'Breaking Amish' Star Kate Stoltzfus Defends Racy Career Despite Parents' Disapproval
One of the stars of "Breaking Amish" is speaking out and defending her decision to model for "Maxim" magazine and pursue a career as a lingerie model. Kate Stoltzfus says that her family is deeply disappointed in her decision and would call her career choice a sin.
"I were to even show my father face-to-face a lingerie picture that I took, he would probably burn it and tell me that I'm going to hell. The Amish think that modeling is one of the worst things a woman can do – they see it as flaunting your body and being vain," Stoltzfus told Daily Mail. "I mean, my dad's a minister in the church. He, of course, does not approve, but then again, he also knows that he can't control my life."
Stoltzfus decided to leave her Amish roots behind her and appear on TLC's "Breaking Amish," which followed the lives of five Amish and Mennonites as they adjusted to life outside their orders. Stoltzfus told "Good Morning America" that being on the show and being outside of her order was one of the best decisions she made.
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"Honestly, I wasn't happy," she said of her Amish life. "I just knew it wasn't right for me. I knew I didn't feel comfortable. This past year has been one of the best years of my life. The one [thing] that I'm always going to miss is the closeness that I've had with my family. I still talk to them, but I'm an outsider," she said last year.
"They still encourage me to come home," Stoltzfus said of her family. "But, it's every time I go home I can tell they're disappointed in me, and that for me is kind of hard. I know I've abandoned the Amish lifestyle, but I still keep a lot of those beliefs … I know I've stepped outside the boundaries a lot of times, but I still try to remember what's important to me."
However, it appears as though Stoltzfus may not have truly left the Amish lifestyle behind her. She will appear in a spin-off series on TLC called "Return to Amish," which airs this June.
