WELCOME to Plathville star Ethan Plath’s wife Olivia said their marriage is “barely functioning.”
She made the claim as fans insist the pair got hitched “too young.”
During Tuesday’s episode of the TLC show, Ethan, 23, and Olivia, 22, met his younger brother, Micah’s, female friend Helena for the first time.
As they sat on the couch with Helena and Micah, Olivia said: “With how we were raised, relationship between a guy/girl was supposed to end in marriage which is why you weren’t supposed to have friends of the opposite sex unless you were in a relationship with them. That’s just weird.”
She continued: “To me marriage is not the end goal.
“It works for some people, it doesn’t work for other people.”
Meanwhile, Ethan remained quiet while looking stressed out and sad as his wife made the comments.
Olivia further discussed their marriage in a confessional, stating: “Ethan and I are married right now but I feel like it’s just functioning, barely.
“We’re opposites, but is there a way to make it work?
“If there’s not, will we be happier apart?
The Welcome to Plathville star concluded: “I guess I’m just taking it one step at a time.”
‘TOO YOUNG’
After Olivia candidly spoke about the problems in their marriage, fans rushed to Twitter to insist that she and Ethan got married when they were too young.
One viewer wrote: “Ethan n Olivia got married way too young.”
Another added: “Ethan and Olivia got married too young. I’m not saying it’s impossible but a camera crew, national attention and a nightmare Monster In Law won’t help.”
Others focused on Ethan, as a third chimed in: “Ethan looks sad. I feel for him. I hope he and Olivia can work things out and he can reconcile with his family one day.”
A following TLC fan commented: “Olivia and Ethan getting married too soon is the reason why they have a lot of issues with their relationship!!”
Many fans seemed to feel the same way, as an additional person tweeted: “Olivia and Ethan’s problem is they married waaay too young, and waaay too fast. They should have dated much longer.”
YOUNG LOVE
Ethan is the oldest child of Kim and Barry Plath, who raised their nine kids in a fairly strict, fundamentalist Christian lifestyle that he mostly seemed to go along with until he met Olivia.
The young couple met at a Christian family event called the Smokey Mountain No Greater Joy Shindig in 2014, according to YourTango.
The two shared a long-distance relationship and courted for a while before Ethan proposed in November of 2017.
The couple got married in October 2018, and much of their relationship has been featured on the TLC reality series.
The show– which is currently in its third season- has been hinting at problems in the pair’s marriage since the second season.
