Another Duggar is headed for the altar!
Sources close to the family have confirmed that Josiah Duggar is courting Lauren Swanson, a longtime family friend.
The Duggars have yet to officially announce the courtship, but insiders say there’s no mistaking the fact that Josiah and Lauren are an item.
Swanson joined the Duggars on their current trip to Australia, which is already an indication that she’s more than just a family friend.
Further driving the point home is the fact that Lauren is being treated like a guest of honor, joining the Duggars on stage for their public appearances, and conspicuously being seated next to Josiah.
Witnesses say Lauren is already greeting fans and signing autographs as though she’s one of the family.
While Duggar courtship rumors are certainly nothing new, Josiah’s situation is unique from those of his siblings.
Josiah courted Marjorie Jackson in 2015, and the two of them called it quits not long after announcing their relationship.
That makes him the only member of his immediate family to be involved in an unsuccessful courtship.
The cause of Josiah and Marjorie’s split remains a mystery, and some Duggar fans continue to obsess over what exactly went wrong.
“Marjorie and I had a good time together,” Josiah revealed to People magazine in 2016.
“We were just trying to follow God’s lead on everything. She didn’t feel that it was the right timing then, so we called it quits for a bit.”
The relationship ended abruptly, and seemingly not on good terms.
The family never announced the breakup, and Duggar fans simply pieced it together when Josiah deleted all photos of Marjorie from his Instagram page.
At one point, it was rumored that Marjorie was planning to write a tell-all exposing some of the Duggars’ darkest secrets, but the book never materialized.
Little is known about Lauren, but it’s assumed that, like Marjorie, she’s a particularly pious member of the Duggars’ congregation.
Those who know the Duggars best say they expect a formal courtship announcement will be made upon the family’s return to the States.
In the meantime, watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most famous family.
