Jessa Seewald Says Josh Duggar's Cheating Scandal Was 'Difficult' After Initially Defending Him
Jessa (Duggar) Seewald says she felt hurt when it came out last August that her brother Josh Duggar had been unfaithful in his marriage.
"It was very difficult, and we cried a lot of tears, and I feel like it was especially difficult for me just because I had spoken out for Josh and stood up for him," the 23-year-old reality star revealed on Tuesday's episode of Jill and Jessa: Counting On. "And then there was another whole wave of things that came through, and some things were exposed about his personal life now, what he was currently involved in …There were some things that he was hiding and that he wasn’t being honest about."
WATCH: Duggar Siblings Say 'The Devil Took His Best Shot' at Josh Duggar
Jessa added that being pregnant with her son, Spurgeon Elliot Seewald, did help to keep her mind off her brother's troubles. "Being pregnant was a breath of fresh air because we had the birth of this child to look forward to." Jessa said. In fact, it helped the whole family "look forward to the future."
Her sister Jana Duggar agreed, "Even in some of the hardest times in your life, there can still be joy."
WATCH: Anna Duggar Praying to 'Restore' Marriage After Josh's Infidelity Scandal
News broke of Josh's infidelities just a few months after he admitted to inappropriately touching four of his sisters and one babysitter when he was a teenager. Following the family bombshell, Jessa and her sister Jill spoke with Fox News' Megyn Kelly in June and defended their older brother.
"I'm not going to justify anything that he did or say it was ok, not permissible, but I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, [like] some people are saying," Jessa said at the time. "I'm like, 'That is so overboard and a lie, really.' I mean, people get mad at me for saying that, but I can say this because I was one of the victims."
WATCH: Josh and Anna Duggar Go Furniture Shopping in First Sighting Since Leaving Rehab
After news of Josh's extramarital affairs came to light, his wife, Anna Duggar, also spoke out on her sister-in-laws' TLC reality show, admitting that she was in disbelief. Watch: