Jill Duggar Dillard is speaking out about how she and her siblings were allegedly exploited by their father, Jim Bob Duggar, while starring on the reality series “19 Kids and Counting.”
The 32-year-old television personality and her husband, Derick Dillard, appeared in the new docuseries “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets,” which premiered June 2 on Amazon Prime Video. “Shiny Happy People” focuses on the family at the center of the hit TLC show, which ran for 10 seasons over seven years from 2008 to 2015.
Among the many shocking revelations that emerged from the four-part docuseries were Jill and Derick’s claims that they were never financially compensated for their participation in “19 Kids and Counting” and its spinoff show, “Counting On.”
“I never received any payout,” Jill said. “No check, no cash, no nothing. For seven and a half years of my adult life, I was never paid.”
According to People magazine, Jim Bob was the primary payee throughout the runs of both shows and earned an estimated $25,000 to $45,000 paycheck per episode.
In “Shiny Happy People,” Jill and Derick alleged that they did not receive any share of the money that was paid to Jim Bob during their time on “19 Kids and Counting” and “Counting On.”
Jill appeared with her husband, Derick Dillard, in the new docuseries “Shiny Happy People.” (Amazon Content Services LLC)
Jill was 17 when “19 Kids and Counting” debuted in September 2008. Derick and Jim Bob became prayer partners in 2013, and the Duggar family patriarch later introduced his future son-in-law to Jill. Jim Bob and Jill later traveled to Nepal to visit Derick while he was doing mission work in Kathmandu.
“I just saw the signature page,” she said. “It was like, on the end of the kitchen table, like, ‘Hey, I just need you guys to sign these.’ Like, everyone was signing them. We were literally running through the kitchen, and it was like, whoever you could grab on the way through. I didn’t know what it was for.”
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When asked who had her sign the contract, Jill replied, “My dad.”
In the docuseries, Jill recalled that she and Derick were initially opposed to filming her delivery for the show. TLC had previously filmed Michelle and Anna giving birth, and Jill recalled that they expected to film her birth as well. Episodes that featured weddings and births typically brought in some of the series’ highest ratings.
Derick and Jill said the production company approached them a few weeks before Jill gave birth about filming the delivery. Jill said the producers offered to only have one camera operator in the hospital room.
“And I was like, ‘Well, actually, we don’t want you guys there at all,'” Jill said, noting that they were shocked at the couple’s refusal.
Jill said that she and Derick did not want the birth of their first child to be filmed for the show. (Amazon Content Services LLC)
The couple said the production company gave them cameras and tripods so that they could shoot footage for the show themselves.
“We did diary cams,” Jill said. “We did a lot of work. So they still got, you know, the footage.”
After the birth of Jill’s son, Israel, she said the couple asked TLC just to pay them enough to cover the out-of-pocket costs of their insurance for Israel’s birth.
The couple claimed TLC producers began to press them to return to the United States for a shoot. Jill and Derick said they refused as they wanted to honor their commitment. They recalled that they had previously told the producers they would be in El Salvador for 10 months.
“Now it’s a matter of principle,” Jill explained. “Like we’re going to be here. That was like the first time that we really put our foot down and said, ‘No.’ I’ve never said no to my family before and just been like, ‘No, no, no. We cannot do what you’re asking us to do.’ And it was one of those, like, aha moments for us that basically they’re like, ‘Well, you have to.’”
The couple alleged that Jim Bob, above, deceived Jill into extending her contract with TLC. (Peter Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
“And we were not able to talk to TLC,” Derick noted.
“Honestly, they probably would think if you got a problem with it, you speak up,” Jill said. “But it’s not the boat that I was in.”
Derick and Jill said that Jim Bob later offered to pay them $10 an hour to appear on “Counting On.” (Amazon Content Services LLC)
“Shiny Happy People” also featured reports that Jill and Derick relied on food banks to support their family while appearing on “Counting On.”
“We found out on social media that our relationship – if we ever had a relationship with TLC – came to an end at that time,” Derick said.
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Jill and Derick announced they were leaving “Counting On” in 2017.
“But we were able to recover at least something,” he added.
In “Shiny Happy People,” Jill and Derick shed some light on where their relations with Jim Bob, Michelle and other members of the Duggar family stand now.
“My dad does control a lot of things within the family,” Jill said. “Family relationships were already kind of rocky.”
“Everything within the family dynamic has shifted and not for the better,” Jill said.
“We’re very much on the outside with the family,” Derick added.
Representatives for TLC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.