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Welcome to Plathville’s Moriah and Lydia React to Kim Plath’s New Relationship: ‘Too Much to Process’
Welcome to Plathville stars Moriah Plath and Lydia Plath weren’t thrilled when they learned their mother, Kim Plath, is dating someone new amid her divorce from Barry Plath.
“Well, I guess what’s new with me is, um, I’m dating someone,” Kim, 51, told Moriah, 21, and Lydia, 19, in a teaser clip for the Tuesday, October 31, episode shared by People.
Her daughters responded with an awkward pause, while Lydia attempted to avoid eye contact with her mother. The uncomfortable silence eventually ended when Moriah asked, “How’s that going?”
“Good. I mean, I really like him,” Kim said about her boyfriend, Ken Palmer, who was her son Isaac Plath‘s former flight instructor and colleague.
While Kim seemed happy with her new relationship, Lydia admitted she wasn’t thrilled that the Plath matriarch was dating someone new. “It went from my mom telling me, ‘You know, like maybe one day, two years down the road, I might date someone, but I’m not ready for anything right now,'” the teen said in a confessional. “And then, next thing I know, she’s been dating someone for a while and I never really got a warning. I don’t know. It’s like she wants me to just, in one day, just hop on board, accept everything and move on. Like, I don’t think I can do that. That’s too much to process.”
Meanwhile, Moriah didn’t hold back her reaction during their conversation with Kim. “It can be really hard to be honest about how I feel, but that’s one thing that I’m learning is so important,” she began. “So I do struggle with the fact that you’re, you know, dating, just because that’s unfamiliar to me, I guess.”
“I’m trying to convince myself that everything’s OK, you know, that I feel totally fine, it doesn’t matter,” Moriah continued. “But I’m like, you know, I don’t support that.”
The musician added in a confessional that Kim’s new relationship felt “very soon.”
Kim found love with Ken, 57, after she and Barry, 55, called it quits in June 2022. “After considerable thought and discussion, we have decided to end our marriage,” the former couple – who share kids Ethan, Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia, Mercy and Joshua – told People in a joint statement at the time. “While this was not an easy decision, we know it’s the best choice for both of us. We have been through many highs and lows in our 24 years of marriage and as we navigate this new chapter in our lives, we will coparent our amazing children.”
During the October 17 episode, Kim explained she told Barry she wanted to date again after they separated and revealed he was “sad” when he learned she moved on.
“He never said, ‘I don’t want you to,’ he never said, ‘Please don’t,’” Kim explained of Barry’s reaction to her new romance. She added that the father of 10 “didn’t have much to say” when she revealed her relationship with Ken.
Barry also opened up about the topic and admitted he was “shocked” and “didn’t have much to say.”
“‘Cause what do you say to something like that? But I’m not sitting here condoning anything Kim’s doing regarding that,” he said during a confessional. “Looking back on things, 25 years’ worth of marriage and all of a sudden, it’s gone. Part of me gets angry at the fact that this is happening. And then, you know, just being sad.”
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