While the Duggar family initially presented a wholesome front, their public image has been widdled away over the years. After three scandals involving eldest son Josh Duggar, the latest being a child pornography conviction, a clearer picture of just how troubled the family is has come into focus. Amazon’s upcoming docuseries, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, plans to bring things into even sharper focus. Family friends, Jim and Bobye Holt, will appear in the series. They are making it clear that deceit was a major strategy for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. In a bombshell revelation, the Holts reveal that Jim Bob and Michelle didn’t plan on telling the Holt family about Josh molesting several of his sisters until after he married their eldest daughter. The marriage never happened.
The Duggars hoped Joshua Duggar would marry Kaeleigh Holt
Bobye Holt and her husband, Jim Holt, appeared on exactly one Duggar special on TLC before seemingly disappearing from the family’s life. It took a child pornography case for Duggar family followers to learn what happened between the Duggars and the Holts.
During Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial, Bobye Holt testified about Josh Duggar molesting several of his sisters. Bobye revealed that she and her family were unaware of the molestation until the Duggars forced Josh to confess. The confession only came because the Duggars viewed his behavior as “cheating” on Kaeleigh Holt, Bobye’s eldest daughter.
According to Bobye, Josh and Kaeleigh were in a relationship when they were young teens. The families hoped that Josh and Kaeleigh would get married. They thought marriage was so imminent that the families operated as if the couple were headed toward engagement. That all changed after Josh’s behavior was brought to the Holts. It also changed the very nature of the Duggars and the Holts’ friendship. That’s not how Jim Bob and Michelle expected things to go, though.
Jim and Bobye Holt were kept in the dark about Josh Duggar’s inappropriate behavior
While Josh and Kaeleigh got to know each other as young teens, the Duggar family kept a big secret. Eventually, Jim and Bobye Holt were informed that Josh had inappropriately touched several of his siblings and a family friend, but that wasn’t Jim Bob and Michelle’s game plan.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Holts revealed in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, that they had confronted the Duggars about Josh’s behavior. They asked when they planned to tell them. Jim Holt recalled that Michelle claimed they planned to have Josh confess to his wrongdoing, but only after he had married Kaeleigh Holt.
Kaeleigh and Josh ended their courtship after the bombshell revelation. A few years later, he married Anna Duggar, although how much of a choice Anna had in her sudden engagement on her 20th birthday remains debatable. Several insiders have claimed, over the years, that Anna and Josh’s marriage was essentially arranged by their parents.
Kaeleigh went on to marry someone else and has several children. She maintains a private life and hasn’t spoken publicly about her teenage courtship with the most infamous Duggar offspring. Her parents, however, are more than happy to delve into details about the family they were once so closely intertwined with.