Josh Duggar Still Living In Exhile As Anna Duggar Returns To Social Media Before ‘Counting On’ Premiere

It has been nearly three years since the Josh Duggar scandal broke and fans learned that he had molested five girls when he was a teenager – four of whom were his sisters – and that he had cheated on his wife.

For a family who is famous for their conservative values and extremely strict moral code, it was quite the blow, and it resulted in TLC canceling 19 Kids & Counting. The oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar also lost his job as a lobbyist with the Family Research Council and did a stint in rehab. He now lives in virtual exile, while working at a used car lot in Arkansas, and not seeing his parents and siblings as much as he used to.

Is Josh such a painful part of the family’s past that they pretend he doesn’t exist?

According to The Hollywood Gossip, fans have developed amnesia when it comes to Josh and his family, and it is evident in online discussions about the current Duggar pregnancies. Right now, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Joy-Anna Duggar Forsyth, and Kendra Duggar are all expecting, and fans recently commented on Facebook that they are ready for the first Duggar granddaughter after a long string of boys.

They were referring to the fact that both Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald have each had two boys over the past couple of years. But, they seemed to forget the fact that Josh and his wife Anna have two daughters, Mackynzie and Meredith (they also have three sons, Marcus, Michael, and Mason).

Selective memory may be the reason that fans have put Josh and his family out of their minds, but what about the Duggars themselves?

The 29-year-old lives outside of town, rarely makes appearances on the family social media pages, and he is not a part of the family’s spin-off show, Counting On.

The Duggars have moved Josh into the background, but does that mean they have done the same to his family? They aren’t a part of Counting On, either, and they make just as few appearances in Duggar family posts as Josh does. For instance, they do not seem to be in the family’s day-to-day social media posts but do pop up in photos from major holidays.

However, Jim Bob essentially defended Josh’s actions during a Fox News interview with Megyn Kelly a couple of years ago, and in this family, what he says is basically the law. So, it’s safe to assume that the entire Duggar clan still includes Josh and his family in their lives, but they have realized it is best for the brand to keep him out of the public eye.

But now Anna has returned to Instagram after a two-year break, and some fans believe she is rebuilding her social profile because she will be on Counting On this upcoming season.

TLC has released promo photos for Season 7, but Anna does not appear in the pics that feature Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo, Jessa and Ben Seewald, and Joy-Anna and Austin Forsyth.

There isn’t any indication that Anna and her kids will be a part of the show, but fans are apparently ready to find out what has been going on with her in the past three years – especially since she decided to stay married to Josh.

The seventh season premiere – without Josh Duggar – of Counting On airs on Monday, February 26th on TLC.