Keeping up with the Dillards! Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s romance has captivated audiences for years, beginning with their whirlwind courtship.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum, who is the fourth child of Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, found her future husband through her father, making their road to marriage somewhat seamless.
The duo’s courtship began in 2013, after Dillard had become close with Jim Bob during his two-year mission to Nepal. “Being that we had similar life goals, she caught my attention,” Dillard wrote via the couple’s wedding website in 2014, noting he spoke with her on the phone once before she came to visit him in Nepal alongside her dad.
“The more I spent time with him and observed his integrity, sweet spirit and love for God and service to others, the more I fell in love with him,” Jill explained on the duo’s website, noting that her trip to see him shifted their relationship and officially started their courtship.
Once Dillard returned to the U.S. in 2014, the pair’s romance heated up and the attorney proposed in March of that year.
“We’re just really trying to keep our relationship focused not on the physical but really just more on communication and continuing to learn more about each other,” Jill told ABC after their engagement. “We’re saving our first kiss and things beyond that for our wedding.”
Several weeks before tying the knot in June 2014, Jill expressed how glad she was “to be engaged to the most awesome guy in the world” via Twitter.
The couple have since welcomed three sons, Israel, Samuel and Frederick, and been vocal about how they keep their romance alive.
“Sex is a super important part of marriage, but it’s also important to prioritize fun and intimacy that leads to a healthy marriage, including a healthy sex life,” the Counting On alum said of her relationship with her husband during a February 2021 YouTube video, in which they described how they talk to their kids about sex.
The pair then explained in kid-friendly terms that babies get born after their parents have a “date” and then they start growing “inside of mommy’s tummy.” In the clip, Jill chimed in, saying the duo had “a bunch of dates” before becoming parents. Dillard cheekily replied, “We did have four dates in one day, I think, that one time.” Jill added, “Hey, we have a good sex life.”
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Scroll down to relive Jill and Dillard’s relationship highs and lows:
