Prerna Singh
‘Welcome to Plathville’ is a TLC series that follows the Plath family, consisting of Kim and Barry Plath and their nine children, Ethan, Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia, and Mercy. Ethan’s wife Olivia also features on the show, and the couple has often been the center of the drama of this reality show. One of the unique aspects of this family is that Kim and Barry supposedly raised their kids as conservative Christians, with limited contact with the outside world.
However, many fans have noticed several discrepancies between what the family claims and what seems to be the truth. So, is it possible that ‘Welcome to Plathville’ is staged? If you’re looking for answers to this question, you’re at the right place. We’ve got you covered!
Is Welcome to Plathville Real or Scripted?
As soon as ‘Welcome to Plathville’ arrived on TLC, it did not take long for viewers to start noticing some anomalies. Several viewers noted that the Plaths are not entirely out of touch with a modern-day lifestyle for a family that claims to live a secluded life. However, Micah Plath had an answer to this. In an interview in November 2020, Micah clarified that although he and some of his siblings chose to tread their own paths and not follow everything their parents taught them, the show’s first season was shot mainly to set the context.
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A major portion of the inaugural season was seemingly meant to help viewers understand how the Plath siblings were brought up and why they feel the way they do. That could mean that some of the Plath siblings had already chosen to go their own way before the cameras began rolling on the Plath family. If that is the case, it would not be the first time something like this happened on a TLC show. Some cast members of ‘Breaking Amish’ had reportedly broken away from their communities before the series began filming. However, the show made it seem like they were doing that for the first time.
Moreover, the Plaths do not live on the farm full-time anymore. Reports reveal that the family bought another property in 2017 and have listed their farm on Airbnb. Season 1 began airing in November 2019 and implied that they still lived on the farm at the time. So, it is understandable why that came across as a little misleading. The new family home in Cairo, Georgia, is apparently not as cut off from the world as one would imagine.
Several reports state that chains like Pizza Hut, Walmart, and Taco Bell are quite close to where the family primarily lives as of today. Recently, the series has begun highlighting the lives of the older Plath siblings, particularly Ethan, Micah, and Moriah, who do not share the same ideas about life as their parents. There have been speculations that the interpersonal drama in the show might have been exaggerated for entertainment purposes, but the root of the matter is probably real.
As per the series, Ethan and Olivia’s relationship with the former’s parents has been quite strained. In fact, in the season 2 finale, we saw Ethan and Barry almost come to blows. All in all, it is safe to say that although the way the family members feel about each other might be genuine, ‘Welcome to Plathville’ presents a few things in a manner that must be taken with a grain of salt.
Read More: Where is Welcome to Plathville Filmed? Where Does Plath Family Live?
