Former reality TV star admits cheating on wife after reports of Ashley Madison account

Former reality TV star Josh Duggar on Thursday admitted cheating on his wife after reports that he had subscribed to the Ashley Madison affair website, apologizing for being "the biggest hypocrite ever."

"While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife," Duggar, 27, a former campaigner for family values who appeared on the TLC show "19 Kids and Counting," said in a statement posted on his family's website. "The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures," he added, calling himself the "biggest hypocrite ever."

The Discovery Communications-owned network last month canceled "19 Kids," after disclosures in May that Duggar had sexually abused four of his sisters when he was a teenager, one of whom was under 10 years old at the time.

Duggar apologized in a statement, saying he "acted inexcusably," and resigned from his job at Christian lobbying group Family Research Council.

Duggar's parents, conservative Christians Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, said on Thursday they were dismayed over the Ashley Madison reports concerning their son. "When we learned of this late last night our hearts were broken," they said in a statement.

Hackers this week dumped a batch of data stolen from the Ashley Madison website detailing millions of members. The site's tagline is "Life is short. Have an affair." Duggar is so far the highest-profile person found among the site's clientele.

A representative for the TLC network declined to comment on Thursday.

Duggar and his wife, Anna, were married in 2008 and have four children.