‘Counting On’: Joy Duggar Is Forced to Deny Divorce Rumors — and She’s Not the Only Duggar to Have Done So
The Duggar family couples tend to jump into lifelong relationships. Most of the kids are married by their early 20s, and they often only court for several weeks to a couple of months before they’re planning a wedding. This has led some to question whether the Duggar romances are built to last.
Joy Duggar recently had to deny rumors of a divorce after she was spotted without her wedding ring. But she’s not the only Duggar to have dealt with those rumors.
Joy Duggar recently denied that she and Austin Forsyth are getting divorced
After Joy and Austin welcomed their daughter, Evelyn, the little family wanted a photoshoot to hold on to the memories. Joy later posted images of her and Austin to Instagram, and though fans loved the photos, one user questioned why Joy wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. “My fingers were swollen during pregnancy and I haven’t put my wedding band back on,” Joy clapped back.
Still, it wasn’t enough for everyone to believe that Joy and Austin weren’t having marriage troubles. On Oct. 27, Joy posted a screenshot of a tabloid Instagram post to her own story; the post questioned whether the two were splitting up. Joy clarified that she and Austin were not getting divorced. “If you follow our personal Instagram pages. You’ll know these rumors are FAR from true!” she wrote. She then added an animated “I love you” and tagged her husband.
Josh and Anna Duggar had to deny the same rumor after Josh’s scandals were exposed in 2015
Joy and Austin aren’t the first to be the center of divorce rumors in the Duggar family. Back in 2015, after Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse scandals from the early 2000s came to light, there were swirling rumors that he and Anna were getting divorced. Around the same time, Josh admitted to attending strip clubs and watching pornography; one woman later accused him of sexual assault.
Though the rumors weren’t entirely unfounded, he and Anna had to battle through the tabloids to make it clear they were not ending their marriage. Since 2015, the couple has welcomed two more children.
Some viewers have sparked rumors about other Duggar divorces, too
Those who watch Counting On have mixed feelings about Duggar couples. Some think Michelle and Jim Bob’s kids are happily married, while others think there are problems behind the scenes. Critics of the show have often questioned Josiah and Lauren Duggar’s marriage, suggesting they have no chemistry on camera and likely none off-camera, either. The same goes for Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo, who viewers loved at first; people have since questioned the couple’s “fake” Instagram affection and wondered how happy they are.
Neither couple has ever found the need to speak out about the rumors, and nothing suggests anyone is unhappy in their marriage outside of viewer speculation. Still, questions about the Duggar relationships still frequently come up in viewer discussions on places such as Instagram and Reddit.
