So much for those Anna Duggar divorce rumors – again.
The Duggar family recently released a rare new photo of troubled, semi-reclusive first-born son Josh Duggar in honor of his birthday.
Josh turned 29 on Friday, and was feeling the love:
The family also shared a message on Facebook.
“Happy birthday, Josh,” the caption to the above photo of Josh reads. “We love you, your amazing wife and sweet children.”
“We pray that you diligently follow and serve the Lord with your whole heart all the days of your life,” the post continues.
The Duggars, on their official Facebook page, expressed hope that “this year is a wonderful year for you and your family.”
Josh and his long-suffering wife, Anna Duggar, are parents to four children, Mackynzie, Marcus, Michael and Meredith.
Despite talk that Josh agreed to divorce Anna at Jinger Duggar’s wedding recently, they appear to be very much together.
It’s the first official photo of Josh and Anna Duggar together we’ve seen since their eighth anniversary photo (above) last year.
Apparently these are their lucky “look at us, we’re still the same family, together and happy as ever” Facebook photo outfits.
The talk of Anna leaving Josh has been a recurring thing for so long that they uncharacteristically denied the rumors recently.
No such PR statement is necessary this week.
Josh may be radioactive to advertisers and even some of his own siblings given his track record, but he and Anna are on solid ground.
Whether that’s because she truly forgives him, or feels like she has no other choice but to stay, is a question fans have long debated.
By now you know the history of his epic fall from grace:
In May 2015, Duggar admitted to molesting five girls, including his sisters Jill and Jessa, after a tabloid revealed this long-buried story.
Josh was a teen at the time, in the early ’00s, but he was very much an adult when he was busted cheating on Anna just a few months later.
This bombshell nearly destroyed his family’s empire.
Duggar was implicated in the infamous Ashley Madison hacking scandal, and later admitted that he was also addicted to online porn.
“I have been the biggest hypocrite ever,” he said.
“While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the Internet.”
This behavior, he said in a statement on the Duggars’ website, “became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.”
Josh was jettisoned to Illinois to spend more than six months in a faith-based rehab center, very much out of sight and out of mind.
He’s lived under the radar ever since his release.
The eldest Duggar child has been back in Arkansas for about a year now, but you can count the public sightings of him on one hand.
That has certainly contributed to ongoing speculation that Anna has had it and is ready to leave Josh, yet she’s remained by his side.
Josh came out of hiding in November for his sister Jinger’s wedding, although he hid behind his own child for the sake of TLC’s cameras:
Sometimes a photo really is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes. That’s Josh Duggar’s life in a nutshell for you these days.
Persona non grata he may be when it comes to those who watch Counting On online (and advertise on it), insiders swear Anna loves him.
“Josh and Anna seemed happy,” a witness said at the wedding.
“He had his arm around her. They were talking and smiling.”
With Joy-Anna Duggar engaged to Austin Forsyth, it seems likely that we’ll see Josh holding a baby in front of his face at her nuptials, too.
