Since Welcome to Plathville first premiered, the Plath family have dealt with their fair share of ups and downs.
Kim Plath and estranged husband Barry Plath — who announced their separation in June 2022 — rose to fame in November 2019 when Welcome to Plathville debuted on TLC. The docuseries chronicles Kim and Barry’s life in rural Georgia with their large brood of children Ethan, Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia and Mercy. (Hosanna and her husband, Timothy Noble, have not appeared on the reality TV show.) The Plaths — who used to have their own family band — live remotely with strict rules, which include no TV viewing or drinking soda.
While the family had a tight bond for years, things hit a snag leading up to Ethan’s 2018 nuptials to Olivia Plath (née Meggs) when the bride-to-be notably clashed with Kim.
“When we were dating, I knew that I was being controlled in what we were allowed to do, what we’re allowed to say,” the photographer recalled to Us Weekly in August 2021. “I remember the night that it clicked for me was the night we got engaged. We come in the door, [Kim] waited up for us and she, like, grabbed my hand and looked at the ring. And the first thing she said was, ‘Oh, I want to trade rings with you.’ And I was like, ‘OK, that’s really weird.’”
Ethan, for his part, sided with Olivia, telling Us in 2021 that his mom seemed to think their wedding was all about her. “It just wasn’t quite right,” he admitted. “Then coming back from that, after our honeymoon and all that stuff, it’s kind of, like, trying to discuss it and sort it out and then it didn’t go well.”
Ethan and Olivia, who have also navigated ups and downs in their marriage, have continued to remain at odds with his famous family.
“Three years later [I have] better boundaries and more growth,” Olivia told Us in September 2021 of looking back on her feud with her mother-in-law. “I have to give myself grace for [realizing] that. But there [were] definitely some of those [moments that] were just really awkward.”
She added: “We were still floundering trying to figure out how to set boundaries and finding that line between ‘always respect your parents’ and ‘we’re not being respected, we’re being walked on.’ So, I think, like, us looking back and changing is just coming from a place of growth.”
The married couple have since made amends with Ethan’s siblings, promising not to be torn apart by any lingering drama.
“We as a family have decided to not be divided anymore,” an August 2022 statement shared via Moriah’s Instagram account read. “There is a lot more to the story than what you all have seen on the show. While we understand that this is a TV show and we are not in control how the show is edited, we are actually a family that is full of love and respect for each other. … That being said, we as a family are not going to sit back and watch as our family is driven apart.”
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Scroll below to revisit the Plaths’ ups and downs through the years: