Josiah Duggar Is Courting Lauren Swanson

Josiah Duggar is courting Lauren Swanson! The couple announced the news in a video posted on the Duggar family’s website on Tuesday, January 23.

“We are officially courting now!” Swanson, 18, gushed while standing next to Duggar, 21.

The Counting On star then explained how he asked his new love if she wanted to begin a courtship. “I came up behind her at a meal while she was hanging out with some of my siblings and surprised her,” he recalled. “[I] sat down and asked her, ‘You wanna move to the next level, from friendship to courtship?’”

He continued, “It was really exciting to hear Lauren say, ‘Yes, I will start a courtship with you.’ Just really good to hear that. And she was genuinely surprised.” Swanson chimed in, “I was totally shocked. No clue!”

Duggar and Swanson have been friends for years, but he just recently began spending time with her family. “They really are very similar to [my] family and have all the same goals,” he said. “That’s really when I knew I would like to move this further from just a friendship and actually start a courtship.”

The TLC personality said he and Swanson are currently spending time “learning about each other,” but she noted that they’re still “putting God first and ourselves second.”

Duggar was previously in a four-month courtship with Marjorie Jackson in the summer of 2015.

Counting On returns on TLC on Monday, February 26, at 9 p.m. ET.

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