The American family reality show “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC may have been gone for good as a result of the child molestation controversy involving Josh Duggar, the eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle, but fans and viewers have not seen the last of the Duggars on the same network.
Apparently, the network has just confirmed the previous rumors that it is producing a couple of TV specials involving the two most popular daughters of the family, 24-year-old Jill and 22-year-old Jessa, who are already both married, notes Today.
Jill is already married to Derick Dillard and they have welcomed their first child named Israel this past spring. Jessa, on the other hand, is now pregnant with her first child, with Ben Seewald. She expects to give birth on November 1.
Jill posted a nice family photo of herself, his son and husband Derick on Instagram on September 24 and captioning it by stating her excitement over the upcoming TV specials on TLC. The day before, Jessa also posted a photo of herself also on Instagram showing her huge baby bump.
Happy news about the family
From a suspension in May after Josh’s child molestation controversy got blown up, TLC officially cancelled “19 Kids and Counting” on July 16, without completing its seventh season.
However, loyal fans and viewers of the show are still on the lookout for some happy news about the members of the Duggar family.
They got some news about the family, minus Josh early this month, during the wedding of Amy Duggar, the niece of Jim Bob and Michelle, a couple of videos of which were posted on the Facebook page of The Duggars.
Because of the popularity of Jill and Jessa in “19 Kids and Counting,” fans also want to know what life with a newborn and being pregnant is like for the Duggar duo daughters.
In a recent interview, Nancy Daniels, TLC executive, said that the network knows that fans are really excited about what’s been going on with Jill and Jessa as they move into familyhood. Viewers would really like to be part of big changes happening in their lives.
Airing date set
While there are also reports that the TV specials on Jill and Jessa and their respective families are still in pre-production phase, it appears that production may be in the works at the moment since the TV specials already have an anticipated air date on TLC before the end of the year, or at least the first of them.
TLC has confirmed that they will be making at least two specials involving the Duggar daughters so it could even extend to three or more especially if they get the warm reception and expected high ratings just like its mother TV series was.
It is likely that the rest of the Duggar family of Jim Bob and Michelle will be included in the TV specials too because that is what fans want. However, a production source who refused to be named reveals that the TV specials would not include the controversial 27-year-old Josh Duggar, details The Guardian.
Josh admitted having molested five underage girls, some of whom were his sisters. Last month, he also admitted that he has been unfaithful to his wife, Anna Duggar, of six years after he was found to have several paid accounts on the cheating site, Ashley Madison. He is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation in the undisclosed treatment facility.
The cancellation of “19 Kids and Counting” was attributed to the inexcusable acts of Josh Duggar while he was still a teenager.
Josh publicly came out with an apology as a result of published reports that he molested five girls including some of his sisters, by fondling them, when he was about 14 to 15 years old, which placed the events to have transpired from 2002 to 2003 or about five to six years before the show started on TLC.