Welcome to Plathville is back for a new season, but Ethan Plath is having a hard time letting go of the past.
During the season 6 premiere of the TLC series on July 16, Ethan and Olivia Plath came face to face for the first time since their separation. When Olivia showed up, her estranged husband wasn’t expecting her, and it stirred some emotions he didn’t know he still had.
“I don’t know what the heck I feel,” he told the cameras after she walked into their previously-shared apartment to pick up some stuff.
“We haven’t officially gotten a divorce yet but I guess that’s right around the corner,” he continued. “It’s sort of a mutual decision. I don’t want it to happen, but I don’t see how we can make it work together, so it is what it is.”
TLC
Olivia, on the other hand, seemed ready to move forward from the relationship. Looking back, she said she was happy she could say “I tried” and has accepted that her marriage was not going to work.
“When Ethan said it was done, it was a big sigh of relief,” she said.
When the two confronted each other, Olivia asked Ethan if there was anything he wanted to “get off [his] chest,” and he explained that he wished she tried to “fix” their issues instead of asking him to pick her or his family.
“That’s probably a way that I wasn’t a good fit for you,” she responded. “It took me far too long to realize that between me and your family, you were going to pick your family.”
After their conversation, Olivia left and planned to return the next day to have a conversation about divorce documents. When asked whether he missed Olivia, Ethan answered “yes,” but said he also missed having a relationship.
“I miss having somebody to take care of and do things with,” he confessed.
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A day later, Olivia went back to the apartment and Ethan admitted he felt like the pair had issues and feelings he ”needs to be resolved.” He also told her that he still loved her “very, very much.”
“I feel like she doesn’t care,” he explained in his confessional. “She’s just moved on so fast. It’s just very hard for me to wrap my mind around.”
Olivia noted that there were “assets that aren’t settled” that they still needed to handle, but Ethan said he “can’t accept this” without further discussing whether they both wanted to go through with the divorce again.
“There was a part of me that hoped that after being apart for so long that she would change her mind, because I had a feeling I would after seeing her again,” he admitted. “That kind of happened the minute I saw her.”
“Can’t we just make it work?” he asked his soon-to-be ex-wife before the episode came to an end.
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Welcome to Plathville airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.
