My 2008 Arrest Was a ‘Huge Wake-Up Call’

Lesson discovered. Earlier than marrying into the Duggar household, Jeremy Vuolo was arrested for harassing a police officer, however he says the incident was an vital turning level in his life.

“I used to be simply sort of on a path of hanging out with those that had the improper thought of the place they had been going and simply getting sort of absorbed in that life,” the Counting On star, 33, instructed Us Weekly solely in April. “It was a enormous wake-up name.”

In January 2008, when he was learning at Hartwick Faculty in Oneonta, New York, Vuolo grabbed a police officer whereas out consuming with mates. After his arrest, he was ordered to pay $250 in fines.

“The largest factor was me having to return face-to-face with the fact that if I used to be going to name myself a Christian, I wanted to stay for Christ and never for me,” he defined to Us whereas selling his and spouse Jinger Duggar’s new e book, The Hope We Maintain. “Or if I used to be gonna preserve residing for myself, I wanted to not name myself a Christian.”

The previous New York Purple Bulls star additionally mentioned that part of his life within the e book, describing it as a “depressing” time when he ended up “distant” from his household as a result of he was hiding components of his way of life. “The identical state of affairs performed out week after week, occasion after occasion, hangover after hangover,” he wrote. “Lather, rinse, repeat.”

Vuolo finally bought again on observe and married Duggar, 27, in 2016. They share two daughters: Felicity Nicole, 2, and Evangeline Jo, 5 months.

Although the couple didn’t know one another on the time of the arrest, the Arkansas native is not any stranger to weathering scandal. Her older brother Josh Duggar was accused in 2015 of molesting underage ladies when he was 14 and 15 years outdated. (The pair spoke to Us earlier than Josh’s April 29 arrest for little one pornography.)

“Strolling by means of that season, it was one of many hardest occasions of our lives,” Jinger instructed Us of the 2015 accusations. “It’s in these occasions the place it’s not standard to be your buddy, seeing how they responded actually confirmed us the love of Christ by means of them and thru their friendships.”

Like his spouse, Vuolo was capable of finding the constructive features in an in any other case darkish time. “Folks typically look again and attempt to rip me for it,” he stated, Jinger nodding by his aspect. “They had been like, ‘Oh, aren’t you ashamed?’ It’s like, properly, yeah, in fact I’m ashamed of the motion, however I’m so grateful that God did in my life what he did as a result of it was a wake-up name.”

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi

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