TLC might be giving up on 19 Kids and Counting, but the network still seems willing to give a Jill Duggar spin-off show a chance.
TLC and the Duggar family are still reeling from the fallout surrounding Josh Duggar’s molestation scandal. Major sponsors like Payless, Choice Hotels International, David’s Bridal, General Mills and Walgreens have all pulled out their ads.
With the network scrambling to appease its advertisers and avoid a major revenue loss, a People article stated that TLC is flirting with the idea of a spinoff show revolving around Jill, her sister Jessa and their husbands.
Soooo it looks like TLC might be working on a spin-off of “19 Kids and Counting”: http://t.co/P6do40hSbu pic.twitter.com/qweisQir5a
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) May 27, 2015
The move is seen as a logical alternative, especially since the two Duggar girls new lives as married women and new mothers have captured viewers’ interest.
When Jessa’s wedding to Ben Seewald was aired on 19 Kids and Counting, it generated a surprisingly large amount of interest.
The same thing happened when Jill Duggar gave birth to her first child with Derick Dillard. That episode, which was aptly aired before Mother’s Day, garnered a whopping 3.6 million viewers – the highest rating the show has had in years.
As an insider explains it, “the show had begun to focus more and more on the next generation of Duggars anyway – mainly Jill and Jessa and their marriages and babies.”
One thing is certain though, if the spinoff series does push through, Josh Duggar won’t be featured in it.
Whether their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, will appear is still a big question mark as they too have received their fair share of backlash over how they handled the situation with Josh.
The embattled couple is set to give an interview to Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on June 3.
In a statement, Jim Bob and Michelle said they will “share our hearts with you about the pain that we walked through as a family twelve years ago.”
But will that be enough to stem the tide of public opinion?
