Jessa Duggar and sister Jill made fans very happy when they appeared in a three-part special on TLC recently, which focused on their lives now that they are wives and mothers following a series of scandals that saw the family’s show canceled. But considering their fanbase and the fascination surrounding the embattled family, it’s no surprise that the network has ordered a full season of the series, which will premiere in March.
Jill & Jessa: Counting On was originally just supposed to air for a few episodes, enough to keep fans in the loop of the lives of two of the most popular siblings in the Duggar family following the revelation last year that their brother, Josh, had sexually molested them and two of their sisters when he was 14. The family’s popular series, 19 Kids And Counting, was subsequently taken off the air, and even more backlash ensued a few months later when Josh’s name was implicated in the Ashley Madison hack. After admitting that he had been unfaithful to his wife Anna, many fans took to social media to discuss the family and vent their thoughts about what had happened, and the Duggars agreed to sit down for an interview to try and clear the air.
“I feel like this should be a discussion that people are having, even regularly. I think that it shouldn’t be a taboo subject, and that we should be bringing awareness to child sexual abuse, and talking about this,” Jessa said during a one-hour special on TLC.
While some felt that the Duggar family had misled them over the years, fans were still eager to catch up with Jessa and Jill, who made countless headlines just before the scandals broke with their weddings and pregnancies. With Counting On, they were able to follow what was going on with their lives as well as get an update on Anna Duggar, who sat down for the cameras to talk about what it was like to find out Josh had been unfaithful. The couple share four children together, and after Josh entered a rehab facility last year, his family moved back home with the Duggars.
“Just recently I visited Josh. It was an important step on a long difficult road. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and your messages of hope. I can never express how your kindness and prayers have brought encouragement when I needed it most – outpacing the grief and discouragement at every turn,” Anna Duggar wrote in a blog post last month.