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New Duggar docuseries ‘exposes the truth’ about the reality family

<i>Beth Hall/AP</i><br/>Michelle Duggar
Beth Hall/AP
Michelle Duggar

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — A new docuseries from Amazon Prime is promising an in-depth look at a once popular reality TV family, the Duggars of “19 Kids and Counting”

The teaser trailer for “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” is out and includes a sneak-peek at an interview with Jill Duggar, the second daughter in the family, and her husband, Derick Dillard.

“There’s a story that’s going to be told and I would rather be the one telling it,” Duggar says in the trailer.

According to Prime, it is “a limited docuseries exposing the truth beneath the wholesome Americana surface of reality tv’s favorite mega-family, the Duggars, and the radical organization behind them: The Institute in Basic Life Principles.”

“As details of the family and their scandals unfold, we realize they’re part of an insidious, much-larger threat already in motion, with democracy itself in peril,” according to the description.

The Duggars formerly starred in the popular TLC series about their mega-family. (TLC is owned by CNN’s parent company.)

The show was canceled in 2015 when allegations surfaced that eldest son Josh Duggar had molested family members as a teen.

While he was never charged in relation to those allegations, in 2021 Duggar was found guilty of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography and later sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

His family also starred, without him, in the series “Counting On” that was canceled in 2021.

The family was known for adhering to strict teachings, including no use of birth control, family supervised courtship before marriage and modest dress for women and girls.

Daughter Jinger Duggar Vuolo recently published her memoir, “Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear.”

CNN has reached out to The Institute in Basic Life Principles and the Duggar family for comment.

“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” premieres June 2 on Prime Video.

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