On the new season of TLC’s Return To Amish, viewers are introduced to Maureen Byler, granddaughter of the Amish doughnut stand owner Ada Byler. Maureen and her friend Rosanna are considering leaving the Amish, and the preview trailer teases a romantic interest for Maureen that may help motivate her to make the transition to being English.
“I have a crush on this really handsome guy,” Maureen says in the trailer. We then see Maureen and her handsome guy Daniel walking and talking.
“So you’ve never slept with anyone yet?” Daniel asks her.
“No, I’m still a virgin,” Maureen replies.
Viewers are then shown the difference between a French kiss and a Pennsylvania Dutch kiss as Maureen and Daniel engage in a bit of cringe-inducing tongue tickling.
RETURN TO AMISH SPOILERS
Does Maureen leave the Amish behind? Is she still with her handsome beau Daniel? We’ve got the answers for you!
Maureen and Daniel do appear to still be together! According to Facebook, the couple started dating in February of 2020. The relationship moved rather quickly as the two got engaged just a few months later on July 24.
Neither Maureen nor Daniel have posted much in 2021, but they do appear to still be together. Daniel’s most recent public Facebook post is a rodeo photo from February 11 on which Maureen commented: “I love you ❤️”
Maureen shared a photo of herself on March 13 that she captioned with: “Beyond Blessed✨” In the photo, she can clearly be seen wearing an engagement ring.
“Gorgeous 💕,” Daniel commented. “Thanks babe ❤️ I love you 😘,” was Maureen’s response.
IS MAUREEN’S STORY FAKE?
Breaking Amish and Return To Amish have a well-documented history of stretching the truth a bit when it comes to exactly when the cast members actually left the Amish. So, what’s the scoop with Maureen? How believable his her story line this season?
I will start by saying it does appear that Maureen was Amish. (I don’t think the show has featured a cast member yet that wasn’t actually Amish or Mennonite at some point in their past.) I spoke with someone connected to Maureen’s local Amish community, and that person confirmed Maureen’s Amish roots.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get much more information. Maureen states on the show that she is a school teacher, and she even poses in front of the schoolhouse she teaches in. I did some online searching and managed to find the schoolhouse, which is located just outside of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Here is a screen cap of Maureen from the show and an image from Google Street View:
If you’re curious to see the schoolhouse for yourself, it is sometimes part of The Simple Life Amish tour. (I think the tour changes up a bit from time to time?) You can click the link for more information on the tour, and perhaps contact them to find out whether or not the schoolhouse from the show is still included.
As far as Maureen’s timeline, her social media posts date back to December of 2017. She has clearly left the Amish by that point, as evidenced by her clothes and the fact that she is posting photos of herself on Facebook at all — right? There’s a photo of Maureen and Rosanna together posted in January of 2018, so it’s pretty clear they were friends at this time.
In a photo posted in January, Maureen is seen wearing jeans and smoking a cigarette as she poses with three of her girl friends. The comments include two of Maureen’s friends reminiscing about the goods time they had and wishing they were still together, so it could be that the photo is old?
In February of 2020, Maureen posts her first photo with Daniel:
The Florida scenes looked to have been filmed in late May and after because that’s when the various cast members were posting beach and hotel photos. Here is a picture of Maureen and Rosanna from May 16 that I believe was taken on the trip down to Florida:
If the Florida scenes were filmed in May, and Maureen and Rosanna are supposedly still Amish at the time (according to the show), then I think we can assume there was some frauding going on by producers.
As mentioned above, we can fill in some more of Maureen’s timeline in regards to her relationship with Daniel. The two got engaged on July 24, which I’m guessing was after they returned from Florida. (I couldn’t find any evidence that Daniel was in Florida with Maureen.)
DANIEL HAS A CHILD
I don’t know if this will come up on the show or not, but Daniel looks to have a toddler daughter from another relationship. He has shared numerous photos with her online, the most recent being in September of 2019.
Daniel and the child’s mother were in a relationship from July of 2017 until at least November of 2018. Their daughter appears to have been born some time around August of 2018.
I will wrap up by pointing out that Maureen and Daniel have the same last name, which is not uncommon in the Amish community.
Be sure to watch how Maureen and Daniel’s relationship plays out on screen with new episodes of Breaking Amish: Return To Amish airing Monday nights at 9/8c on TLC! Or, you can stream every episode of Breaking Amish and Return To Amish with discovery+!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
