Jeremy Vuolo is shedding light on his introduction to the Duggar family through courtship.

During a recent episode of his and wife Jinger Duggar‘s podcast, Vuolo, 37, reflected on the rules Jinger, 31, and her siblings had to follow when it came to relationships. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar raised their 19 children under the beliefs of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), which required women to dress modestly and enforced strict guidelines about dating, among other things.

“The setting Jinger grew up in … there was a very formulaic way of dating and it was called courtship,” Vuolo told guests Lydia Plath and Zac Wyse on Wednesday, July 30. “And so there were strict rules.”

Vuolo didn’t have the same set of expectations growing up, nor did several of his now-brother-in-laws. “Guys coming in who weren’t from that world, like myself or Ben [Seewald] or Derick [Dillard], were kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’” Vuolo recalled.

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Despite the culture shock, Vuolo’s feelings for Jinger didn’t waver. “It was fine because obviously, I’m looking at my wife [and] going, ‘She’s worth it,’” he explained, adding that he “wanted to be respectful” of Jinger’s family. “But it took a lot of getting used to.”

Jeremy Vuolo and Jinger Duggar Jeremy Vuolo/Instagram

Jinger and Vuolo began their courtship after being introduced through her sister Jessa. The couple announced their engagement in July 2016 and were married three months later. They’ve since welcomed three children: Felicity, 6, Evangeline, 4, and Finn, 4 months.

In April 2021, Vuolo opened up to Us Weekly about the steps he took to earn approval from Jinger’s family — including the 50-page questionnaire he received from Jim Bob.

“It was intense, but I was actually pretty eager to fill it out and say, ‘OK, look, this is a good opportunity for them to get to know me,’” he exclusively told Us. “It’s tough for Mr. Duggar, man. He’s got all these girls [and] all these guys hanging around. I think if I had all those girls I’d probably come up with a document, too.”

Jinger pointed out that her family’s reality TV stardom was partially why such precautions were taken. “[Suitors would come] with the wrong intentions of like, ‘Oh, I want to be on TV,’” she explained. “To be fair, I think [the document] is a good thing to kind of sort through real quick. I mean, if somebody is serious, are they really even going to give them the time of day?”

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Since tying the knot, the pair have weathered a few ups and downs, including facing scrutiny from people outside of their relationship.

“There was a time in our life, very early on in our marriage, where we experienced some — I describe it as deep betrayal,” Vuolo recalled on Wednesday’s podcast. “You have relationships in your life that ground you, and when those shake or are removed, you feel like, ‘What am I doing?’”

Before listeners could speculate, Vuolo emphasized that the situation didn’t involve any family members. “It was people in my life that [Jinger] had come into and people I had been really, like, excited for her to meet and engage with,” he explained. “And then it was like, it was really difficult. … But now, looking back eight years later, we’re in our ninth year of marriage and we’re going, ‘Oh man, those were the greatest lessons we’ve ever learned.’ Like, ‘This is the greatest thing that could have ever happened to us.’”