’19 Kids and Counting’ Alum Amy Duggar Reveals How Much Money She Made From the Show

Amy Duggar King is setting the record straight about her time on 19 Kids and Counting—and the paycheck, or lack thereof, that came with it.

The 30-year-old niece of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and cousin to their 19 children, revealed on the Oct. 1 episode of “The Viall Files” that she didn’t earn a dime for her appearances on the hit TLC series.

“My uncle,” Amy shared, “he told all of us that 19 Kids and Counting was a ministry—and that we were on the show to shine a light in the darkness, to be a part of this ministry and that God has called us to this.” She added bluntly, “Was there any compensation? Nada.”

How Much Did 19 Kids and Counting Make?

Despite Amy’s shocking revelation, she believes the show itself pulled in a fortune. The series, which aired from 2008 to 2015, spanned 10 seasons and, according to Amy, made “over $6 million” during its run.

The Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth author also admitted she didn’t fully understand what she was signing when she first joined the family reality empire. “I signed a contract blindly,” Amy explained, pointing out that her uncle Jim Bob had full control. “He’s very smart, he really is. He’s a businessman and he knows how to do it.”

Jill Duggar’s Similar Claims

Amy isn’t the only Duggar family member to come forward with allegations of withheld pay. Jill Duggar Dillard previously shared that she too was left out of the profits from both 19 Kids and Counting and its spinoff Counting On.

“I never received any payout—no check, no cash, no nothing,” Jill revealed in Amazon’s 2023 docuseries Shiny, Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. “For seven and a half years of my adult life, I was never paid.”

According to Jill, Jim Bob later offered his children a lump sum for their TV work, but only if they agreed to “sign another deal.” Jill and her husband Derick Dillard refused. “We were automatically like, ‘We’re done,'” she explained. The couple left Counting On in 2017, years before the show’s cancellation.

Jill added in a 2020 YouTube vlog that after hiring an attorney, they were eventually able to recover some money. Her husband Derick noted it “probably ended up being a little more than minimum wage,” but said, “We were able to recover at least something.”

The Duggar Parents Response

Jim Bob has not addressed Jill or Amy’s latest allegations directly, though both he and wife Michelle have spoken out against the family docuseries.

“The recent ‘documentary’ that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love,” the couple wrote in a statement at the time of its release. “Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format.”

They added, “This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”