Jill Duggar Engaged; First Kiss Saved For Wedding Day

Make room for yet another Duggar!

Jill Duggar, of TLC’s “19 Kids & Counting,” is headed down the aisle with Derick Dillard, People reported.

Jill, 22, and Derick, 25, have a romance with international roots.

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“I am so happy,” she told the mag. “Our story is so very unique. The first time we talked, he was in Japan, we met in Nepal, he spent time in India and Israel and then came back to Arkansas where he met my family. We have a very international story even though we live so close.”

Derick popped the question on March 29 during a walk in the park as Jill’s sisters – Jana and Joy – accompanied them. Jill’s sisters began to lag behind on the group’s walk and Derick had arranged for a singer to serenade them.

“By the second verse, I knew the song was about Derick and me,” Jill told the mag.

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The song then led to a group of musicians showing up and Jill’s groom-to-be dropping to one knee.

“I shared how much I loved her, how I couldn’t imagine life without her, and I asked her, ‘Will you marry me?’” he recalled of the proposal, where he gave her a .63-carat diamond and white-gold ring that he designed.

Jill and Derick are taking the intimate part of their relationship slowly. In fact, they only just held hands for the first time on the day of their engagement.

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“We decided to wait to hold hands until we were engaged,” she explained. “And to have our first kiss on our wedding day.”

As for sex, that is on hold too, as Jill abides by the Duggar’s conservative religious views.

“We want to save the physical side of our relationship for our wedding day and not go further than we should. If you are kissing, it gets more intimate. Obviously, you can kiss and not have sex. It’s about setting a higher standard so you don’t struggle [with temptation],” she told the mag.

— Jesse Spero

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