Did ’19 Kids And Counting’ Cancellation Destroy Josiah Duggar’s Courtship?

In preparation for the next season of 19 Kids and Counting on TLC, Josiah Duggar joined social media. He began to share a few photos, dropping hints about the show following his courtship. Then the revelations about Josh Duggar’s crimes, committed against several underage girls a short time before the family’s first TV special aired, caused the show to be put on hold. The family’s social media accounts were put on hold, too. Most have since returned — so why is Josiah still silent?

Josiah’s Instagram account was, from moment one, a perfectly transparent ad for future 19 Kids and Counting episodes. The viewers had been told they’d get to see Josiah’s courtship in the next season, and he offered peeks at what was to come: a Duggar male courting a girl who wears jeans and graphic tee-shirts.

https://instagram.com/p/2rZkK3tKUw

Anyone familiar with the Duggar family, fan or not, must have found themselves wondering, upon seeing those photos, how Marjorie’s wardrobe would go over with Jim Bob, who, with wife Michelle, has raised his daughters to believe in long skirts and blouses that don’t draw attention to the body.

When Josh’s crimes, which the family must have believed long-buried, were revealed, Josiah, like the rest of the 19 Kids and Counting cast, went silent online. However, the rest of the family members who have social media accounts (which is to say, those who are married — the Duggar family is rather strict with internet access) have all returned.

Jessa and Jill have shared pregnancy and parenting updates, recipes, and other family moments. Josh Duggar’s wife, Anna, has posted fewer and farther between, but is still back online with new photos. Even Josh has poked his head out a few times — though the fans have been pretty clear in telling him to duck back into hiding.

Then what, exactly, is keeping Josiah Duggar from returning to his Instagram account? There are any number of possibilities. It could be that he was rushed into courtship with Marjorie Jackson for the sake of the show, or that, like many relationships between teens of only 17- and 18-years-old, it simply fizzled out. Perhaps the relationship is still on, but Josiah (or Jim Bob) sees less reason to publicize it, with 19 Kids and Counting officially cancelled. Perhaps Josiah never wanted his relationship online and there’s no longer pressure to do so, with 19 Kids off the air.

However, after Josiah seemingly abandoned his Instagram in May, Marjorie continued showing up in Duggar family photos on the family’s main official account — for a while. The last sighting of Marjorie in an official Duggar account is June 27.

The Duggar family continues to post updates and photos, even since the official cancellation on July 16, but Marjorie Jackson has disappeared from the photos. Has the cancellation of 19 Kids and Counting brought Josiah Duggar’s courtship to an abrupt end?

[Photo Credit: Duggar Family Official, Josiah Duggar / Instagram]