In the wake of Josh Duggar’s arrest, it appears to some fans that Josiah Duggar and Lauren Swanson are hiding.
With Counting On finally canceled by TLC, the entire family’s futures appear to be uncertain.
There has been a lot of speculation about how Jim Bob will maintain financial control over his offspring with TLC money.
One things that fans know for certain is that they want Lauren to stay away from the Duggars at all costs.
Some couples were featured front and center on Counting On during its 11 seasons.
Josiah and Lauren were not one of them.
Jessa and Ben, Jinger and Jeremy — they had the spotlight.
Josiah and Lauren were relatively off-screen … as far as reality stars go, anyway.
Sometimes, public figures are more active on social media, where they can control their image a lot more.
But no, Josiah and Lauren have been a bit shy on Instagram, too.
Lauren runs their shared Instagram account.
(Remember, the Duggars do those creepy couples accounts)
It’s a generic account, posting family photos and pictures of their daughter.
However, that account has been eerily silent since November 2020.
Their very last post was in celebration of their daughter’s birthday.
Fans have been asking where they are … to the point where Lauren has disabled comments.
With comments disabled, fans have gone elsewhere to speculate.
Elsewhere on social media, fans have discussed where Lauren and Josiah will go from here.
And honestly? It seems best if she keeps Josiah’s family at arm’s length — or further.
“People bullied the hell out of her and at the end of the day she’s still a person with feelings,” one redditor observed.
Another added: “She lived her whole life without social media.”
Many cited that Lauren doesn’t seem to particularly like being online.
“I’m glad she’s not on social media,” another observed.
That same redditor expressed: “hopefully they’re finding their own way away from Jim Bob.”
There was even speculation that Lauren’s desire for personal authenticity made her clash with the Duggar brand.
That, of course, could easily result in tension with Jim Bob and Michelle.
To them, reality stardom wasn’t merely a moneymaking scheme, but a sort of propaganda project or “ministry” of sanitizing their lives for the cameras.
Lauren isn’t a “mainstream” person by any means, but she’s just not a very fake person by nature, contrasting with her husband’s parents.
Whether or not the rumors of tension between her and the Duggars are real, some space could do her good.
After all, being dragged into the spotlight to do social media can be hard on your psyche if that’s not your cup of tea.
It may sound counterintuitive, but that could be more important than ever after the end of Counting On.
Many fans suspect that, as others have done in the past, the Duggars will attempt to relaunch their reality careers in a couple of years.
Even if Josh is convicted and imprisoned late this year, that story will eventually die down.
Jim Bob and Michelle may want a television comeback. Josiah and Lauren might be happier if they have no part of it.