Jeremy Vuolo Reveals How He Circumvented Jim Bob Duggar’s Courtship Rules
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are famous for having 19 kids and imposing strict rules on those kids, all in the name of religion. Now that they have just a handful of kids left at home and no reality TV show to attend, they’ve seemingly loosened up. However, the first few kids to enter courtships had to follow some pretty strict rules. During the run of 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, family followers learned all about the family’s courtship rules, including the need for a chaperone when on a date. Jeremy Vuolo, who married Jinger Vuolo in 2016, recently revealed how he worked around the chaperone rule.
What were the Duggar family’s courtship rules?
The Duggar family believed in courtships instead of dating to ensure they remained “pure” for their future spouse. With those courtships came a variety of different rules. The couple in question was not allowed to touch intimately during the early stages of dating. They weren’t even allowed to hold hands until they were engaged and were limited to “side hugs” to show affection until they said “I do.”
The courting couple were not allowed to spend time alone and needed at least one chaperone during their planned dates. The Duggars also revealed that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were to be included on any text chains. All phone calls had to take place within earshot of a chaperone to ensure the conversation did not get racy.
Jeremy Vuolo explains how he got around Jim Bob Duggar’s chaperoned date rule
During his appearance on the Unplanned Podcast, Jeremy Vuolo revealed that he did not believe in the courtship rules he had to follow to date his now-wife. He even devised a simple way to circumvent one of Jim Bob and Michelle’s biggest rules. Jeremy disclosed that he agreed to have a chaperone on dates with Jinger. Still, he refused to bring one of the unmarried children along as a third wheel. Instead, Vuolo welcomed double dates as a simple way to have a chaperone without towing around a third person who surely did not want to hang out with a couple.
Finding a couple to double-date with was simple enough. Jinger had two sisters who were both married at that point. Jeremy was introduced to his wife by one of her married siblings. Before meeting Jinger, he was friendly with Ben Seewald, Jessa Seewald’s husband. Jeremy admitted that he and Jinger had many double dates with Ben and Jessa as a way of having a chaperone without having a chaperone.
Jinger and Jeremy weren’t the only couple who broke the Duggar family courtship rules
In the grand scheme of things, Jeremy’s admission isn’t all that scandalous. In fact, the former professional soccer player was probably one of the more conservative suitors when it came to “breaking” the rules. Several other couples have admitted to completely breaking their parents’ courtship rules.
Jill and Derick Dillard previously admitted to having unmonitored conversations while dating, including hours-long video calls. Jessa and Ben Seewald also snuck off for private phone calls before they were husband and wife.
John David and Abbie Duggar are rumored to have had unchaperoned dates before they officially wed. Neither has admitted to spending time alone together ahead of their big day. More recently, Jason Duggar brazenly broke the rules by posting photos of himself getting very close to a woman he’s dating. The images show the couple ‘front hugging,” which is totally against the rules.
