Olivia Plath Felt ‘Pressure’ to Appear on ‘Welcome to Plathville: ‘I Definitely Relate to Jill Duggar’
Olivia Plath didn’t set out to become a reality TV star. The 25-year-old is known for appearing with her soon-to-be ex-husband Ethan Plath and his family on the TLC series Welcome to Plathville. While she admits that there are many positives that come from being on the show, she also doesn’t feel that she made a fully informed decision when she agreed to be filmed.
Olivia Plath ‘had no idea what she was getting into’ when she agreed to do ‘Welcome to Plathville’
Olivia has starred in Welcome to Plathville since 2019. The show’s first five seasons follow her marriage to Ethan and Olivia’s conflict with her in-laws, particularly her mother-in-law, Kim Plath. In later seasons, conflict arose between Olivia and her siblings-in-law, Moriah Plath and Micah Plath. The pair, who’d once been close to Olivia, accused her of poisoning their relationship with Ethan and unfairly demonizing their parents. In the season 5 finale, Olivia and Ethan agreed to end their marriage after realizing they’d grown into different people since marrying at age 20.
Recently, Olivia took to her Instagram Story to answer some questions about her life and the show. Given all the drama that’s played out on Welcome to Plathville in the past few years, one person wanted to know if Olivia regretted agreeing to do the show.
“I get asked this a lot and I don’t really know how to answer sometimes,” she replied.
Olivia admitted she did sign to let TLC cameras follow her and her husband. However, she didn’t realize what that would entail. Nor did she have all the details she needed to make that choice.
“Technically, I did say ‘yes’ to being on the show,” she wrote. “But there was a lot of pressure, rushed/forced contracts, secrets kept (compensation, etc.) and straight-up lies told to me by my ex-in-laws so 20-year-old me had no idea what she was getting into.”
Olivia Plath relates to Jill Duggar
Olivia went on to compare her situation to that of former 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On star Jill Duggar. Jill wrote candidly in her 2023 memoir Counting the Cost about the pressures she felt to open up her life for TV audiences to consume.
“When you’re in the world of reality TV, everything has a cost,” Jill explained. “The shopping carts full of great food, the trip to Nepal to meet [her future husband] Derick in person for the first time, the wedding itself–they all came with a price tag, which we paid by letting the cameras into our lives, giving them access to all the raw, unfiltered action to be served up as entertainment.”
Jill admits that being on TV was a “privilege” that allowed her opportunities and experiences she wouldn’t have otherwise had. But ultimately, for her, the cost was too great.
Olivia’s experience of being on TV seems more positive than Jill’s. But she still sees aspects of her own life in Jill’s story.
“I definitely relate to Jill Duggar and her stories of being on a reality TV show,” Olivia wrote. “It’s not the right time to tell most of those stories. I told one last year and it became such a sh*tshow. But I will one day when it’s the right time … I don’t regret my time on the show. I learned a lot!!!”
Overall, “the positives greatly outweigh the negatives,” she said.
“The experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met, the consistent ‘holding up a mirror’ of watching my own actions and gaining introspection,” she explained. “I wouldn’t trade those. I’m grateful for them.”
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