Engagement Photos Push the Boundaries for Joe and Kendra Duggar in ‘Counting On’ Premiere

While Joseph and Kendra Duggar are now expecting a baby together, keeping themselves from crossing any physical boundaries during their engagement turned out to be a full-time job for the couple, and their chaperones.

During the season premiere of Counting On Monday, Joe and Kendra met with a photographer to shoot their engagement photos, but some of the poses she wanted the couple to take turned out to be a bit racier than they expected.

“We really wanted to have Jinger take our photos but it didn’t work out with the schedule,” Joe explained.

The photographer, Elizabeth, tried to keep the incredibly religious couple in some tame poses, but when she suggested that Joe put his hand on Kendra’s hip, everyone tensed up.

“Is that OK?” Joe asked Kendra’s sister Lauren, who was serving as their chaperone.

“I think so?” she said, seeming uncomfortable.

After some hemming and hawing, Elizabeth told the couple to scrap the pose. “Let’s not do it then,” she concluded.

Joe then laid out the new rules the couple had decided upon transitioning from courtship to engagement.

“The things we set up for courtship were we give one hug in the morning, one hug in the evening,” he said. “Now, we give a few more throughout the day, holding hands, saying, ‘I love you,’ so there’s a few things that we added. But also making sure we’re saving things that are gonna be special for marriage and not stepping over anything we set up there.”

Kendra revealed that as she and Joe get closer to their wedding day, staying within those boundaries had become harder, however.

“I would say when you’re engaged, you almost need more chaperones,” she said. “Because you’re getting closer, the desires are getting stronger, and I think it’s definitely wise to have a chaperone with you all the time.”

Sister Jessa (Duggar) Seewald commiserated with her soon-to-be sister-in-law, saying, “I definitely would not want to go back to that stage, because it’s so hard before you’re married not being affectionate, not kissing.”

She continued, “People are like, “You must not wanna kiss. You must not wanna be close,’ and we’re like we’re humans, of course we want to be.”

After tying the knot in September, Kendra and Joe clearly figured out the more physical side of marriage quickly, announcing in December that they were expecting their first child together, a little boy.

Fans of the show weighed in on the restrictions that the couple and their families had put on themselves in engagement.

Counting On airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.

Photo credit: TLC