John-David Duggar Says He Is Taking Josh Duggar’s Place In Family As Oldest Brother Role Model

John-David Duggar spoke candidly for the first time about his older brother Josh’s many scandals. John-David noted that due to Josh’s behavior, he was forced to take on the role as the oldest brother and role model in the family. Going forward, he is determined to provide a good example for his younger siblings. John-David also noted that finding out Josh was unfaithful to Anna was “a little more of a shock” than the molestation scandal, as hehad no idea about his secret life. John-David said he was taking on the role of “oldest brother” in the Duggar house with the intent to be the example that the younger boys can look up to from now on.

People reported that John-David and Joseph Duggar were speaking about their brother, Josh, for the first time in the latest Jill & Jessa: Counting On sneak peak. The two brothers talk about the shock of finding out about Josh Duggar’s secret life and the disappointment of realizing their brother was not the person he portrayed himself as to the family. John-David Duggar was particularly harsh on Josh noting that due to his older brother’s behavior, he now has “a big weight upon me.”

John-David says that weight is the responsibility of being the good example for his younger brothers and sisters. John-David says that growing up, he always looked up to Josh and wanted to be just like him. However, after realizing Josh has been leading a double life, he says he no longer wants to be like his brother and has told the disgraced Duggar the news to his face.

“I always wanted to be like him. But one of the toughest things I had to tell my older brother was, I don’t want to be like you anymore.”

John-David made another surprising admission during the sneak peak for Jill & Jessa: Counting On which was that he was in more shock when information about Josh’s infidelity came out than he was when information about his brother’s molestation was leaked to the media.

“After everything started to settle down from the first release of stuff in the news about Josh, we got word of a second thing that we had no clue about. That was a little more of a shock probably than the first stuff coming out.”

John-David seems to indicate that the Ashley Madison accounts and infidelity were more shocking to the Duggar family, as they were completely blindsided. He notes that the molestation of his sisters by Josh took place earlier in life and the family had moved past those issues. Therefore, the molestation news was not new to the family, but the news of infidelity was unknown to the Duggars until the leak.

John-David & Joseph #Duggar Insist They Don’t Want to be Like Their Brother Josh! Watch: https://t.co/VzYRlZpTEw pic.twitter.com/YCq7Y4VSIR

— The Ashley (@TheAshleysRR) December 11, 2015

Joseph Duggar seconded John-David’s notion that the family had no idea about Josh’s secret life and says the news “broke my heart.”

“I don’t think there’s any way any of us would have known that my brother was living such a secret life. It broke my heart. Whenever somebody you respect the most is willing to get up and proclaim what we believe as Christians, about being true to your wife, you’d never think that that’s the person who’s involved in it.”

The latest sneak peak comes just days after a highly emotional sneak peak was released that featured numerous members of the Duggar family sobbing as they spoke about their brother Josh and his affect on the family. Jana, Joseph, Jinger, Jill and Jessa all spoke out in the video along with Josh’s wife, Anna Duggar.

What do you think about the Duggar siblings response to the Josh Duggar scandal? Which response surprises you most?

[Image via Facebook/Duggar Family Official]