Ben Seewald is a rebel when it comes to the strict Duggar dating rules.
The new husband of Jessa Duggar chose to abide by the strict rules set out by her parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. But on a recent episode of 19 Kids and Counting, the 19-year-old Seewald was caught breaking one of their dating edicts — no holding hands before marriage.
In the episode, Ben Seewald was seen clutching Jessa Duggar’s hand, though there’s a bit of a catch. Ben was doing it while he and Jessa were praying, and it was in the presence of a chaperone.
In the end, Jim Bob Duggar excused the hand-holding, and the next morning Ben led Jessa on a scavenger hunt that ended with him proposing in a glass chapel in the woods. When Jessa accepted, she broke another one of the dating rules by giving Ben a full-frontal hug.
Despite flaunting the Duggar rules, Jessa and Ben Seewald decided to keep most of their affection private, and even saved their first kiss until after the ceremony.
“They wanted their very first kiss ever to be in private,” Pastor Schadt told People magazine . “It was important to the both of them.”
But there are rumors the couple did much more in private after the ceremony. A woman who said she was at the reception claims that Ben Seewald and Jessa Duggar consummated their marriage immediately afterward, while they were still in the church.
This week Jessa Duggar supposedly responded, posting a passage from scripture, specifically Romans, 12:17-21.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,” she wrote.
Though many have cited this as a response to the rumor, Jessa Duggar never said anything specific. She and Ben Seewald seem to have little time for the controversy, as they headed off to their honeymoon and shared, on Instagram, a picture of a passionate kiss.
[Image courtesy of TLC]
