Are ‘Welcome to Plathville’ Stars Ethan and Olivia Plath Still Together? Update After Separation

Reunited? Welcome to Plathville stars Ethan Plath and 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. 

While the pair later moved again to Minnesota to be closer to Ethan’s grandparents, unfortunately, fans were right about their marriage still being on the rocks and they confirmed their split in October 2023.

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?

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 have something to say – at least via the court – in February 2024, however, as they officially filed for divorce. 

Are Ethan and Olivia Still Together?

Ethan and Olivia returned for season 5 of Welcome to Plathville in September 2023. During the season, the couple moved to Minnesota and began to question whether they were the same people they fell in love with when they married so young.

“When we first got married, we were pretty much on the same page. Political beliefs, religious beliefs and now we’re on opposite ends of the book,” Ethan explained during an October 2023 episode. In a private confessional, the reality star confessed that he felt he and Olivia had been “drifting apart on some fundamental stuff.”

“But that’s just how the pages of time unfold,” he concluded. “You can’t foresee stuff like that.”

After months of speculation, Ethan and Olivia confirmed their split on October 27, 2023, in a statement on Instagram.

“Ethan and I have decided to go our separate ways,” Olivia wrote in a lengthy message. “I have ambivalent memories of us being 18 years old, innocently dreaming of forever – but the partner you choose is a reflection of the world you want to live in, and at 18 I didn’t know who I was or what kind of life I wanted to create for myself. 7 years later, I’ve already begun my journey of questioning, deconstructing and rebuilding and I know that is a process that I will continue to prioritize throughout my life.”

The photographer continued, “There were good moments and I want to remember and honor those. We fell in love as children and are going our separate ways as adults. Wiser, older, and braver. We will be okay. Thank you for the good times, Ethan. I wish the best for you.”

Ethan and Olivia’s split played out on screen in real time as the pair got into a heated argument during the November 21, 2023, episode of Welcome to Plathville. 

“When we were dating, I specifically thought you respected me. And I looked for that because my dad did it,” Olivia told Ethan in their shared apartment. “You’ve changed too. And I don’t hold that against you. I just think maybe it’s good to acknowledge it for what it is.”

In a private confessional, Olivia told producers how Ethan would “do anything” for her while they were dating. “And then we got married and it all changed. I feel like there’s not an effort.”

Meanwhile, Ethan explained that he had a hard time relating with Olivia on two important points, which were “faith and politics.” 

“I want to raise children that are patriotic and love their country,” Ethan explained to the cameras. “And she doesn’t intend to instill love of country or of God in them and I won’t compromise on those issues.” 

Olivia felt Ethan wanted a family, just not with her. “I think in an ideal world you want a family with me,” she explained to him. “When it actually comes down to the reality of it, you’ve told me that if we had kids, you wouldn’t want me talking to them about things I believe in.” 

The conversation ended with Olivia leaving to go bartend and the pair agreeing to take some time to “digest everything” before reuniting to see what the next steps were.

The pair decided to end their marriage for good during the season 5 finale in December 2023.

“One of the biggest things that could be done on your end to try to make this work would be to go back and try to mend your relationships with your family and try to get back to some of the roots and values that were instilled in you and how you grew up,” Ethan told Olivia, who has been outspoken about her negative feelings regarding the fundamentalist Christian home she was raised in. “I feel like if you’re searching for something that you haven’t found that maybe is trying to take the place of that, and I don’t know if there is a replacement.”

Olivia responded by arguing that she wouldn’t go back to following the religion she was raised with.”The faith and the world that I grew up in was a world built for men, that worked for men. And to tell me that I need to go back to a culture and a faith and a belief that told me that I was worth nothing without a husband, that in a relationship I just need to submit and say yes and cook three meals a day and praise God and it would all be fine,” she stated. “I don’t think you understand the privilege you have to look at me and tell me I need to go back to that because it served you.”

Ethan fired back by claiming that there are “roles that a man plays that are different than a woman plays” and said it’s “natural.” He continued, “And the whole thing, cooking three meals a day, that is one of the only keys to a man’s heart. When’s the last time you cooked a meal?”

After Ethan admitted he didn’t feel comfortable raising children to follow Olivia’s beliefs, she said his comments hurt her feelings because she was “committed to this relationship.”

“I do feel that you’ve made the choice for us to not be together,” Olivia added. “But I support the choice, and I do think that that’s the right move for what we both want our futures to look like.”

She continued, “I love you as a person. I think we’re not the right romantic partners for each other, but I still love you and I still want the best for you. No one can say we didn’t give it a shot.”

The episode concluded with a card that stated, “Olivia and Ethan have mutually decided to file for divorce.”

Did Ethan Plath Cheat on Olivia Plath?

Ethan made headlines in October 2023 after he was seemingly spotted with a mystery brunette at a local bar.

In photos shared online by blogger Without a Crystal Ball, Ethan was seemingly seen dancing hand in hand with a mystery woman. The pair swayed closely on the dance floor, while a live band played in the background. Underneath the post, another social media user asked for more details and the original poster of the photos confirmed they had a close view of the interaction, writing, “It was Ethan. Dimples and all.”

In another reply, the user added, “They were drinking water from what I could tell. They were dancing together. He did not look uncomfortable.”

Days after they announced their split, Ethan’s younger brother, Micah Plath, served as a guest bartender on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on October 30 and seemingly spilled tea on Ethan and Olivia’s split.

When asked by Andy about online rumors that Ethan cheated on Olivia, Micah hesitated before replying, “No, I would honestly say it would most likely be the other way around.”