JOSH DUGGAR’S SHOCKING RETURN TO TV
After a twoyear absence, disgraced eldest sibling Josh Duggar returns to Counting On
Sporting a beard and some extra weight, his face shaded by a baseball cap, Josh Duggar posed alongside his wife, Anna, for a rare Instagram photo, taken after church. “It’s been so much fun to be # together,” read the caption on the recent pic, which was posted by a family friend. No mention was made of Josh, who almost looked as though he were in disguise.
Josh won’t be incognito for long. After a twoyear absence, the disgraced reality star, 29, is returning to television. But this time he’ll appear on the Duggars’ show, Counting On, thanks to a plan concocted by his father, Jim Bob. “Nobody thought TLC would ever allow him on again,” an insider says of Josh, who was banished from the airwaves following a series of scandals (see sidebar). “But it looks like Jim Bob’s plan worked.”
STARTING WITH CAUTION
The first step for Josh is to appear on an upcoming Counting On “webisode.” He’ll share his feelings about wife Anna’s pregnancy with baby No. 5, but won’t mention the molestation revelations ( broken by In Touch magazine), porn addiction or affair that led to his downfall. “He says no more than a dozen words in the webisode,” says the insider. “He just talks about his joy at learning he’s going to be a dad again.”
If the webisode receives a positive response, Josh will return to the TV show in the next season. But the Duggar family and TLC execs are being cautious. “TLC doesn’t want to see advertisers leave,” the insider notes, “so their plan is to save Josh’s first appearance for the season finale.” That way, if there’s a huge backlash from viewers or advertisers, they can say it was a one-time thing. ( Advertisers left Counting On in droves because Josh’s molestation scandal was revealed.) But if there aren’t many objections, Josh can return the following season.
JIM BOB’S PLAN
The idea was cooked up by Duggar patriarch Jim Bob,
who has long been trying to come up with a way to rehabilitate Josh in the eyes of the public. He’s also desperate to boost ratings for Counting On. ( It pulls in just 1 million viewers per episode, a third of what 19 Kids and Counting brought in before it was canceled in 2015.) So after Anna, 28, learned she was pregnant with a son in March, Jim Bob ran with the news. “He organized the pregnancy announcement,” the insider says. “He told friends God had forgiven Josh.”
Urging Josh and Anna to post wholesome family pictures to social media, Jim Bob pitched a Josh comeback to TLC. It wasn’t an easy sell, but Jim Bob was persistent. “He spent about a month going back and forth with the network,” says the insider. Nobody involved wants any mention of Josh’s scandalous past. But, adds a source, not talking about it isn’t going to make it go away. “Josh’s appearance will bring up a lot of bad memories, no matter what.”