Jackson Duggar spent the majority of his life with a TLC camera in his face, and the now-21-year-old says that he looks back on his made-for-TV birth and childhood and realizes how “crazy” it was.
During a recent appearance on his sister Jinger‘s podcast with her husband Jeremy Vuolo, Jackson talked about what it was like being born on TV and followed by cameras for the next 17 years. (Jackson’s birth was documented on the Duggar Family’s first special, 14 Kids & Pregnant Again! in 2004, and he went on to appear on 19 Kids & Counting and Counting On before his eldest brother Josh‘s arrest got the show cancelled in 2021 when Jackson was 17.)
Jeremy compared Jackson’s life to Jim Carey‘s character in the 1998 movie The Truman Show, in which a man is unknowingly filmed from birth for a reality TV show. Jackson— who is the youngest of Jim Bob and Michelle‘s 10 sons— said he related a lot to the character in that movie.
“It’s like ‘The Truman Show,’ you ARE ‘The Truman Show,’” Jeremy said, before asking Jackson if he feels “an affinity” for the fictional character played by Jim Carrey.
“Actually … when we were done watching that [movie] the first time, I remember watching, I was like, ‘Is this like me? Did they just make the [movie] about me?’” Jackson said, before going on to joke, “I was like, are they watching me, ya know?”
Jeremy pointed out that, while many people are born on TV, they are rarely followed by cameras afterward, as Jackson was.
“I think you’re one of the only people who was born [on TV] and [had their] life followed, until you were 17,” he said. “That’s crazy to think about. You’re in a very select group of people.”
“That’s crazy to think about,” Jackson said.
“For your first breath, you were looking at the cameraman!” Jinger added.
Jackson’s birth– which came via one of Michelle’s only C-sections— was graphically aired on the special, something Jeremy said he was not expecting.
“It was a medical documentary; it was not TLC at that point [doing the special], it was Discovery Health,” he said.
Jackson revealed that he and some of his siblings do watch old episodes of “19 Kids & Counting” on occasion.
“I do,” Jackson admitted. “Yeah, sometimes. The girls are normally the ones who are watching it [and] I’ll come in, you know, after work, and I would go in and watch it with them … .”
Like Jackson, Jinger’s childhood (starting at the age of 10) and all of her teen and young adult years were filmed for her family’s shows. Because of this, Jinger has stated that she wants her children to experience a private childhood, resulting in her and Jeremy covering their kids’ faces in online posts.
“We don’t show our children’s faces to give them privacy,” Jinger wrote online earlier this year. “…we don’t want to subject our kids to how cruel some people can be in their judgements. It’s honestly just sad to see these comments come in.”
Watch Jackson’s episode of The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast below.
RELATED STORY: ‘Counting On’ Star Jill Duggar Dillard Says She’s in “Rebuilding Phase” with Her Family: “We Needed Time”
(Photos:
2 Responses
Isn’t he currently in a relationship? So this means his life is followed (on social media now) from birth to marriage…that is a bit weird. I feel like Duggars would have been a Youtube family channel if they existed back then already.
“For your first breath, you were looking at the cameraman!” Jinger added.
Well thats…unsettling…