Amy Duggar King Says It Was ‘a Slap in the Face’ to See Her Cousins Wear Jeans

Though Amy Duggar King was given freedom by her parents, Deanna Duggar and Terry Jordan, to choose her clothes and how she wore her hair, she was labelled the “crazy cousin” when she appeared on 19 Kids and Counting.

The show followed the lives of Amy’s religious aunt and uncle Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and their large family. The family, who were members of the Christian fundamentalist organization Institute of Basic Principles, initially had strict rules for what their daughters Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Jana Duggar, Jill Duggar Seewald and Joy-Anna Forsyth, were allowed to wear.

Amy — whose parents were much less strict — was often judged by her extended family on the show for cutting her hair, wearing jeans and having a boyfriend, but was surprised to see her cousins doing the same exact things without criticism later on in the show.

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“Honestly, I was kind of taken aback,” she told E! News. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK, so now you’re wearing jeans. Now you’re cutting her hair.’ So the things that were very evil and very rebellious, and the things that I was judged for — I was labeled this crazy girl.” 

“Let’s be real here,” Amy, now 38, continued. “It was just like a slap in the face in a way of just like, ‘Alright, so all of that for years was for no reason at all. Great.'”

Amy further described herself as “the contrast” in the family and explained that she knew fans saw her as “the relatable one” on the TLC show, but struggled with filming because of the mistreatment from her family members.

“I would leave crying after filming and feeling so bogged down and just felt so misunderstood,” she recalled.

Amy further opens up about her experience with her religious family in Amazon Prime Video’s docuseries, Shiny Happy People. In the first season of the show, she explained that she was raised in a “rock ‘n’ roll” way compared to her relatives.

“Teenage years were Jonathan Taylor Thomas posters on the wall and *NSYNC and all the boy bands. I got to have pool parties and there were boys,” she said while filming the show.

Her mother, Deanna, also explained in the show’s first season why she allowed Amy certain freedoms with added context about her own upbringing.

“We weren’t allowed to go to dances,” Deanna recalled. “I was not allowed to wear jeans for a while. Being a cheerleader, I couldn’t be. I wasn’t allowed. So, that’s why I gave my daughter Amy freedom of anything she wanted to do that I was not allowed to do.” 

Shiny Happy People returns for its second season on Amazon Prime Video July 23.