Years ago, when the Duggar family was still on TLC with their ... And Counting show (it ranged between 17 and 19 kids during those years), their family friends the Bates often appeared as well.
In fact, Gil and Kelly Jo Bates even earned their own reality series alongside the Duggars. The families had the same number of children for a time, and had similar religious principles, so it seemed a perfect alignment.
Many fans also hoped that some of the Bates and Duggar kids would wind up married. Yet that hasn't happened, and some suspect the Duggars' public troubles to be the reason.
Though Bringing Up Bates ended after ten seasons (a decision made by the family), the status of their friendship with the Duggars wasn't so clearly ended.
Do the Bates and Duggar families still get along, or have they cut ties since the demise of the Duggars' reality series and bad publicity surrounding Josh Duggar?
The Bates And Duggars Were Childhood Friends
As viewers of 19 Kids and Counting will recall, both the Bates and Duggars had roughly the same number of children when the Duggars road-tripped over to help with some renovation projects.
Like the Duggars, the Bates had to expand their home to accommodate their then-growing family.
But as the years went on, the connection between the Duggars and Bates was less visible. This was, in part, due to the fact that the Duggars' reality series began focusing more on the older Duggars' lives, with many of them getting married and moving out of the family home.
Of course, not all the Duggars are in a rush to court and wed; Jana hasn't married yet, and fans have a few ideas as to why not. But it doesn't seem to be because there isn't a Bates available.
Did Any Of The Duggars Court The Bates?
There were rumors that some of the Bates kids might be courting the Duggars. However, none of those rumors ever turned into reality; no Duggar has married a Bates, to date.
It also doesn't seem they have ever courted, the Duggars' version of "dating." There were rumors that Lawson Bates was once courting Jana, but whatever their relationship history might have been, it ended when Lawson married his now-wife in May 2022.
As it turns out, many of the Duggars actually attended the wedding; one fan claimed they saw Jim Bob "hanging out" with the groom's family.
James, Jason, Jana, John-David and his wife Abbie, and Gracie were all reportedly in attendance as well.
Gil Bates Appeared To Condemn The Duggars (Or At Least Josh)
In 2021, Gil Bates (who is a pastor) gave a Father's Day sermon that some suspect was a dig at Jim Bob Duggar. Of course, this preceded Lawson's nuptials, so perhaps the sermon was misinterpreted?
As Cafe Mom noted, the sermon was about "reprobate fathers," which refers to people/dads who are "unprincipled to the point that God looks on them unfavorably."
A few choice quotes from the sermon had heads turning; Gil said, "If you're dealing around with trash and perversion, you need to get right" with a higher power.
He also noted that anyone who doesn't will end up in prison.
To followers of the Duggars who know that Jim Bob has continued to stand up for Josh and seemingly refuses to admit his son has done any wrong, the message does seem to be directed at Jim Bob.
However, the Bates have not specifically said anything about the Duggars, to date, so it's pure speculation at this point.
For their part, many of the Duggars have also condemned Josh, albeit not as harshly as the public has. But given that some Duggars attended a Bates wedding in 2022, it doesn't seem like there's a significant rift between the families.
Further proof? Carlin and Joy's friendship.
Carlin Bates And Joy-Anna Duggar Are Reportedly Still BFFs
While all the kids played together during Bates-Duggar crossovers, it turns out Carlin Stewart (née Bates) and Joy-Anna Forsyth (née Duggar) forged a strong friendship.
In 2021, TV Shows Acereported that the two were reunited after some time apart; Carlin resides in Tennessee while Joy lives in Arkansas.
At the time, some fans speculated that Joy was pregnant, thinking she wanted to travel to tell her BFF in person. Carlin was expecting at the time; her second child was born in March 2022.
Pregnancy speculation aside, it's clear that Joy and Carlin have maintained a friendship despite a possible divide between their families.
But given that Joy had already seemed to be distancing herself from the family (by leaving the Duggar reboot Counting On before its cancellation), perhaps she's more on the side of the Bates — if there really are sides, to begin with.
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