“Practicing on My Hand”: Josiah Duggar’s Cringe Clip Resurfacesâand Sparks New Speculation About His Life with Lauren
A long-forgotten clip from Counting On has recently resurfacedâand fans are cringing all over again.In the throwback footage, Josiah Duggar awkwardly confesses that he practiced kissing on his hand before marrying his wife, Lauren Duggar. The now-viral moment has ignited widespread secondhand embarrassmentâand a fresh wave of curiosity about what Josiah and Lauren have been up to lately.
âI wondered what it feels like,â Josiah says in the clip. âSo I practiced on my hand⌠probably just to see what it felt like from her side.â
He goes on to explain that this training method helped him adjust his techniqueâsuggesting that maybe his lips needed to be fuller, and that âyou gotta think about it.âNeedless to say, the internet had thoughts.
âI canât even bring myself to turn the sound on,â one Reddit user said.
âThe secondhand embarrassment is real,â added another.
Cringe or Candid? Fans React
While the hand-kissing explanation left many viewers mortified, others saw it as a strangely honest (if awkward) reflection of the Duggar familyâs famously conservative approach to dating and physical affection.In the Duggar world, courtship is governed by strict rules: no kissing, no touching, and no private time alone before marriage. For Josiah, that meant stepping into marriage with zero physical experienceâand apparently, a bit of DIY research.One Redditor quipped:
âItâs funny and sad at the same time. These kids were never taught how to be emotionally or physically affectionate.â
Where Are Josiah and Lauren Now?
The resurfaced clip also stirred renewed interest in Josiah and Laurenâs current whereabouts. The coupleâwho married in 2018âhas been largely absent from social media since early 2020.Fans last saw them in a family photo from Labor Day 2023, but they havenât been active online, and havenât shared any public updates in over four years.Their daughter, Bella, born in 2020, is now 4 years old. But the couple has kept such a low profile that speculation is swirling about a possible second pregnancy.Lauren was recently spotted in the background of a video at Jed and Katey Duggarâs gender reveal, and eagle-eyed fans thought she looked noticeably pregnant.
âTotally looks like a bump,â one user wrote.
âThe loose sweater isnât hiding much,â said another.
Still, no official confirmation has come, and with Josiah and Lauren choosing a private life, itâs unclear whether theyâll return to the spotlight any time soon.
Affection in a Duggar World
Josiah’s kissing confession might be cringe-worthy, but it reflects the larger dynamic of the Duggar familyâs strict upbringing.Affection is tightly regulatedâhand-holding, side-hugs, and chaperoned dates are the norm until marriage. Even saying âI love youâ can be reserved for the altar.So when Josiah married Lauren, the couple had to navigate an entirely new kind of intimacy, one that many outside the Duggar circle take for granted.
Thereâs no roadmap, no slow build, no learning through dating.
Just a wedding, and thenâsuddenlyâyouâre expected to understand marital intimacy.
That transition can be jarring. Josiahâs attempt to âpracticeâ affectionâhowever awkwardâis, in a way, a sincere effort to prepare for a kind of connection he was never allowed to explore before marriage.
