Former Counting On star Jill Duggar’s husband Derick Dillard’s brother, Daniel, has a troubled past with drug addiction. New details have emerged concerning the family’s past from his mother’s tell-all book.
The TLC reality show, formerly called Jill & Jessa: Counting On, has continued on without some leading cast members. Jill’s husband Derick was fired after he continually posted homophobic and transphobic comments on social media and wrote disparaging things about another TLC star, Jazz Jennings. While Jill, formerly a fan favorite on the original 19 Kids and Counting, was never formally fired, Derick tweeted that he was taking his family off the show. The two were also noticeably missing from a recent promo for the upcoming season of Counting On. Now, fans are finding out more dark secrets about the Dillard family’s past.
In a new memoir written by Derick’s mother, Cathy Dillard Byrum, titled, I Shall Not Die: My Walk Through the Valley of Death, she details her battle with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Following treatment for cancer, Cathy is now in remission; but, according to RadarOnline, she also shared details about Daniel’s “double life.” She talks of him being headed down “a dangerous path to self-destruction,” and Cathy attributes his self-sabotaging behavior to his lack of faith or belief in God.
Daniel himself opened up on social media about his struggle with Christianity and how he changed his life around. He never openly discussed having any issues with substance abuse, but he did speak at an opioid conference in February 2019, leading many fans to believe that might be the “path” Cathy’s was referring to. In her memoir, Cathy also mentions Daniel “carrying a heavy burden,” which might be related to his struggles with addiction. Now, following Daniel’s life change, he and his mom are close again and are regularly seen hanging out together on each other’s Instagram accounts (seen above at his brother’s wedding).
Given the drama the Duggars have already dealt with concerning their son Josh (he was previously accused of four counts of molestation), the rest of the family is distancing themselves from Derick at the moment, but it looks like Derick’s mom is still supportive of him and his wife. She recently wished the couple a happy 5-year wedding anniversary on social media. Fans will have to tune into the upcoming season of Counting On to see if any more family secrets are revealed.
Next: 12 Crazy Rules The Duggars Have to Follow
Source: RadarOnline, Dan Dillard
