Josiah Duggar And Marjorie Jackson Split Announced After News Breaks That Josiah Asked Fans For Money

Josiah Duggar is officially single and ready to mingle — with young ladies that his parents deem appropriate to court, obviously. The former 19 Kids and Counting star’s split from Marjorie Jackson was recently confirmed by Josiah’s courtship-controlling parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.

According to E! News, Jim Bob and Michelle used the Duggar Family Facebook page to break the sad news about the end of Josiah Duggar and Marjorie Jackson’s relationship. The teens called things off a few weeks ago, and there’s no word on whether the Josh Duggar sexual molestation scandal played a part in their courtship’s demise. However, as the Inquisitr previously reported, 17-year-old Marjorie and 18-year-old Josiah were still together a few weeks after the story about Josh’s dark past came to light.

“Both Josiah and Marjorie have enjoyed getting to know each other and to build their friendship over the past months,” Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar wrote on Facebook. “We are so grateful that they each are seeking the Lord’s will for their future.”

The Duggars went on to say that they believe that Josiah and Marjorie’s breakup is God’s will.

“A few weeks ago Marjorie and Josiah agreed to end their courtship, keeping in step with what they believe the Lord’s will is. Both are thankful for the time getting to know each other, and their families continue to enjoy each other’s company and close friendship. As parents we are very pleased to see two young people searching out their futures with God’s will as their first priority!”

The Duggars didn’t share a specific reason for the split, but the Duggar Family News: Life Is Not All Pickles and Hairspray Facebook page points out that the timing of the breakup is suspicious. There’s speculation that Marjorie Jackson was only courting Josiah Duggar because she wanted to be on TV, so she dumped him whenever she found out that 19 Kids and Counting was going to be cancelled.

“I thought all along that Marjorie was looking for the spot light,” Pickles and Hairspray commenter Mary Curran wrote.

Others are convinced that Marjorie wasn’t willing to give up her blue jeans to join the Duggar cult (the Duggars believe women shouldn’t wear pants), and some think that she was simply too smart for Josiah. Commenter Lissa Gibson points out that that Josiah’s ex is very accomplished for a 17-year-old — she’s a talented hand-lettering artist who has already written a book, titled The Greatest Book You’ve Never Read, and she enjoys acting and blogging. Duggar wives usually end up being stay-at-home moms, and maybe Marjorie is simply too ambitious for that lifestyle.

“She found out how limited his education is, and why marry a man who you can’t have a conversation with about current events. Plus with already being a published writer why would she give up her dreams of a future to stay home and do a Repeat of J-chelles life?”

Other commenters pointed out that 18-year-old Josiah Duggar probably doesn’t have the means to support a wife and family now that 19 Kids and Counting has been cancelled. As Pickles and Hairspray recently pointed out, Josiah’s only known source of income was coming in from a donation button on the Duggar Studios YouTube page. Fans of the Duggars were being asked to contribute money so that Josiah and his siblings could create more exciting videos like the one that shows Josiah Duggar getting his wisdom teeth removed.

The donation button was recently removed from the Duggar Studios page, but Radar Online reports that Josiah and his siblings have started selling $20 T-Shirts on the Duggar Studios website. The Duggars claim that the money they make from the T-shirt sales is being used to create videos, but it’s been three months since a new video has been uploaded on the Duggar Studios YouTube page. If selling these T-shirts is Josiah’s main source of income, it’s easy to see why Marjorie and her parents would be concerned about his ability to provide for a family.

Why do you think Marjorie Jackson and Josiah Duggar decided to call off their courtship?

[Image credit: Josiah Duggar / Instagram]