Jinger Duggar Engaged To Jeremy Vuolo: Preacher Accused Of Using ‘Counting On’ Star For Fame
Jinger Duggar is engaged to soccer pro-turned-preacher Jeremy Vuolo, but some critics and fans of the Duggar family aren’t exactly celebrating the couple’s big news. There’s speculation that Jeremy is using Jinger to attain the fame he dreamed of during his failed soccer career, and there’s talk that Jinger’s parents are rushing the couple to the altar to save the Duggar family’s TLC reality series, Counting On.
Jinger Duggar, 22, and Jeremy Vuolo, 28, used their engagement announcement to promote the upcoming season of Counting On. TLC posted a video of the couple sharing their big news on the Counting On Facebook page, and Jinger can’t stop smiling at her fiancé in the short promo. Jeremy holds her hand up to show off her engagement ring, and Jinger gushes about finding the man of her dreams while almost placing her head against Jeremy’s chest. The former pro soccer player ends the video with a Counting On plug.
“We are excited for you to see all of the details on the new season of Counting On,” Jeremy says in the video below.
According to the Daily Mail, Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo got engaged last month after courting for just six months. Because Jeremy popped the question so quickly, there’s some speculation that Jinger and Jeremy’s engagement is just a “publicity stunt.” A Morning Ledger headline even asks this question about Jinger Duggar’s engagement: “Is Jeremy Vuolo Using Her For Fame?”
There actually is some evidence that Jeremy loves being in the spotlight. While he was playing for the New York Red Bulls in 2012, Jeremy Vuolo had a conversation with the soccer team’s psychologist about his desire for fame. Jeremy argued that he wanted to “glorify God” by being a good goalkeeper, but the psychologist disagreed that this was the only reason he pursued a career as a pro athlete.
“And the sports psychologist would always question me and say, ‘Yeah, OK. I’m buying that a little bit, but I think there’s more to it than that,'” Vuolo told the Daily Orange. “And he’d say, ‘I think you want more money and I think you want more fame and I think you want more attention and approval.'”
Jinger Duggar and soccer player Jeremy Vuolo are officially courting https://t.co/EOqw0wOD1p pic.twitter.com/97TD089SMO
— People Magazine (@people) June 20, 2016
Jeremy’s love of fame and his desire to be a good Christian continued “waging war on each other” until he gave up soccer for good to become an ordained preacher. As The Inquisitr previously reported, he currently ministers to a small congregation at the Grace Community Church in Laredo, Texas.
Jeremy Vuolo isn’t the only one who is being accused of taking advantage of Jinger Duggar’s desire to be loved. Celeb Dirty Laundry speculates that Jinger’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, pressured Jinger and Jeremy to get engaged before the next season of Counting On starts so that their family would get a little positive press after more than a year of negative headlines about Josh Duggar’s sex scandals. The website points out that an engagement and a televised wedding would ensure that Jinger Duggar’s controversial family “doesn’t fade away into reality television oblivion.”
“At this point, Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo’s wedding is the only thing that can save the Duggar family’s public image as they hope to win back the fans they lost during the Josh Duggar scandals.”
As Fox News reports, numerous companies pulled their ads from the previous season of Counting On, which was then titled Jill & Jessa: Counting On. However, TLC may be able to use the promise of a televised Duggar wedding to convince companies not to jump ship this time around. According to Deadline, Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s 2014 wedding special set a ratings record for 19 Kids and Counting and was the No. 1 cable network show of the night. Jinger Duggar is so popular that she has a website named after her, so there’s a chance that her wedding special could attract even more eyeballs.
On the Counting On Facebook page, Duggar fans and critics are sharing their thoughts about the timing of Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo’s engagement and the way it was used to promote the show.
“I have to say, the timing of this is dodgy. It’s pretty obvious they moved so quickly because another Duggar romance means that TLC will be much more willing to give Counting On another season or two despite ratings and ad revenue troubles,” one commenter wrote.
“It seems the Duggars have transitioned from authentically ‘sharing’ their culture (and faith) into a must-have TV vocation; partnering with TLC to market each relationship and wedding and birth etc. does not align with the values I thought they represented,” another fan commented.
Counting On returns to TLC Tuesday, August 23 at 8 p.m. ET. Do you think it’s possible that Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo got engaged for the wrong reasons? Sound off below!
[Image via TLC/YouTube]
