Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard opened up last year about their strained relationship with her family. Now fans are convinced her recent social media activity points to on-going tension.
Jill Duggar celebrated her 30th birthday on May 17 and her parentsJim Bob and Michelle Duggar made sure to mark the special occasion with an Instagram Story on their family’s account. As fans of Counting On know, Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, are not on the best terms with her parents. So naturally, all eyes were on her response.
Although Jill reposted her parents’ birthday wishes to her own Instagram story, she replied with a simple “Thanks!” — even though their message was much more effusive. “Happy birthday [Jill]!! We love you so much!” her parents wrote on the family account read.
Jill’s Instagram Story was shared on Reddit and fans of the show quickly jumped on to discuss Jill’s response, with many convinced that her lackluster response was proof that the tension with her parents hasn’t improved.
“Jill’s ‘thanks!’ is extra hilarious to me. If only she’d added ‘bless your hearts,’” one user wrote.
“’Thanks’ is what is say when I have zero f***s left,” another user commented.
“This is honestly the best possible response and it made me laugh,” another viewer added.
Although Jill has never fully explained why she and her husband fell out with her family, she and Derrick shared a video to their official YouTube channel in Oct. 2020 about the rift. “There’s been some distancing there,” Jill shared in the video.
“We’re not on the best terms with some of my family. We’ve had some disagreements, but we’re working towards healing definitely and restoration, but we’re having to kind of just take some time and heal.” The Counting On alum explained that while it has been hard to reconnect with her family, she is hopeful that they will be on better terms in the future.
“We’re doing what’s best for our family right now and just working through, it I guess,” she says. “We are praying and trusting God that like the timeline is his and what that looks like and everything. So we definitely appreciate your prayers, and we don’t want to go into detail.”
Derrick got more candid in a June 2020 interview when he revealed that the couple had been “restricted” from visiting her parents’ Arkansas compound, where much of 19 Kids And Counting and Counting On were filmed. Jill and Derick left the series in 2017 and appear to have no plans to return.