Olivia Plath of 'Welcome to Plathville' Accuses TLC Of Altering Her Storyline to Make It 'Dramatic'

From Woman's Day

The first season of Welcome to Plathville has now come to an end, and one of its stars is speaking out about fan's reactions. Olivia Plath, who married into the Plath family through her husband Ethan, faced some criticism from fans who accused her of causing a divide in the family by introducing the ultra-conservative Plath children to more worldly ideas. But according to Olivia, some of the family drama was totally fabricated by TLC.

"Thanks to those who were concerned about my character, calling me a witch + poison," Olivia tweeted. "Truth? I’d NEVER buy a plane ticket for a minor without asking their parents, regardless of how I feel about said parents. I had permission. But I guess that’s not a dramatic enough storyline."

In her tweet, Olivia, a professional wedding photographer, was referring to the finale episode where she bought her 16-year-old sister-in-law Moriah, who has struggled with her parent's lifestyle, a plane ticket to Minnesota for Moriah so that she could help shoot a wedding, but the ticket was only one-way. In the episode, Moriah explained to her parents Kim and Barry, who raised their nine children in a remote part rural southern Georgia, that she wasn't going to come home, to which her parents acted surprised and angry with Olivia for buying the ticket without consulting them. But now, Olivia is saying their reaction was fake.

There have already been some questions raised as to the legitimacy of the Plath storyline and the way the Christian fundamentalist family claims to live, from whether they actually avoid technology to if they've really never had soda to whether they actually even live on their 55-acre farm. Now, with Olivia's claims added into the mix, it just adds more fuel to the conspiracy fire.

One fan responded to Olivia's tweet by accusing her of lying. “You could tell by the smirk on your face before Moriah told her parents you were loving that her mom was blindsided,” they said. Olivia soon fired back with a dig about her in-laws, saying, “They already knew everything Moriah said. If I had a smirk, it would have been because I was waiting to see how they played their emotions for the show.”

It appears that the backlash from the show pushed Olivia to her breaking point and she announced on Instagram that she would be taking some time off of social media until the new year.

"I’ve received so much hate on all of my platforms since our show aired, and while I know that is just part of being in this industry, I don’t need to be seeing that negativity and toxicity every day," she wrote. "I made many mistakes during the filming of the show (the first one being allowing myself to be manipulated into doing it), and I’m not afraid to own up to that. But until you’ve dealt with narcissist behavior, you have no idea how easy it is to freak out and react in an effort to protect yourself and those you love."

Although it seems Olivia wasn't a huge fan of the show and got some hate online, she has been a fan-favorite for many and is seen as a welcome break from the incredibly sheltered lifestyle that Kim and Barry are trying to have their children lead. In response to her tweet, she received plenty of positive messages that praised her for giving her siblings-in-law someone to go to when they were finding their conservative home life difficult.

"I just adore you and Ethan," one fan wrote. "Moriah is clearly struggling and you’ve helped her do exactly what she needs to do."

"I think you and Ethan need your own show," another tweeted. "I love the both of you and I’m glad you’re taking him out and his siblings to experience the real world. You are awesome."

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