The premiere of the TLC mini-series documentary "Jill and Jessa: Counting On" last Sunday revealed several intimate details about how the Duggar family dealt with eldest brother Josh's sexual perversion and infidelity to his wife.
The Duggar family chose to keep quiet during that difficult time, but now that the dust has settled over the controversy, some members of the closely knit Christian family are opening up about the shock and emotional turmoil they underwent.
"When my mom told us about this, we were just so overwhelmed and so grieved about what had happened," shared Jinger. "And it almost seems like, this person that we knew is no longer the same person. So we just stopped and prayed and asked God to help us get through it."
When news about Josh's paid accounts on the hacked adultery website Ashley Madison surfaced, Jana, Jinger, and Michelle were at a conference. Jim Bob called his wife and told him about Josh's confession.
"(My mom) sat us down there in the room to share that our brother had been living a double life and that he wasn't who he appeared to be," said Jana, Josh's 25-year-old sister.
The rest of the Duggar family found out about it later. "As we as a family looked into this situation, you have to wonder, 'How did this happen?'" shared Jessa.
For her part, 24-year-old Jill Duggar was upset that Josh made them defend him during their interview with Megyn Kelly back in June, when he came under fire for molesting several underage girls when he was still a teenager.
"I feel like, it wasn't right for him to let us speak our words without having the full knowledge of what he was hiding," said Jill. "We just have to understand that nobody is strong enough. That's why it is so important to set boundaries...and be accountable and just really focus on your relationship with the Lord, and don't be a hypocrite. You have to be real."
Eighteen-year-old Joy-Anna, who has looked up to her 27-year-old brother Josh growing up was also devastated to find out that he had been cheating on his wife Anna. "(Josh) was one of my role models, and I did look up to him," she explained. "And it was just really hard to see that he had been making bad choices."
As for 25-year-old John-David, the second eldest Duggar son revealed that he now has "a big weight" thrust upon him to set a good example to his younger siblings. "One of the toughest things I ever had to tell my older brother was, 'I don't want to be like you anymore,'" he shared.
