Welcome to Plathville’s Kim and Barry Plath’s Relationship Ups and Downs: Reality TV Couple to Separation

Credit: TLC

Welcome to Plathville’s Kim and Barry Plath's Relationship Ups and Downs: Reality TV Couple to Separation

Going their separate ways. After nearly two decades as a married couple, Kim Plath and Barry Plath have broken up.

“After considerable thought and discussion, we have decided to end our marriage,” the Welcome to Plathville stars told Us Weekly in a joint June 2022 statement. “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.”

Kim and Barry rose to fame in November 2019 upon the TLC premiere of Welcome to Plathville, which chronicles the pair's life as parents of nine — they share Ethan, Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia and Mercy — living in rural Georgia. The family’s lifestyle sparked viewers’ attention after learning that the expansive Plath brood — who used to have their own family band together — lived remotely with strict rules, including no television nor drinking soda.

“When it comes to relationships, if they’re living in our household, we’re gonna have some say in where they go and what they do,” the TLC matriarch explained during an August 2021 episode. “I mean, traditionally, we prefer to get to know other families with children of similar ages, and when there’s a family that we all kinda like and get along with, and there’s some interest from one of ours and one of theirs, then we kinda go from there.”

Kim and Barry didn’t always see eye-to-eye with their adult children, including Ethan and Moriah, as they pursued romances with Olivia Plath (née Meggs) and Max Kallschmidt, respectively. (Moriah and the Florida native confirmed their split in May 2022.) Despite a familial rift, the pair’s relationship stayed strong until Kim revealed during season 4 that they had been living apart.

“Barry and I have decided to live separately for a while,” Kim said in a confessional during a June 2022 episode. “The easiest way to do that right now is whenever one of our rental properties is vacant, I pack a bag and I go and I stay there.”

She continued: “I never thought it would be like this. It’s just a time of a lot of change right now, and I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look like. … Barry tried for a little bit, but at some point, I felt like he's not really trying.”

Scroll below to relive the reality TV personalities’ relationship ups and downs:

Credit: TLC

Welcome to Plathville’s Kim and Barry Plath's Relationship Ups and Downs: Reality TV Couple to Separation

Going their separate ways. After nearly two decades as a married couple, Kim Plath and Barry Plath have broken up.

“After considerable thought and discussion, we have decided to end our marriage,” the Welcome to Plathville stars told Us Weekly in a joint June 2022 statement. “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.”

Kim and Barry rose to fame in November 2019 upon the TLC premiere of Welcome to Plathville, which chronicles the pair's life as parents of nine — they share Ethan, Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia and Mercy — living in rural Georgia. The family’s lifestyle sparked viewers’ attention after learning that the expansive Plath brood — who used to have their own family band together — lived remotely with strict rules, including no television nor drinking soda.

“When it comes to relationships, if they’re living in our household, we’re gonna have some say in where they go and what they do,” the TLC matriarch explained during an August 2021 episode. “I mean, traditionally, we prefer to get to know other families with children of similar ages, and when there’s a family that we all kinda like and get along with, and there’s some interest from one of ours and one of theirs, then we kinda go from there.”

Kim and Barry didn’t always see eye-to-eye with their adult children, including Ethan and Moriah, as they pursued romances with Olivia Plath (née Meggs) and Max Kallschmidt, respectively. (Moriah and the Florida native confirmed their split in May 2022.) Despite a familial rift, the pair’s relationship stayed strong until Kim revealed during season 4 that they had been living apart.

“Barry and I have decided to live separately for a while,” Kim said in a confessional during a June 2022 episode. “The easiest way to do that right now is whenever one of our rental properties is vacant, I pack a bag and I go and I stay there.”

She continued: “I never thought it would be like this. It’s just a time of a lot of change right now, and I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look like. … Barry tried for a little bit, but at some point, I felt like he's not really trying.”

Scroll below to relive the reality TV personalities’ relationship ups and downs:

Credit: TLC

July 1997

“Our marriage has been a continual process of growth, refinement, challenge, heartache and joy,” the estranged pair wrote of their marriage via an archived page of their Plath Family Band website. “Throughout we have sought God on major life decisions as well as the minor day-to-day choices. … A family that delights in each other’s company. A family in unity, in harmony.”

Credit: Courtesy of Micah Plath/Instagram

May 1998

Nearly one year after their nuptials, Kim and Barry expanded their family and welcomed their eldest son, Ethan. They later added Hosanna, Micah, Moriah, Lydia, Isaac, Amber, Cassia and Mercy to the family. (Hosanna, who wed Timothy Noble in June 2019, is the only Plath sibling who has not appeared on the TLC docuseries.)

Credit: TLC

2018

As Ethan planned to wed Olivia, Kim was less than thrilled with the match, which led to a years-long rift between the newlyweds and Kim and Barry.

“I think a lot of it was my mom trying to make it her wedding almost,” Micah exclusively told Us in August 2021. “It was at her place. She had what she wanted to do. She’s just, you know, really excited, and I feel like that happens a good amount of times, but she probably went a little overboard and Olivia definitely felt that way.”

He added: “I mean, I don’t know exactly, but this is kind of what I’ve gotten from it just a whole bunch of things like that, that led up to, a lot of frustration and bad communication. Just people not saying what they’re going to do, doing things differently, doing things other people didn’t want to.”

Credit: TLC

November 2019

Welcome to Plathville debuted on TLC, following the “blonde, blue-eyed family of 11” who share a passion for “music, religion, family life and traditional roles,” per a TV description.

Credit: TLC

June 2022

During season 4 of Welcome to Plathville, Kim and Barry opened up about their marriage struggles before she officially moved out of their family compound. “It's like he wants me to stay but I don't know that he wants to really change. I don't see any way that that emotional intimacy can really be reconnected,” Kim emotionally said in a June episode.

Credit: TLC

June 2022

Several episodes later, Barry discussed the status of their separation, telling the cameras: “I can't help but feel a little betrayed. One thing I thought wouldn't ever be shaken was us. Now it's totally shaken up. It's just really sad. It's a tragedy. .. I look at her and I see a woman who feels trapped. I have bought flowers and bought presents, but I'm still an optimist hoping that she'll change.”

Credit: TLC

June 2022

Us confirmed that the now-exes were officially ending their marriage but remained committed to coparenting their “amazing” children.