Reunited? Welcome to Plathville stars Ethan Plath and his wife, Olivia Plath (née Meggs), surprised fans on season 3 when they announced they were separating after only about two years of marriage.
However, the TLC couple’s separation didn’t last long and by the end of the season, they were back together and had moved from Ethan’s hometown of Cairo, Georgia, to Tampa, Florida. Unfortunately, fans suspect that their marriage is still on the rocks despite them seemingly reconciling.
Why Did Ethan and Olivia Plath Separate?
The young couple started out their marriage with drama. Shortly after their wedding in 2018, Olivia began to clash with Ethan’s parents, Kim Plath and Barry Plath. Kim and Barry butted heads with their new daughter-in-law because Olivia did not subscribe to the Plath family’s conservative views and rebelled often against their rules which included no TV, no mobile phones or computers and no sugar or soda.
However, once the family drama subsided, the cracks in Ethan and Olivia’s relationship started to show. One of the main issues between them was the lack of communication and Olivia felt that Ethan would rather avoid their problems than addressing them. Another issue was that Olivia was not happy living in the Plath family’s small town of Cairo and wanted to move to a larger city but Ethan did not want to move away from his home.
“I really want to live in a bigger city, I really want to be more stimulated,” Olivia told her husband. Ethan responded, “As long as I’m with you, I’m probably not ever going to come back to the environment that I like.”
Olivia then made the big decision to move out of the couple’s marital home amid the issues in their marriage. “Until he figures out what he wants, I’m not really able to have a relationship with him,” she said. “So I’m going to move in with a friend for a while.”
She continued at the time in a confessional, “I want to take some space because I think until he figures out what he wants I’m not really able to have a relationship with him. I wanted Ethan to be able to make his own decisions and choices, and sometimes I’m really afraid that Ethan goes along with what I say, just because he doesn’t want to make me upset. But that’s not good for him either.”
What Happened During Season 4 of ‘Welcome to Plathville’?
By the time they came back for season 4 of Welcome to Plathville, Olivia and Ethan were living together again and had moved to Tampa with Ethan’s sister Moriah Plath and Olivia’s brother Nathan.
“It feels great to be back together,” Ethan said on the season 4 premiere of the show in May 2022. “Especially considering we were really really close to getting a divorce and going our separate ways.”
While the couple was focused on repairing their marriage and working on spending more time together, they still struggled with communication issues. They argued because Ethan had kept a secret from Olivia that he bought another new car to fix up a new old car while they were separated. Olivia said she was upset because Ethan uses his hobby of fixing cars to escape from their marital problems.
It seemed that Ethan and Olivia were able to work past that fight, things got even more intense on the July 26 episode. Amid the news of Kim and Barry’s separation, the family decided that they would all come together to visit the grave of brother Joshua Plath, who died in 2008, on what would have been his 15th birthday.
Ethan agreed to go to the grave and be around his mother, Kim, for the first time amid their estrangement and he expected Olivia to put the drama with his mom for the sober occasion. However, Olivia did not choose to join the rest of the family at the grave site and instead, stood in the car while everyone else gathered. Ethan felt Olivia had thrown a “tantrum” and was making the day about herself instead of his deceased sibling — and it led to a big fight between them when Olivia confronted Ethan about being “rude” to her that day.
“I feel like you were rude because you didn’t show up to my dead brother’s grave so that’s on you,” he hit back at his wife before walking away.
Following the family outing, Ethan and his mother, Kim, had a private conversation and agreed that it would be the first step for them to repair their mother-son relationship. Unfortunately, Olivia refused to repair her relationship with Kim and it caused even more tension between her and Ethan.
However, it seemed Olivia and Ethan were able to move past their rough patch due to family drama. In June 2022, Olivia participated in the viral TikTok trend where people show off the funny or mundane text messages that they receive from their partners. She captioned the video of texts from her husband, “Gotta love him.”
Are Olivia and Ethan Plath Getting Divorced?
While no divorce filings have occurred as of publication, whispers about the status of Ethan and Olivia’s marriage escalated in June 2023 when her sister, Sophia Meggs-Roberts, commented on a YouTube video regarding the Plaths and their connection to the controversial Duggar family documentary, Shiny Happy People.
“I’m Olivia’s sister. Olivia and Ethan are in the middle of a divorce. And season 5 should be out very soon,” Sophia wrote in the since-deleted comment. She did not expand on her remark and the estimation of her sister’s marriage has since been taken down.
However, Olivia quickly responded to the rumors and her sister’s comment specifically, writing in an Instagram comment on June 22, “Sophia is my younger sister, but her and I have a very distant/strained relationship due to our worldviews and reactions to the ultra-religious world we were raised in. Subsequently, she actually isn’t a reliable source when it comes to my personal information as she doesn’t know about my personal life. There is a lot of speculation going around, but if Ethan and I had something to share, we would. Thanks!”
Olivia and Ethan did not immediately respond to In Touch‘s request for comment.
Are Ethan and Olivia Still Together?
Ethan and Olivia returned for season 5 of Welcome to Plathville in September 2023. Upon their arrival home, Moriah had left a note saying she had moved out of the home. Apart from Moriah leaving, the couple faced an obstacle when Ethan also planned on spending an extended amount of time in Cairo to work on his cars. While Olivia understood why he needed to leave, the distance made her nervous.
Despite their drama, Olivia and Ethan are seemingly still together. Despite not having posted each other on their respective Instagram feeds since January 2023, the couple still follows each other — which is a positive sign.
Emma Hernandez
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