Welcome to Plathville’s season 6 premiere proved that a lot has changed for the Plath family, especially Ethan Plath and his estranged wife, Olivia Plath.
“We haven’t officially gotten a divorce yet, but I guess that’s right around the corner,” Ethan, 26, told the cameras during the Tuesday, July 16, episode, revealing that after he and Olivia, also 26, split in early 2023, she moved to California.
He confessed: “I don’t want it to happen, but I don’t see how we can make it work either.”
During the episode, Olivia came back to Minnesota to get the last of her things before Ethan moved out of their shared apartment. Their initial reunion, however, didn’t go smoothly as Ethan was still struggling with his anger toward Olivia.
Welcome to Plathville’s Plath Family’s Ups and Downs Through the Years
Ethan, however, wasn’t the only one in his family going through a massive change during the premiere. “Our family is still strong, but the future is as uncertain as it’s ever been,” Moriah Plath teased in the intro.
Scroll down to see where everyone stood during the season 6 episode:
Micah Is in Love
Micah Plath revealed during Tuesday’s episode that he left California, where he was modeling, to move into his girlfriend’s house in Florida. While he didn’t reveal her identity, viewers got a glimpse at her blonde hair and their shared dogs.
“There’s just something special about this girl,” Micah, 23, told the cameras.
Elsewhere in the episode, Micah confessed that his lifestyle in Florida is “very different” than it was in California. “I’m not single anymore, you know, everything I do is centered around my girlfriend, which is honestly great,” he shared. “It’s nice feeling cared for and thought about all the time.”
Micah’s pal Will, however, voiced concern over the sudden change in him when he came for a visit.
“I’ve spoken to Micah’s girlfriend on the phone four or five times, maybe over the course of the last year [or] year and a half. She seems really nice, really pretty,” Will told the cameras. “But the first time I saw her was maybe not one of their best moments. They were having a little bit of a tiff where, you know, they were going at it a little bit.”
Micah, for his part, confided in Will, saying that he does “love” his girlfriend, he is “definitely learning a lot” about her and what she doesn’t like about him — like his grooming habits.
Ethan Is Not Over Olivia
After checking in with Micah, the cameras traveled to Victoria, Minnesota, where Ethan is getting ready to move out of his and Olivia’s place. (The pair were married five years before calling it quits and butted heads throughout their relationship over Olivia’s tension with Ethan’s family.)
When Olivia showed up to talk about their divorce, it became clear that Ethan wasn’t ready. “Are you still angry at me?” Olivia asked, to which Ethan replied, “Very much so.”
He eventually pointed to Olivia’s issues with his family as a source of his frustration. “Why did you tell me that me not having a relationship with my siblings for a year and a half was not a sacrifice or compromise?” Ethan said.
Olivia responded, “It’s not like I was unable to see that that was a sacrifice on your part, but I felt like that was held over my head when that to me was like the bare minimum for protecting your partner.”
Welcome to Plathville’s Ethan and Olivia Plath’s Relationship Ups and Downs
She confessed, “It took me far too long to realize that between me or your family. Like, you were going to pick your family.” Ethan grew frustrated, adding, “That’s because you made me choose.” Olivia acknowledged that maybe she “should have walked away sooner,” but Ethan revealed that “wouldn’t have saved me any heartache.”
During the estranged couple’s second meeting, Ethan explained that he was holding out for a possible reconciliation that was not going to come. “I’m sorry for being angry at you yesterday,” he told Olivia. “Well, I still love you very, very much. I don’t know what to do with all my emotions.”
Olivia tried to pivot the conversation to the legal logistics of their divorce, but Ethan stated, “I can’t accept this.” He asked, “Can’t we just make it work?” before the episode came to a close.
Kim’s on a Boat!
Us Weekly confirmed in June that Kim Plath filed for divorce from husband Barry Plath following their December 2021 separation. When the TLC series resumed, the pair were not officially divorced, but they were coparenting from different states.
Kim, 51, revealed in the premiere that she bought a houseboat in Florida and was living on it with her and Barry’s three youngest daughters, Amber, 15, Cassia, 13, and Mercy, 11. The pair share nine children, including Hosanna, 24, Lydia, 20, and Isaac, 18, who were not on the season 6 premiere.
“Ever since Barry and I separated, I’ve been trying to figure out where I’m going to go and what I’m going to do, and it’s hard not knowing a lot of things,” she said. “But I do know I don’t miss that big house. I would rather be on a small boat with my girls than a big house with … fill in the blank.”
Barry’s New Running Partner
Barry, 56, told the cameras that he took up running amid his split from Kim to “clear my mind.” He teased that he has a female “running partner,” who turned out to be his daughter Moriah, 21. Barry is still living in Georgia but doesn’t sleep in his and Kim’s bedroom.
Moriah Moved Home
After moving out of her parents’ house in Cairo, Georgia, when she was 17, Moriah has returned. She recently relocated from Tampa, Florida, after a breakup.
“I went through hell recently, and I have a lot of things that I’m trying to sort through my head,” she shared. “Last year, there was one particular part of my life that I definitely kept private, and that was just a relationship. [Then] one day, I just found out some things that he had kept from me. That’s when everything started unraveling and I made a last-minute decision to come home.”
Welcome to Plathville’s Kim and Barry Plath’s Relationship Ups and Downs
Moriah didn’t open up much about her past romance, but she revealed she was going to do a “little bit of healing” while living with her dad. “The most important thing for this is not sharing what happened or my sad story, but just what I learned, which is you got to push forward,” she added.
Welcome to Plathville airs on TLC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
