Ethan and Olivia Plath are ready to put family drama behind them and embrace an exciting new chapter in their marriage.
In Tuesday’s episode of TLC’s Welcome to Plathville, Ethan and Olivia, both 25, prepared to finally make the move from Tampa, Florida to Minnesota. Their new home will be near Ethan’s grandparents (his father Barry Plath’s parents), which they both expressed excitement about.
“My grandparents love [Olivia] so much,” Ethan raved in an interview.
“From day one of our marriage, they’re the people who have claimed me as family, who have been there for Ethan and I both,” Olivia chimed in about his grandparents. “And we have felt that all along, but when it’s, you know, 1,000 miles away, it’s just not the same as experiencing it on a day-to-day basis.”
“I think that’s gonna be a really big make-it-or-break-it thing,” she added.
She also noted that she thinks Minnesota will be a “supportive” environment for their marriage amid all the recent conflict with Ethan’s parents and siblings.
As they celebrated their four-year wedding anniversary, the couple had been dealing with an ongoing disagreement with Ethan’s sister — and Olivia’s former best friend — Moriah, 21. After having a falling out with Olivia, Moriah moved out of their shared home and cut off contact with both her brother and sister-in-law. She even went as far as to block Ethan on her phone and social media.
In addition to drama with Moriah, Olivia has had a rocky relationship with both Plath parents. She and Ethan’s mother, Kim, 51, have not been on speaking terms for years. In the season premiere, Barry, 55, also accused Olivia of “brainwashing” Ethan.
“There’s a part of me that misses the relationships that were once there,” Olivia admitted as she reflected on their upcoming move. “But I don’t know that those relationships will ever be the same again. It’s like the end of a chapter of our life.”
Ethan felt optimistic about their decision to relocate. He shared that, by getting away from his immediate family, he believed there would ultimately be “less of a negative drain” on his and Olivia’s marriage.
“I expect that the move to Minnesota will be really beneficial for me and Olivia and our relationship,” he said in a confessional interview.
Later in the episode, Ethan and Olivia held a going away party the night before they hit the road. The party guest list included several of their friends and Olivia’s brother Nathan, but none of the Plath siblings.
Ethan did not say goodbye to any of his family members except for his sister Lydia, 19. The oldest Plath son, who previously admitted to feeling “caught in the middle” between his wife and family members, said of leaving without patching things up with Moriah: “It is what it is.”
When a producer asked Olivia where she stood with the Plath family now, she declined to answer. Instead, she explained that she was choosing to focus on the “positive things” in her life.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” she responded. “I haven’t worked through it. I still feel like, you know, hurt and anger inside, but I also see positive things not being caught up in all of that. It’s easy to find the silver lining and be like, ‘Okay well then, that’s room in my life for more things.’”
Ethan and Olivia, who wed in 2018 and celebrated their four-year wedding anniversary in last week’s episode, have dealt with plenty of ups-and-downs in their relationship over the years. Recently, they struggled with living apart for two-and-a-half months while Ethan finished working on his cars in Georgia.
For a time, Olivia moved out of their shared home in 2021. However, the couple appeared to have patched things up by Sept. 2022 when Ethan shared a sweet photo of the two of them on Instagram, captioning it: “When high school sweethearts find each other there isn’t much that can separate us.”
Olivia has also attempted to shut down rumors about their marriage. In June 2023, she directly responded in the comments section of an Instagram post claiming she and Ethan were headed for divorce.
“There is a lot of speculation going around, but if Ethan and I had something to share, we would,” she wrote at the time.
In the preview for next week’s episode, Ethan and Olivia appear happy and comfortable in their new locale, while Micah considers leaving Los Angeles and Kim confesses she’s started seeing someone new. (Based on social media, Kim’s new beau may be someone fans have already met…)
Welcome to Plathville airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
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