19 Kids and Counting’s Jill Duggar engaged to Derick Dillard
For the first time in six years, we’re going to have a Duggar wedding! 19 Kid and Counting‘s Jill Duggar is engaged to Derick Dillard, her suitor of five months.
“I am so happy,” Jill told People, adding they are meeting with a wedding planner and anticipate “lots of help” from her large family.
As viewers of 19 Kids and Counting saw in this week’s episode, Jill fell in love with Derick via extensive (parent-monitored) Skype sessions. They met for the first time when she visited Nepal with dad Jim Bob Duggar in November 2013.
“Our story is so very unique,” said Jill, who is the second-oldest Duggar daughter. “The first time we talked, he was in Japan, we met in Nepal, he spent time in India and Israel and then came back to Arkansas where he met my family. We have a very international story even though we live so close.”
Similar to younger sister Jessa Duggar, who is in a courtship with Ben Seewald, Jill and Derick established strict physical boundaries for their courtship. They decided to hold off on holding hands until an engagement and will refrain from kissing until their wedding day. (The all-important side-hug seems to be permissible now.)
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” said Derick, a Rogers, Ark. native. “It was great to grab her hand for the first time.”
In People‘s video, Jill and Derick said the proposal happened the day before, but it’s unclear when the footage was shot. I’m still betting (and hoping!) we could see it play out during this season — particularly as previews for next week’s episode heavily hint at an upcoming Duggar wedding.
19 Kids and Counting airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9/8c.
