Jinger Duggar Vuolo, daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, gave her thoughts on the new docuseries exposing her family’s scandals and extreme religious views.
In an exclusive interview with People, Vuolo, 29, explained why she didn’t take part in the Prime Video four-episode limited series “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” released on June 2.
“I was actually approached and asked to participate in the docuseries, but I thought that from my perspective, I really wanted to make sure that I was able to share my story in my own words and in my own timing,” she said.
In the interview she said that is why she wrote her memoir, Becoming Free Indeed. She said she wanted “to share more of my journey out of IBLP’s teachings. I wanted to be able to share it in a way that was, like, God-honoring and hopefully sharing my story in a balanced way.”
Vuolo also revealed she “had heard a little bit” about the docuseries from her sister, Jill Duggar Dillard, 32, and supported her in speaking out.
“And I am excited to hear what she has to say, even in this documentary,” she added.
In an exclusive interview with People in January, Vuolo gave insight into what it was like to grow up under the Institute in Basic Life Principles teachings founded by Bill Gothard in 1961.
“[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,’” she shared. “The fear kept me crippled with anxiety.”
Vuolo admitted that she “was terrified of the outside world.”
Ultimately, the “harmful teachings” resulted in her walking away from the organization for good in 2017.
“I’m seeing more of the effects of that in the lives of my friends and people who grew up in that community with me. There are a lot of cult-like tendencies,” she said.
