Jill Duggar and Husband Derick Dillard Think the Term Courtship Is ‘Weird’: ‘We Prefer Dating’
The truth comes out! Jill Dillard (née Duggar) and husband Derick Dillard revealed they think the term courtship is “weird” amid their estranged relationship with her parents.
“One thing we might do differently is to call it a courtship just because it has, you know, a certain archaic feel to it,” Derick, 31, said in a YouTube video shared on Monday, November 23. “Not that everything old is bad, but it just evokes these ideas of strange things.”
Jill, 29, added that she grew up hearing the word “a lot” and that Derick likely thought it sounded “weird” because he only ever heard it from his grandfather.
“Even in our own courtship, we didn’t prefer to call it courting. I think TV cameras, of course, wanted it to be courting,” Jill said, referring to her family’s hit TV show Counting On, which they’re no longer a part of. “We preferred to call it dating with a purpose.”
The mom of two — who shares sons Israel, 5, and Samuel, 3, with the law student — went on to add that there were misconceptions about their relationship thanks to the reality series.
“My parents were not on all of the Sykpe calls. They popped in a couple times, less than one percent of the time they were on the calls,” Jill recalled, noting that the “first two times” the couple video chatted, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar “weren’t even home.” However, the duo were part of a “group text” so they could “stay in the loop” until they got engaged.
Fans had speculated about a rift in the famous family for months, especially after Derick dropped hints about their strained relationship in various tweets and messages. Back in July, the Arkansas resident called out his father-in-law, 55, following their departure from the 19 Kids and Counting spinoff.
“From what we’ve seen, [the show] is not accurate at all,” Derick vented at the time. “Maybe I’ll start a livestream during episodes, critiquing what is really going on in real-time.” He later made more shocking allegations, adding, “[The show is] still under [Jim Bob’s] control, and he will attack the victims if they threaten his show. We were humiliated and threatened when we first tried to not film.”
Jill later confirmed she is keeping her distance from her loved ones amid tension. “I never expected this to happen or for it to get to this point,” she confessed. “But I’m realizing I can’t put a timeline on healing. I love my family and they love me. I really just have to follow God’s lead and take it one day at a time.”
In response, Jim Bob and Michelle, 54, said they are staying optimistic that things between them will get better soon. “Every family has differences of opinion and perspective at times, but families work things out,” the couple shared in a statement via People in October. “We all love Jill, Derick, and their boys very much. It is our prayer that our relationship is healed and fully restored quickly!”
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