Family Followers Want to See the Duggars and the Bates Announce a Courtship, Did It Already Happen?
The Duggar family shocked fans when they subtly announced a courtship between their 17-year-old son, Justin Duggar, and an unknown woman. Family followers have long held out hope that the Duggar family and the Bates family, two ultra-conservative Christian reality TV families, would become in-laws. As the years march on, the likelihood of it happening dwindles. However, there are rumors that a courtship between the two famous families already happened. In fact, there are theories that a few different romances between the two families almost happened.
Joe Duggar and Carlin Bates may have briefly courted
While both Joseph Duggar and Carlin Bates are married to other people, family followers have long theorized that they courted before meeting their respective spouses. Of all the Duggar/Bates courtship rumors, this one appears to have the most supporting evidence.
Joseph spent several months hanging out around the Bates family’s Tennessee home when he was still single. Rather suddenly, he left Tennessee and began dating Kendra Caldwell. Carlin also admitted to getting “dumped” shortly before things got serious with Evan Stewart. Considering the timeline, its entirely possible that Joseph dropped Carlin when his time at Crown College didn’t work out.
Zach Bates is rumored to have shown interest in Jana Duggar
While Joe and Carlin are the only two members of the families to have reportedly dated, rumors have swirled that some of the Bates boys have shown interest in the Duggar girls in the past. For years, family followers have suggested Zach Bates once shown interest in Jana Duggar.
A family insider spoke to Radar back in 2015 and claimed that Jana and Zach went on a few pre-courtship dates. Reportedly, Jana turned down his advances. Jana remains single at 30 years old. Zach, after one failed courtship, went on to marry Whitney Perkins. The couple has three children.
Did Lawson Bates have a crush on Jinger Duggar?
For years, Duggar family followers have held out hope that Lawson Bates and Jana would get together. Lawson has furthered the romance rumors by leaving flirty comments on Jana’s Instagram photos. While fans are convinced he is interested in Jana, There is a theory that Lawson may have had a thing for a different Duggar.
During the lead up to Jinger Duggar’s 2016 wedding to Jeremy Vuolo, fans noticed that Lawson seemed to be a bit out of sorts. On the day of the wedding, he took to Twitter to share his feelings. A few of his tweets seemed to point out that he was bothered by something. Some followers think Lawson was heartbroken that Jinger was officially off the market. Neither Lawson nor Jinger have ever commented on the potential romance.
