‘Shiny Happy People’: 7 key revelations from the docuseries about the Duggar family, ‘19 Kids and Counting’ and more

The Duggar family, made famous for its run on TLC’s wildly popular “19 Kids and Counting,” has recently come under fire in light of the release of Prime’s newest docuseries, “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.”

The docuseries goes behind the scenes of “19 Kids and Counting,” the Duggars’ church, the Institute of Basic Life Principles, and Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse and child pornography charges. Interviewees include Jill Dillard, formerly Duggar, ex-members of the church, reality TV experts and more.

Here are seven key revelations from “Shiny Happy People.”

Behind the scenes of ‘19 Kids and Counting’

“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” provides more insight around the creation of “19 Kids and Counting,” and what it was like behind the scenes.

Jim Bob’s political career caught TLC’s attention

Jim Bob Duggar caught TLC’s attention through his political career. He served as a Republican Arkansas state representative from 1999 to 2003, according to Arkansas State Legislature, and ran for U.S. Senate in 2002, per Time.

While Duggar didn’t win, his campaign caught Discovery Network’s eye. TLC proceeded to release a few specials about the Duggar family, including “14 Children and Pregnant Again!” in 2004, before releasing “19 Kids and Counting” in 2008.

In “Shiny Happy People,” Kristin Kobes DuMez, professor of history and gender studies at Michigan’s Calvin University, explained that “19 Kids and Counting” came at a good time for the Duggar family and the church, the Institute of Basic Life Principles.

“Jim Bob and his family are at the right place at the right time,” DuMez said. “Jim Bob is presented with a new opportunity which will give him the power to present his values to the entire country and an opportunity to make a lot of money.”

“19 Kids and Counting” became wildly popular. According to Time, “millions of viewers” tuned in “to see how the large family managed to do everyday tasks like laundry, chores, grocery shopping, and commuting while somehow appearing organized and peaceful.”

The show quickly became TLC’s cash cow. Danielle Lindemann, author of “True Story: What Reality TV Says about Us,” told documentary filmmakers that the show was relatively cheap for the network to produce, but yielded “high viewership and return,” per Time.

Jim Bob allegedly stopped his kids from being paid for ‘19 Kids and Counting’

According to Dillard, Jim Bob Duggar ultimately had control over filming — and funds.

In “Shiny Happy People,” Dillard recalled an instance where she signed a contract for a five-year commitment to “19 Kids and Counting,” but Duggar didn’t tell her what she agreed to. Dillard also claimed that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar “signed for a bunch of the kids who were no longer minors.”

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Dillard and her husband, Derick, claimed that they filmed the birth of their first child despite not wanting to do so. And, according to Dillard, she never received compensation.

“After Israel’s birth, we asked TLC to pay us enough just to cover what our out-of-pocket costs were for health insurance for Israel’s birth,” Dillard said in the docuseries.

Derick Dillard added, “They said they paid the family. ‘Paid the family’ means we don’t get anything at that point. They said, ‘Well, we paid your dad, so take it up with him.’”

Dillard also claims that, during her years on TLC, she “never received any payout. No check, no cash, no nothing.”

“For seven and a half years of my adult life, I was never paid,” she continued.

The circumstances around Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse

In “Shiny Happy People,” Dillard briefly touches on the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her brother, Josh Duggar — but was hesitant to do so.

While Dillard didn’t go into details about the assault, she did discuss her and her sister Jessa’s interview with Megyn Kelly. As Dillard said in “Shiny Happy People,” “In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the Megyn Kelly stuff. I felt like I was in a place again of bearing the burden and the weight.”

Dillard’s husband elaborated on the circumstances around the interview, saying they were “called on to carry out a suicide mission” and that they were essentially forced to “take the fall.”

Several interviewees revealed the circumstances around Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse and discussed the church’s role of allegedly fostering an environment where sexual abuse was rampant. One ex-member said in the docuseries that Institute of Basic Life Principles was guilty of “raising little predators.”

Jim Holt claims that Josh Duggar confessed to state trooper Joseph Hutchens

Jim Holt, a family friend of the Duggars, claimed in “Shiny Happy People” that Josh Duggar confessed his sexual abuse to state trooper Joseph Hutchens. Jim Bob Duggar allegedly invited Holt to join him and his son in the state trooper’s office.

“The State Trooper sat down and he told him the story. Josh told him what we thought at the time was everything he had done,” Holt said in the docuseries. “He said, ‘Imma let you go this time,’ and he said, ‘But if you do it again, I’m really gonna come down hard on you.’”

Holt revealed that he later found out that Hutchens “was a friend of Jim Bob’s.” Hutchens was later convicted for child pornography in 2007, per The Daily Mail, and is currently serving a 56 year prison sentence for similar charges.

Jim Bob and Michelle sent Josh to a facility for troubled boys

After Josh Duggar confessed to sexual abuse in 2002, Jim Bob and Michelle decided to “get him out of the house,” Holt revealed. The Duggar parents sent Josh to church founder Bill Gothard’s facility for troubled boys in Little Rock.

While he was in the facility, Josh Duggar spent time doing hard labor and building houses with other boys. Amy Duggar-King, a Duggar cousin, said in “Shiny Happy People” that she was told that Josh was “helping families build homes.”

The Duggar parents eventually decided to bring Josh back early from the facility, after their photoshoot and interview with Parents magazine. The Duggar family was given their own TV show shortly after their Parents magazine interview.

