Courtesy of Katey and Jed Duggar/Instagram
Meant to Be! ‘Counting On’ Alum Jed Duggar and Wife Katey Share Their ‘Love Story’
Once upon a time. Jed Duggar and wife Katey Duggar (née Nakatsu) have been married for more than a year now and have finally shared their full love story with fans for the first time.
The Counting On alums took their online followers all the way back to the first time they met to their 2021 wedding in a Monday, August 22, 2022, YouTube video. Katey explained that they first met in April 2019 when Jed was handing out flyers for an event, however, she couldn’t attend because she was working full-time at a prison ministry in Florida.
“So, fast forward to February of 2020, literally weeks before COVID affected the world,” she said in the video before revealing she had moved back to Arizona but worked a prison ministry in Florida with Jed. “I had no clue Jed was going to be there. I knew a lot of the people that did the prison trips, but we had never been there at the same time before,” she continued.
After being pleasantly surprised that Jed was going to be on the trip, the two hit it off almost immediately, even if some spunky attitude was added to their initial conversation. “I was like, ‘Oh, hey Katey, you’re the one that stole all of the coffee out of the coffee shop,’” Jed said. “I wanted to be funny and say something so that she’d realize me.”
Katey swiftly responded by saying that she didn’t even drink coffee, which hooked Jed in at that very moment. “She was sassy, and I loved that. So, from there I was like, ‘Whoa. This girl’s great, I gotta get to know her,’” he added.
The two talked every morning during breakfast in an attempt to learn more about one another but kept it strictly friendly because both knew that they lived in two different states as Katey lived in Arizona and Jed in Arkansas. After the trip came to an end and they said goodbye, the reality personality couldn’t get her off his mind.
“I said, “Lord, if this is of you, I pray that you do a miracle. Like, allow us to meet again and see each other.’ And that’s where an opportunity had come open,” Jed explained.
In May 2020, Jed and his dad Jim Bob Duggar and brother Jeremiah Duggar headed to Phoenix, Arizona to pick up a bus they purchased, and stayed at Katey’s house during their trip. After the Duggar men went back home to Arkansas, Jed stayed in contact with his lover’s dad, who ultimately played cupid.
The pair finally started dating in August 2020 and kept their relationship alive by always FaceTiming and visiting each other once a month. Six months into their romance, Jed knew she was “The One” and popped the big question in Valentine’s Day in 2021. They wed on April 3, 2021, when they kissed for the first time at the altar.
“For us, it was the most special thing saving our first kiss and I still remember that first kiss, and I’ll remember it for the rest of our lives,” Jed said.
