Jana & Josh Duggar Shown Out With Friends, Questions Raised About Both Being Featured On ‘Counting On’

Jana and Josh Duggar have been photographed out at a local entertainment with their friends, and it’s raising questions. Is Anna Duggar being left at home alone with the kids? Is Jana courting or supervising? Of course, Josh’s return to TLC and Counting On has been a perpetual question — and with Jana being featured in several clips recently, this public appearance could represent a life event that would bring her to the center of the family’s reality show.

Josh Duggar’s occasional appearances in photos (such as last year when he was seen with family friends getting free food at Chick-fil-A) tend to bring controversy back to the surface. Since the public learned Josh had admitted to molesting young girls, there has been a continuous campaign to keep him from returning to a public life, where he was previously paid to preach sexual morality and lobby politically.

Now it appears that while Josh’s wife, Anna, was only days away from delivering their fifth child, Josh was enjoying an outing with Jana, their 16-year-old brother James, Lawson Bates, and other friends. A photo of the group was posted by the Escapeopolis Project on September 9 (Josh and Anna’s fifth child was born on the 12th), but it came to the attention of the Duggar family’s fans and Josh’s anti-fans this weekend when Pickles and Hairspray, a Facebook page devoted to following the Duggars, shared it.

https://www.facebook.com/TheEscapeopolisProject/photos/rpp.317226425278235/507221086278767/?type=3&theater

The Duggar family has featured an escape room game on their show before — when Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo were showcasing their engagement, the family took friends to play this game, which consists of a locked room and clues players follow to find the way out.

Here’s what to notice about the Escapeopolis photo.

• The team is described as “Josh’s team,” suggesting that he was given, at least nominally, a leadership role, which may indicate that he’s being restored to his role in the family’s patriarchal belief system.
• This could also suggest the Duggar group paid the $175 fee Escapeopolis charges to be a private group, instead of a group others can join.
• Jana is participating in an outing where she doesn’t appear to be caring for younger siblings — the siblings present are old enough to care for themselves, for the most part.
• James is known for joining along on such trips as a chaperone for a courting couple, and there are unmarried non-family males present. Of course, Jana’s future and potential suitors are an eternal source of speculation for viewers.

In Touch recently reported that there are plans for Josh to return to the show. There were hints that this first appearance might be on the premiere of Joe Duggar’s wedding to Kendra Caldwell, which debuted on TLC’s mobile app. However, the footage that made it past the cutting room floor did not include Josh, and exactly when his reappearance will occur — if it ever does — is still open to question.

As for Jana, she’s been featured on several TLC web-only clips recently (here and here, for instance), which may mean nothing more than that Jana is a member of the family and sometimes appears on the reality show. However, it has been common to feature a Duggar family member in these clips before announcing their courtships.

(For example: Joy Duggar Forsyth was featured in clips such as this one, in April of 2016, about her personality. A few months later, her courtship was announced.)

It’s certainly possible there were others along on Jana and Josh Duggar’s Escapeopolis outing who aren’t pictured, leaving viewers to guess and speculate about whether there is a courtship announcement coming, or if some family members just slipped away for a fun day out with friends.

[Featured Image by Duggar Family Official/Facebook]