Jana Duggar And Lawson Bates Courtship Rumor Denied, Instagram Role Player Possibly Started Romance Buzz
Jana Duggar’s relationship status is a popular topic of discussion among Duggar fans, but are some of the Counting On star’s admirers taking their obsession with Jana’s love life too far?
At age 27, Jana Duggar is the oldest unwed Duggar daughter, and fans of the famous family are desperate for Jana to settle down. As the Inquisitr previously reported, many fans are worried that Jana will end up living at home with her parents forever if she doesn’t find love soon. Jana has maintained that she does want to get married someday, but all she can do is patiently wait for the right man to ask her father for permission to court her. While waiting for her Prince Charming, Jana has watched three of her younger sisters get married. Joy-Anna Duggar, 19, is currently engaged, so she will also beat her older sister to becoming a bride.
https://www.facebook.com/duggarfamilyofficial/photos/a.518180528315601.1073741828.510067475793573/906176359516014/?type=3&theater
However, there’s been some buzz about the possibility of Jana Duggar soon following her teen sister to the altar. As In Touch Weekly reported, rumors recently swirled that Jana is courting 24-year-old Bringing Up Bates star Lawson Bates. The romance rumors were getting so much attention that Lawson’s mother, Kelly Jo, caught wind of them. The Duggar Family Blog asked Kelly Jo about the possibility of the Duggars and Bateses becoming in-laws in the near future, but she denied that Jana and Lawson are a couple.
“I think that probably Lawson and Jana would both be shocked by that news, although we have heard that rumor,” the Bates family matriarch revealed.
“They are very good friends, [but] no courtships that either of our families are aware of.”
If guys acted like girls ? pic.twitter.com/DwlbMYzZ5g
— Lawson Bates ? ? (@lawbates) April 1, 2017
Some Duggar fans thought it was odd that Kelly Jo addressed the latest courtship rumor concerning her son and a Duggar girl because they hadn’t heard anything about it before she denied it. However, members of the Free Jinger web community believe they’ve discovered the rumor’s origin: A Jana Duggar role-play account on Instagram with over 7,000 followers.
The fake bio on the account, which has since been deleted, claimed that Jana was “engaged to Lawson” and described her as a “Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Friend, Fiancée Mid-Wife Graduate.” Surprisingly, there are multiple other Jana Duggar Instagram role-play accounts out there. One of these fake Janas is married to man named Joseph and has six kids, including 15-year-old triplet girls. In the bio of a third role-play account, former NFL star Tim Tebow is listed as Jana Duggar’s boyfriend. Jana doesn’t have her own Instagram account, so some fans may mistake the role-play accounts for the real deal when they look the Counting On star up on the social media site.
There are role-play accounts for other Duggars, including one that bears the name of Jubilee Duggar, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s stillborn daughter. The creator of that account faked a failed suicide attempt, married Jubilee to a man named Jackson, and gave her six sons and six daughters. As TODAY reported, Michelle Duggar miscarried in 2011 when she was 19 weeks pregnant, so Jubilee would currently be just six years old if she had survived.
Many of the Duggar role-play accounts feature photos of children, houses, and kissing couples that were likely stolen from social media accounts belonging to other people. The role players use these images to create fake families and love interests for the Duggars they are pretending to be.
Instagram role-playing like this has become increasingly popular in recent years, according to Fast Company. Psychiatrist Gail Salz believes that a large number of Instagram role-play accounts are the creations of young people who come from broken homes.
“The idea that an adolescent can create an identity online and take advantage of that anonymity does not surprise me,” says Saltz. “These role players have a desire to try on the fantasy of being a family person, a mother, whatever it might be that they’re searching for or void they’re trying to fill.”
How do you think Jana Duggar would feel if she knew that multiple people were pretending to be her and creating fictional families for her online? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Featured Images by Lawson Bates/Instagram, Duggar Family/Facebook]
