‘Counting On’ Viewers Are Convinced Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald Would Never Have Dated If Their Lives Had Been Different

Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald have always had different personalities. Still, the Counting On stars fell in love and appear to have a strong marriage. Some viewers, though, are convinced the couple would not be together if they’d been raised in more conventional American households.

Ben Seewald has always been more emotional than Jessa Duggar

When Seewald and Duggar started their courtship back in 2013, most of it was filmed for 19 Kids and Counting. In one scene, Duggar and her mother were out for coffee and discussing the courtship; Duggar revealed that Seewald always made sweet comments to her and that she didn’t know how to respond. Michelle said she needed to essentially tell him how much his comments mean to her, even if she wasn’t sure how to put it into words.

Fast forward seven years, and Duggar and Seewald are now married with three kids — and it seems Duggar still isn’t too emotional.

Viewers are convinced Duggar and Seewald wouldn’t be together if not for their lifestyles

Over the years, Duggar has earned the reputation of being somewhat of a “mean girl.” Though viewers might throw the term around loosely, they generally seem to say that she shows less emotion than her siblings and doesn’t have time for anyone’s nonsense. But her and Seewald’s different personalities have led some to suspect they never would have been suited for each other if they had grown up in more mainstream environments.

“I honestly don’t think Jessa and Ben would have even actually dated if it was the real world. Jessa strikes me as the high school mean girl, and Ben as the nice but kinda nerdy guy,” one user posted to Reddit. “Ben definitely would have dumped her by now if he could,” another person wrote. Though Duggar and Seewald do have different personalities, sometimes opposites attract, so there’s no telling how their relationship would have actually played out under different circumstances.

Do short courtships give the couples enough time to get to know each other?

Some viewers also questioned whether the length of Duggar courtships might affect the outcome of the relationship. Duggar and Seewald dated for nearly a year, but other Duggars, such as Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo, only courted for two months or less.

“Would [Jeremy and Jinger] be together at all if they had maybe had a longer courtship time?” one Reddit user questioned. “Yes, the courtship was short, but I think the real issue was that she was the equivalent of a preteen with her first crush who could do no wrong,” someone else said, suggesting the kids inability to date, combined with their young age during courtships, led them to not know the difference between true love and a crush.

Ultimately, there is no way of knowing whether the Duggars would be happier or unhappier if their relationship dynamics had been different. They all seem to have strong relationships, and nothing beyond fan speculation suggests any of the couples aren’t happy.