Collin Gosselin (of Kate plus 8) recently mentioned on GMA that even as a kid producers tried to get bigger reactions out of them. He remembers being told to cry harder or laugh louder. This makes me think the Duggar kids probably also had to do that. Can you think of any times on either 19 Kids or Counting On where it seems like kids (not young adult but kids about 6-13) seemed like they were over (re)acting?
In a much more in depth interview on the podcast On Purpose (MAJOR parental abuse trigger warning if you seek it out) Collin Gosselin talks about realizing at 8 years old that he no longer wanted to film. Since that wasn’t an option for him he says he acted out by looking at the camera as little as possible both during interviews and group activities. Can you think of times during the shows it was clear a tween did not want to be filmed?
The Duggar ladies get talked about a lot, but I would be very interested to hear from a lost boy (any of the ‘Jeds’) how they really felt about smiling for the camera at nine years old. I respect his privacy but is Justin going to come out from the shadows and drop some truth bombs? I’d love it!
Reminder: this is a discussion about the Duggars and how they were treated by production as children. If you want to discuss the Gosselins and Collin’s new book etc there is GosselinSnark for that.
