Joy-Anna Duggar Shocks Fans, Gets Touchy-Feely With Her Father-In-Law
Joy-Anna Duggar did something on Counting On that made jaws drop. The teen wasn’t allowed to hold hands with a man until she got engaged, but she didn’t let her family’s strict rules about PDA stop her from putting her hands on her father-in-law in an affectionate way.
Duggar watchers on the Free Jinger web forum have been buzzing about a moment on Counting On that many viewers might have missed.
“Did Joy playfully poke Austin’s dad in the belly? That’s got to be against the rules?!” wrote one commenter.
On the most recent episode of the Duggar family’s TLC reality series, 19-year-old Joy-Anna Duggar helped 23-year-old Austin Forsyth lay tile on the floor of a house he was flipping. She and Austin were still courting when the episode was filmed, and they were eager to finish renovating the property and put it on the market because Austin’s father told him that he would have his blessing to get married after he flipped five houses. The home Austin and Joy-Anna were working on was the fifth and final house.
The lovebirds kept getting distracted, but Austin’s dad was chaperoning their working date to make sure that they didn’t engage in any hanky-panky. The flirty couple didn’t break any courtship rules by getting touchy-feely with each other, but Joy-Anna did touch her future father-in-law’s tummy. She playfully poked Mr. Forsyth’s belly multiple times while complaining about the spacers between tiles being uneven.
Joy-Anna Duggar jplayed with her father-in-law's belly on #CountingOn. WTF? pic.twitter.com/jzr89OtDRU
— DuggarFamNews (@DuggarFamNews) June 30, 2017
After witnessing the silly moment shared between Joy-Anna Duggar and her chaperone, some Counting On viewers were left wondering how her parents would feel about the way she touched Mr. Forsyth. A few Free Jinger forum users pointed out that the Duggar girls aren’t even allowed to give their own father a normal hug, which is why it was so shocking to see Joy-Anna getting physically affectionate with her father-in-law.
“You probably should not be touching an adult non relative in a joking way like that,” read one comment. “Even an adult relative, that was kind of weird. I don’t know what their relationship is like but the idea that Austin isn’t allowed to hold her hand or front hug her but she touched his dad this way? It’s all kinds of messed up.”
According to the Duggar Family Blog, all members of the Duggar family greet each other with side-hugs, and courting couples like Joy-Anna and Austin are only allowed to side-hug until they get married. As the International Business Times reported, the house flippers also decided to avoid holding hands until they got engaged. Joy-Anna explained that she thinks limiting physical contact is “a good protection” because engaging in PDA can make it “harder to hold yourself and your purity.” Chaperones like Austin’s dad are meant to serve as another protection; they make sure that courting couples follow the relationship rules that they and their parents have agreed upon.
According to TV Guide, Joy-Anna Duggar will spend more time with her father-in-law on the July 3 episode of Counting On. She and Austin will have dinner with the Forsyths, but the family get-together won’t be an engagement party; viewers will have to wait until the July 10 episode of Counting On to see Austin get down on one knee and propose to Joy-Anna.
[Featured Image by Duggar Family/Facebook]
