Prime Video’s explosive docuseries Shiny Happy People dives into Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s family, which is comprised of 19 children… And that’s just the start. The tell-all series explores their cult-like religion, The Institute in Basic Life Principles, and the sex abuse crimes of their eldest son Josh Duggar. The show features testimonies from their daughter Jill Duggar Dillard, her cousin Amy King and several former members of the church, along with two family friends, Jim and Bobye Holt, who were confidants of the parents and later played a crucial role in Josh Duggar’s trial.

The Holts were longtime family friends of the Duggars and even starred in their TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting, which premiered in 2008 and ran for 10 seasons until it was canceled because of Josh Duggar’s resurfaced behavior. The Duggar patriarch and Jim Holt went to Shiloh Christian High School together.

In Shiny Happy People, Jill Duggar introduces Jim Holt, who is a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate, as one of her father’s “best friends.”

Due to their involvement in the Prime Video series, many want to know more about Jim and Bobye Holt. Here’s everything you need to know about the Duggar family friends.

Jim and Bobye Holt met when they were 19 and 14 years old, and have been together ever since. They were longtime family friends of the Duggar family, with the two patriarchs having grown up together and crossing paths in the Arkansas political sphere.

In Shiny Happy People, the Holts say that they felt coerced into appearing on the Duggar’s TLC reality show and now regret their involvement.

Given their long history, the Holts were privy to the Duggar’s secrets and played key witnesses during Josh Duggar’s trial after he was found to be in possession of child pornography. During the trial, Bobye Holt testified about the Duggar son’s troubled teenhood where he sexually abused multiple girls, including four of his sisters. 

In the first episode of the series, the Holts discuss their relationship with Josh Duggar and reflect on him dating their first-born daughter while they were teenagers. “Over the years, our relationship with him had grown. He was our first daughter’s boyfriend and we’d known him since he was a baby,’ says Bobye Holt.

The couple says they found out about Josh Duggar’s behavior in 2003, years after it had begun. The matriarch recalls, “It was March 30, 2003 when we found out and I went to the field and just bawled.” Her husband chimes in, adding, “What Jim Bob had said to us is that Josh has gotten in trouble, he touched his sisters inappropriately.” The two also claim that Bobye Holt was reprimanded by the Duggar family for referring to Josh Duggar’s behavior as “molestation.”

In a shocking reveal, Jim Holt says Jim Bob Duggar admitted to using his daughter “as a carrot” to correct his son’s behavior, as he was going to have him come forward with his behavior after they were married. The Holt father says he escorted Jim Bob and Josh Duggar to the police office where the Duggar son was lightly reprimanded and let go by authorities. Jim Holt later discovered that the officer was a Duggar family friend. 

The Holts maintained a relationship with the Duggars throughout the years with Jim Holt claiming that Jim Bob Duggar messaged him when he was running for office while Josh Duggar was on trial – but that’s when things really got rocky. In 2021, it was reported that Bobye Holt testified during Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial and said he admitted to inappropriately touching four girls aged 5 to 12 and having raped a girl. He was 15 at the time. 

Bobye Holt tells Amazon that she felt ” a flood of relief for the girls” after hearing that Joshua Duggar was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar refused to comment for the docuseries, aside from a statement from their representative that reads, “[They] love each of their children tremendously and always desire each live their god-designed lives to the fullest.” Once the series premiered, they published a note on their website, calling the program “derogatory and sensationalized.”

Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is currently streaming on Prime Video.