Jim Bob Duggar Gave Josh Duggar an Awkward Sex Talk Before Josh’s Wedding to Anna Duggar

These days, Josh Duggar is never seen on Counting On. But before the oldest child of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar got banned from his family’s TLC reality show, he was often featured on screen. His courtship and marriage to Anna Duggar (née Keller), were the subject of several episodes of 19 Kids and Counting before the show was cancelled in 2015. In one of those episodes, Josh and his dad had an awkward pre-wedding talk. 

Josh Duggar and Anna Duggar didn’t kiss before their wedding

When it comes to relationships, the Duggars take a very conservative approach. Dating is called “courting” and it involves chaperoned activities and little-to-no physical contact. A couple might side-hug or hold hands, but first kisses are saved for the wedding day. 

Josh and Anna abided by his family’s courting rules before they wed in September 2008. “Our goal is to remain pure before marriage,” Josh explained in the 17 Kids and Counting episode “A Very Duggar Wedding.”

“That includes abstinence and saving our first kiss for the marriage day,” he added.

Josh Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar talk about ‘the birds and the bees’ 

Josh and Anna had a hands-off approach to dating, so when the time came to say “I do,” Josh’s dad Jim Bob wanted to make sure his son was prepared. The day before the wedding, father and son had a chat about what to expect from marriage, which was captured for the cameras. 

“So you’re getting ready to get married,” Jim Bob says. “I thought it would be time to have a man-to-man talk with you about the birds and the bees.”

Jim Bob then presented Josh with a book and DVD of sex and relationship advice from a Christian doctor and marriage counselor.

After Josh assured his father that he knew “how it works,” Jim Bob compared sex to Legos and told his son that “women speak a different language from men.” 

Josh and Jim Bob’s conservation was definitely cringeworthy (though some viewers speculate the uncomfortable talk was staged for the cameras). Anna also said she had a similar conversation with her mother a few weeks before the wedding. 

Josh and Anna later had troubles in their marriage 

Josh and Anna welcomed their first child — a girl named Mackynzie — about a year after their wedding. (They’ve since had five more kids.) Josh later took a job with the conservative Family Research Council and the family moved to the Washington, D.C. area. But in 2015, there lives were turned upside down. That’s when the public learned Josh had molested several of his siblings when he was a teen. 

The abuse happened in 2002 and 2003. However, it did not become widely known until more than a decade later, when In Touch Weekly obtained a copy of a police report filed in 2006, the Washington Post reported. Soon after the reports surfaced, Josh resigned from his job. 19 Kids and Counting was also canceled, though some members of the Duggar family quickly returned to TV in the spinoff Counting On. A few months, Josh admitted to being unfaithful to Anna. 

Anna talked about her relationship with her husband in one of the first episodes of Counting On. She said she was aware of the incidents of abuse prior to her marriage. But the news of Josh’s infidelity was a shock. 

“It is such a betrayal,” she said. “It was hard to realize that it was such a public thing. Not only was it a betrayal against me, but it was also a betrayal against those who call themselves Christians.”

How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.