When the Duggars were still sharing their lives on reality TV, it was easy to see that they didn’t spend much time with friends outside of their inner circle. But now, as the older siblings have been branching out and even leaving the family’s cult-like religion, the Institute in Basic Life Principles, more and more, they’re making new friends. But one couple who keeps showing up around members of the family is making fans more than a little suspicious.
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It all started after Joy-Anna's recent Instagram Stories post.
One fan on a popular Duggar subreddit forum shared Joy’s post, wondering why the couple who Joy and Austin were hanging out with keeps popping up in photos and social media posts with various members of the Duggar family.
“Anyone else think it’s weird how many of the Duggars Matt and Abby seem to be befriending and hanging around?” the person wrote.
The couple in the photo are Matt and Abby Howard.
Between their social media presence and their podcast, Unplanned, Matt and Abby have gained millions of followers online. The couple also found themselves in the middle of a massive controversy last month after they claimed in a TikTok video that they left their 1- and 2-year-old children alone in their cruise cabin while they went to dinner each night, watching them on a baby monitor via FaceTime.
Later, they deleted that video and shared another video explaining themselves. “We had someone with our children at all times on this boat,” Matt said, sharing that they were also traveling with extended family members.
Joy and Austin are just the latest members of the family Matt and Abby have befriended.
In the past year, Jinger and Jill have both appeared on Matt and Abby’s podcast, so it seems as if Joy and Austin may be the next couple who sits down with them — especially because they seem to have traveled from Arkansas to Phoenix to spend time with them.
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Fans have serious questions about these new friendships.
One commenter asked, “This doesn’t mean they might be moving to AZ? Not sure if I could handle yet another religious reality TV has been after the Brown family moved to Flagstaff.”
“Oh yay they can give each other tips on how to further endanger their children on a daily basis,” another person wrote.
Joy and Austin haven't explained why they were in Phoenix just yet.
We do know that they recently sold their home and moved into a rental as part of their journey to build a house on a big area of land and make their farming dreams come true.
The most likely explanation seems to be that they’re going to appear on the Unplanned podcast and were in Phoenix to record the episode. If that’s the case, we should find out soon.
