How Amy Duggar King Fits Into the Sprawling Duggar Family
Amy Duggar King is sharing her story with the release of her memoir Holy Disruptor. But how is the 19 Kids and Counting alum related to Jim Bob Duggar, Michelle Duggar and their children? See here.
Amy Duggar King is starting a new chapter.
Seventeen years after she made her debut alongside her cousins on 19 Kids and Counting, the 39-year-old is sharing her story with the Oct. 14 release of her memoir Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth.
If you’re wondering how Amy fits into the sprawling Duggar family, her mom Deanna Duggar is Jim Bob Duggar‘s sister—making Amy the niece of Jim Bob and his wife Michelle Duggar. And while Amy is an only child, she has a lot of cousins in Jim Bob and Michelle’s 10 sons and nine daughters.
“I was very, very close with them and it almost felt like I was an extra sister in a way,” Amy said of her childhood on the Oct. 1 episode of The Viall Files. “But I spent a lot of my time over there.”
Amy went on to star alongside Jim Bob, Michelle and her cousins on their TLC series from 2008 to 2015, also making cameos on the spinoff series Counting On that lasted until 2021. Still Amy—who says she didn’t receive compensation for her time on 19 Kids and Counting—wouldn’t necessarily describe their bond as one big happy family. In fact, she recalls in her book feeling like she was “kept at arm’s length” from her cousins when they weren’t filming and treated like a fan when they ran into each other in public.
“I love my cousins, and I don’t want that to ever come across that I don’t,” Amy told E! News. “But at the same time, we only talked surface level. While the camera was going, it was about whatever was going on in that situation. And then after the cameras were turned off, it honestly was just like, ‘What do we talk about?'”
Amy Duggar King/InstagramAs for where she stands with Jim Bob today? “The relationship with my uncle has been strained,” she continued. “It has been for a while. I’m just not going to pretend its roses when clearly that’s not the case.”
And while Amy notes her memoir is “not a Duggar tell-all,” instead detailing more about her personal journey, she says she hasn’t spoken to any of them about the book other than her cousin and close confidante Jill Duggar Dillard.
“I love her support, and her encouragement means the world,” Amy added. “But as far as anyone else is concerned, it’s my story. It’s the things that’s happened to me. It’s how I felt. It’s the things that I’ve had to overcome and what I struggled with. That’s OK to write your story. So I don’t feel like I really need permission to do that.”
