It’s nothing but the shunning truth! The Breaking Amish cast has drastically changed since the documentary-style reality series debuted on TLC back in 2012. Fans watched religiously as five Anabaptist men and women moved to New York City to experience a culture vastly different than the ones they had known their whole lives — with the risk of being shunned from the families and communities that raised them.
Sabrina High, who is a Mennonite, and her fellow cast members (all Ex-Amish) Kate Stoltzfus, Jeremiah Raber, Rebecca Byler-Schmucker and Abe Schmucker continued to live their lives in the spotlight with season 2’s Breaking Amish: Brave New World and the spinoff series Return to Amish.
The show continued with completely new casts for season 3, Breaking Amish: Los Angeles, and season 4, which was set in Brooklyn, but the franchise ended for good in 2013. That being said, the original cast spent years finding their places in the world.
“There are so many little things that I’m not used to,” Kate said of her transition out of Amish culture in 2015. “I’ve experienced so many cultural differences, especially in the relationships that I’ve made. Everything that I was used to is considered not that normal.”
Despite Kate’s words about feeling “not that normal,” it seems this group is getting more and more acclimated to life outside of their Anabaptist communities — just look at their dramatic transformations!
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The show followed the ex-Amish as they explored friendships, relationships and new career goals outside of their communities. However, one major plotline included Abe and Rebecca getting married during season 1. The couple had a tense relationship with Abe’s mom, Mama Mary, and his sister, Katie Ann Schmucker, which caused turmoil before their wedding. The couple is still married as of 2021, according to Distractify.
Abe and Rebecca eventually announced their departure from Return to Amish after season 4 in 2017. “It’s been a long road to come to this decision as a family and to move on to things that make us happy and brings us closer to where we want to be,” Rebecca tweeted in 2017. “We are living our best life!! P.S. I got my GED!!”
Scroll through the gallery below to see the stars of Breaking Amish then and now!