Things have almost never been easy for Ethan Plath and his wife, Olivia Plath, on their show Welcome to Plathville. Following their wedding, which took place not long before the series premiered on TLC, Olivia made the decision to step back from her family’s strict Christian religion. Ethan followed suit and began to enjoy more worldly things with his new bride.
But after trouble with his family ensued, Ethan and Olivia’s marriage began to suffer. Now, things seem pretty shaky between them on Welcome to Plathville. And after the d-word came out, it led some fans to wonder if the Plaths even believe in divorce.
Because Ethan and Olivia are both from strict religious families, it doesn’t seem like divorce is even an option.
So, do the Plaths believe in divorce?
Ethan’s parents, Barry and Kim Plath, haven’t brought up divorce on the show. Although they don’t agree with their son’s choices and they don’t get along with his wife, neither has mentioned divorce as an option to fix things.
Technically speaking, if Ethan and Olivia got divorced, it would mean Kim and Barry could have their eldest son back in their lives. But it certainly doesn’t seem like they view divorce as a viable option.
On Welcome to Plathville, viewers learn that the Plaths are part of a fundamentalist Christian religion. However, it’s unclear exactly what their religion is. As in, they could identify as Baptists or even independent Baptists, like the Duggar family from 19 Kids and Counting fame.
But as conservative fundamentalist Christians, Ethan’s family likely isn’t in support of divorce.
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Source: Instagram
According to Focus on the Family, a Christian organization, some more devout Christians don’t believe in divorce. In fact, according to the organization’s website, it believes people should “[p]ray that God will open the lines of communication between you and your spouse and that He will restore the love in your relationship.”
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It’s possible that Ethan’s parents share these same views. Neither has come out to say as much. But since the Plaths are quite religious and hold their faith close to their hearts, it’s possible.
Right now, it seems like Kim and Barry see Ethan’s marriage as a permanent thing, rather than something that could end sometime down the line.
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Olivia Plath mentioned divorce before.
In Season 2 of Welcome to Plathville in 2020, when things between Ethan and his parents became even more strained, he and Olivia admitted that divorce had been a topic of discussion for them.
“Divorce was definitely on the table for a couple of months,” Olivia said on the show.
Ethan added, “That strain, it got to the point where it was either separation or divorce.”
In the end, they decided to work to make their marriage stronger. That means following through with Ethan keeping his distance from his parents and younger siblings. But if things don’t get better, Ethan and Olivia proved they don’t share fundamentalist Christian views on divorce.
And if push comes to shove, their marriage might not make it.
Watch Welcome to Plathville on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.