Home for Christmas. Jill Dillard (née Duggar) and Derick Dillard reunited with her dad, Jim Bob Duggar, for the holiday amid their estrangement.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed the Duggar daughter, 33, and her husband, 35, sitting on a couch while surrounded by family in the background of her brother James Duggar’s Instagram post on Thursday, December 26. The photo appeared to be taken in the living room of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s home in Tontitown, Arkansas. The Duggar family patriarch could be seen sitting beside Jill and Derick on the couch, and the three appeared to be engaged in a conversation that some followers perceived to be tense.
“Do you see the look on Jim Bob’s face as he is talking to Derick?” one person commented on the post, which also contained various other snaps from the huge family’s holiday gathering.
However, another user disagreed with the notion that the trio was in the middle of a serious discussion.
“There’s no look on his face. [You’re] reaching. This photo was [taken] while they [were] talking in mid conversation — clearly they have moved on, otherwise they wouldn’t be talking and sitting next to each other,” they wrote.
Many fans were simply happy to see Jill and Derick get involved with the family’s holiday celebration.
“So glad to see Jill and Derick there!” one user commented, while another person added, “Love seeing Jill and Derick talking to your Dad!”
The reunion comes more than one month after Jill shared an update on the status of her strained relationship with her parents following her and Derick’s involvement in Prime Video’s June 2023 Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets docuseries and the publishing of her September 2023 memoir, Counting the Cost.
“I feel like we are in a rebuilding phase now with healthy boundaries still in place,” the mom of three explained in a November Q&A, adding that the relationship was still “complicated.”
“We try to hang out whenever it works well and we have the bandwidth to navigate things,” she continued.
Jill and Derick left her family’s reality TV show, Counting On, in 2017. After that, Jill began to rebel against her parents and many of the religious principles that she and her 18 siblings grew up with.
Jim Bob, 59, and Michelle, 58, responded to Jill’s book in a statement to People.
“We love all of our children very much. As with any family, few things are more painful than conflicts or problems among those you love,” they said. “We do not believe the best way to resolve conflicts, facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation, or to communicate through difficulties is through the media or in a public forum so we will not comment.”
They also addressed the documentary, which explored the family’s involvement with the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), as well as Josh Duggar’s arrest and other topics, in a separate statement.
“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. Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format,” the parents of 19 wrote on their website. “This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”
The statement continued, “We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one. Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.”