Bill Gothard and the Institute of Basic Life Principles

“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” spends significant time exploring the Institute of Basic Life Principles, the church the Duggars belong to, and Bill Gothard, its founder. Many ex-members allege accounts of sexual and physical abuse, inadequate home-schooling education and much more.

The church “is a non-denominational Christian organization with a focus on affirming God’s Word and its principles which are vital to one’s daily walk with Christ,” according to its official website.

The church expects its followers “to shun dancing, television, music, dating and much of modern popular culture,” according to People. The church also “provides strict guidelines for all aspects of life, including marriage, medicine and modesty, as well as the behavior of women and children.”

Gothard even banned playing with Cabbage Patch Dolls, per People, saying that they caused “strange, destructive behavior.”

According to NBC News, Gothard preached that a husband’s role is to provide “servant leadership” and “the woman responds with reverent submission and assistance.” Gothard himself was never married.

Speaking of Institute of Basic Life Principles, Jinger Duggar told People, “(Gothard’s) teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, ‘I don’t know what God expects of me.’”

“The fear kept me crippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world,” Jinger continued.

IBLP founder Bill Gothard was accused of inappropriately touching young girls in the church

As a few female ex-members of the Institute of Basic Life Principles revealed in “Shiny Happy People,” Gothard was accused of harassment and inappropriately touching young girls in the church.

Gothard resigned from the church board of directors in 2014, according to NBC News, in light of allegations that he “had sexually harassed and molested women who worked for the organization.”

In a since-deleted tweet, Gothard said, “My actions of holding of hands, hugs, and touching of feet or hair with young ladies crossed the boundaries of discretion and were wrong,” per NBC News.

In a civil suit, 12 women claimed that they had either been sexually, physically or psychologically abused as minors by Gothard. The church, they claimed, “had covered it up.” The case was dropped in 2018.

In “Shiny Happy People,” a female ex-member of the church claimed that underage girls would “‘get chosen’ to ride in Gothard’s van,” according to People.

“He would always have a girl next to him. There was always petting to heavy petting. His hand on knees, up skirts,” she said in the docuseries. “We never talked about it. I knew it was weird, but I didn’t know it was wrong. He didn’t need to test our boundaries because he had already tested our boundaries so many other ways.”

Another ex-member said that Gothard wouldn’t follow his own “six inch rule,” which was created to “keep opposite sexes from getting to close,” per People.

IBLP encouraged parents to physically punish their children

Former members of the Institute of Basic Life Principles alleged in “Shiny Happy People” that the church encouraged parents to physically punish their children. A former member said in the docuseries, “It was a fear-based tactic and it was very effective. All children, if they were following the institute’s guidelines, you’re spanked until you stop crying, which could be hours.”

Because of this, it wasn’t unusual for parents to beat their children with rods. This was, as Duggar-King revealed, often called “encouragement.”

“They literally said, ‘You need to come into the room and we need to give you some encouragement,’” Duggar-King said in the docuseries. “But it was in the sweetest tone ever of like, ‘Do you need encouragement? I think you need encouragement.’”

One of the most notable methods of punishment was called “blanket training.” According to People, the method involves placing an infant on a blanket. “If they reached for the object of desire placed beside them, they would be slapped on the hand until they ‘break the rebellious spirit.’”

This is a method that Michelle Duggar discussed using in her book, “The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America’s Largest Families — How They Do It.”

“Throughout the day, when I knew I would have five minutes or more of (un)interrupted time, I would focus on blanket training,” Michelle wrote, per The Mercury News. “Some days we might practice blanket time three or four times; other days we only got it in once. But gradually, it became a common practice.”

The Institute of Basic Life Principles also encouraged its members to use the book “To Train Up a Child” by Michael and Debi Pearl. The Pearls, according to The Christian Post, “(advise) parents to spank their children with objects like plastic plumbing elements or a belt.”

IBLP’s home-school curriculum was exclusively Christian-based and inadequate

Gothard created the Advanced Training Institute, the church’s Christian-based home-schooling program, in in 1984. It ended in 2021, according to People.

The home-school program was centered on “applying Biblical scripture to everyday life,” per People, and included 54 “Wisdom Booklets.” These covered subjects such as math, science, geography and more.

Those who were enrolled in the institute “were expected to follow the Institute of Basic Life Principles’ strict rules, which mandated church attendance and included guidance on things like employment, attire and physical appearance,” per People.

The institute also gave lessons on morality, modesty, sexual abuse and more. As Gawker pointed out in 2015, there was also a lesson on how to address sexual abuse in the home — which “isn’t based on Josh Duggar, whose abuse reportedly occurred in 2002.”

In a lesson entitled “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family,” the home-school program outlines a scenario where an older brother was discovered to have sexually abused his younger siblings. When the son “repented,” he’s asked multiple questions, including: “What teaching could have been given to each child to resist evil?” and “What factors in the home contributed to immodesty and temptation?”

According to Gawker, “The lessons are frighteningly light on personal responsibility, and heavy on blame for the victim — condemning younger sisters for dressing ‘immodestly,’ and parents for exposing the boy to temptation by having him change his sisters’ diapers.”

As former members revealed in “Shiny Happy People,” the Wisdom Booklets were “poorly sourced” and had “complete utter made-up nonsense,” per People.