noted that when either she or Jill, 34, is struggling, they make sure to encourage each other. Amy emphasized how proud she is of her cousin, which she makes sure to tell her when she needs to. "I can just be like, 'You're doing the right thing. I'm so proud of you,'" she explained. "'You have changed the way that you're living and the way that these boys are going to be growing up, and because of that reason, you're helping so many people.' I applaud her. I always will, and we're just going to stay on this path of boundaries." Amy-mom to son Daxton, 5, with husband Dillon King-and Jill are passing on their bond, too. As she revealed, "I'm actually watching her boys overnight, coming up soon. We can't wait." While Amy and Jill are proud of their appearance in the docuseries, Michelle and Jim Bob slammed the project with a lengthy statement, which was featured in the first episode of season two.
Jinger Vuolo/Instagram"The recent documentary that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love," the message, which Amy read, said. "This documentary paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way. We always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile differences, is through love in a private setting." She rebuked the comment, replying on-camera that Jim Bob "ticks" her off. Despite their disapproval, Amy is proud of her decision to join the series. So, unsurprisingly, she was also down to take on season two, which focuses on Teen Mania, once the largest evangelical youth organization in the United States. "For me," she explained to E!, "I was just like, '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'll be an advocate for that." For a closer look at the sprawling Duggar family tree, keep reading.
InstagramMichelle & Jim Bob DuggarThe parents of 19 and grandparents of over three dozen little ones started out as high school sweethearts. Michelle has recalled being "saved" at 15. Then, one night, Jim Bob was making home outreach visits on behalf of his Baptist church and he ended up knocking on the Ruark family's door after his friend told him that "this girl from school that just got saved and is a cheerleader" lived there. They invited Michelle to Sunday school at their church and, Jim Bob said, he prayed to god that they could be each other's spiritual leaders-though apparently their first meeting wasn't as memorable for Michelle. A year later, she applied for a job at the frozen yogurt shop owned by Jim Bob's parents. "You came to the counter where I was standing by the cash register and introduced yourself," Michelle remembered in a letter posted on the family blog in 2017 for Jim Bob's birthday and their 33rd wedding anniversary. "You were shy but very sweet!