Olivia Plath found 2023 challenging after divorce, brother’s death

Welcome to Plathville star Olivia Plath experienced a lot in 2023.

“2023 was quite a year. A while ago, I wasn’t sure what this year would feel like in retrospect because getting divorced, tragically losing a younger brother, and questioning everything you know as you start over in life, there’s a lot to get done in a short amount of time. But the honest truth is that I am so grateful for this year,” Plath, 25, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 30. “It challenged me, it shocked me, it provided time for grief and also gave me space to gain confidence.”

In May, news broke that Plath’s younger brother Micah Meggs had died at the age of 15 after being hit by a moving car. Five months later, Olivia announced that she had divorced her husband Ethan Plath.

“At the same time, I feel like I have matured a lot this year and regained some youth, childlike wonder and joy,” she added on Saturday. “My heart grew… enormously. My mind wondered… a lot. And despite everything, or perhaps because of everything, my soul feels so alive, curious, serene and at home with itself.”

Olivia shared a handful of photos from the past year of memories with her friends and family.

“Here’s to all the beautiful people and animals I’ve spent time with and the corners of this magical Earth I’ve discovered – honestly the best parts of my year,” she concluded. “These photos may not seem super glamorous, but they were all moments that brought me to life. So ready for 2024, because whatever happens, it will be the best year yet.”

Olivia shot to fame in 2019 starring in TLC’s Welcome to Plathville. Season 1 began less than a year after Olivia married Ethan, now 25. She often fought with Ethan’s mother. Kim Plathafter a family feud over wedding planning.

During Olivia and Ethan’s marriage, they encountered several difficult moments. In October they decided to call it quits for good.

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Since the premiere of Welcome to Plathville, the Plath family has experienced many ups and downs. Kim Plath and ex-husband Barry Plath — who announced their divorce in June 2022 — shot to fame after the series debuted on TLC in 2019. The docuseries chronicles Kim and Barry’s lives in rural Georgia with […]

“Ethan and I have decided to go our separate ways,” Olivia wrote in an Instagram statement at the time. “I have ambivalent memories of us as 18 years old, innocently dreaming of forever – but the partner you choose is a reflection of the world you want to live in, and at 18 I didn’t know who I was or what kind of life I had. I wanted to create for myself. There were beautiful moments and I want to remember and honor them. We fell in love as children and go our separate ways as adults. Wiser, older and braver. We will be fine.”

In his own Instagram statement, Ethan noted that their relationship “just wasn’t working” after they “both gave it everything we had.”

Despite their breakup, Olivia has made it clear that she has no plans to change her last name or leave Welcome to Plathville.