A new TLC reality show premiering Jan. 13 will offer a peek inside an Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, following six outsiders as they leave behind the comforts of modern life and spend time adopting a Plain lifestyle.
The cast members on “Suddenly Amish” — who include a Californian content creator, a luxury-loving rapper from Missouri and a newly divorced father from Texas — will give up technology, electricity and indoor toilets and embrace a more structured lifestyle, according to a network news release.
“Romantic entanglements, culture clashes, emotional breakthroughs and tough choices take center stage as each individual decides whether or not the Amish lifestyle is truly the path they seek,” the release states.
Though many Plain communities avoid publicity, the show will spotlight what TLC labels a group of “progressive” Amish individuals who hope to draw attention to their way of life and combat their dwindling numbers.
The narrative of a shrinking membership doesn’t match broader demographic data on North America’s Amish population, which soared from 233,000 in 2000 to nearly 411,000 in 2025, according to Elizabethtown College. High birth rates within these societies are primarily responsible for the increases, the college’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies reports.
Lancaster County is home to the nation’s largest Amish settlement, which has a population of more than 44,700, the center estimates.
The first episode of “Suddenly Amish” will air on TLC on Jan. 13 at 10 p.m. EST.
