Warning: This post contains spoilers for the season 5 premiere of TLC Welcome to Plathville.
Kim and Barry Plath are adjusting to a new normal after announcing they are ending their 24-year marriage.
On Tuesday in the episode Welcome to Plathville, the former couple reflected on the decision to divorce and how to proceed independently.
“The divorce was difficult,” Kim admitted. “You know, for 25 years Barry managed all the logistics of the household: the budget, the income, making sure all the bills were paid. And I mostly dealt with parenting.”
She added: “Now that we’re separated, we both have to fulfill both roles. It’s scary, it’s overwhelming, there are days when I just want to buy a sailboat and go away and, you know, send a postcard once a year.”
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Kim and Barry Plath on ‘Welcome to Plathville’. TLc ‘Welcome to Plathville’ Kim and Barry Plath announce end of 24-year marriage
For his part, Barry mourned the end of their relationship, sharing, “25 years of marriage and then all of a sudden it’s gone. It was, [I’d say] it is one of the biggest challenges in my life that I have to go through.”
“There were times when I thought, oh, I’m going to be depressed if I go there, but all the kids have been very supportive,” he continued. “They’ve helped me get to this point where I’m stable and moving forward.”
Barry, who lives in the family home with the children while Kim lives in an apartment above her dance studio, admitted that “a lot has changed” in his life, including finding independence from Kim.
“We are rapidly transforming into a Plath family with relationships and new locations and new perspectives,” he said. “Kim went alone, I’m here. I don’t see her much. I talk to her more on the phone or text than see her. We settle into our separate lives, but we are always bound together by our children.”
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Kim Plath on ‘Welcome to Plathville’. TLC’s ‘Welcome to Plathville’ Barry Plath is ‘really lonely’ as he and Kim travel through ‘Weird’ Split
Kim said the divorce was “completely new” to her, adding: “I’ve never been divorced before, I’ve never co-parented before. It’s scary to think about the uncertainty of being alone for the rest of my life? What if I never find someone? I could to be alone forever, you know, and that’s not pleasant either, but it’s an opportunity I accept.”
Kim said she knew she needed to make a change in her life because “there’s nothing more lonely than being with someone who makes you feel lonely.”
“I knew that in pursuing this divorce I was risking the loss of friends, the respect of a conservative Christian community, the trust of my children… I was so unhappy in my marriage that it was worth losing those things for the possibility of a happier future,” she continued.
Barry Plath on ‘Welcome to Plathville’. Moriah Plath of ‘Welcome to Plathville’ knew parents Barry and Kim were ‘fighting’ before their divorce
Despite moving on with their lives, Kim and Barry proved they put their family first when they came together to visit Micah and Moria.
“There are still times when it’s awkward to be around Barry and definitely times when I’d rather not be around him,” Kim shared. “But in the context, we get together with Micah and Moriah or we get together with the kids, we’re cordial, we can talk, I mean, it’s fine.”
“If there’s something brewing behind the scenes, we just keep it under wraps just for the sake of the kids, you know, getting along and having a good time,” Barry added. Never miss a story – sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Welcome to Plathville airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on TLC.
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