Struggling to keep her already broken family together, Amy Roloff, the matriarch of the Little People, Big World clan, revealed that she’s saddened by her squabbling children, who are creating a huge family divide.
Since leaving the farm, a playground rich with activities for the Roloff kids when they were young, the family–now rife with battles–have all gone their separate ways.
In 2006, audiences started following the lives of the family featured in Little People, Big World (LPBW). The show stars Amy, 60, and her ex-husband Matt Roloff, 61, both dwarves, and their four children, fraternal twins Jeremy and Zachary who has dwarfism, Molly, and Jacob.
Added to the family is Jeremy’s wife Audrey and their three children, Zach and his wife Tori, with their three children, Jacob with wife Isabel and their baby, and Molly with her spouse. To further grow the family is Amy’s new husband Chris Marek, and Matt’s fiancé Caryn Chandler, a former employee at Roloff Farms.
Recently speaking in a Live with her friend, Amy revealed that she misses her children, whom she seldom sees. Referring to Molly, now 29, Amy said, “…so yeah I haven’t seen her in a while, since January, and I miss my daughter.”
There have been many problems swirling through the Roloff family, starting when Amy and Matt were still married, and young Jacob grew tired of the show’s concept.
Jacob, the youngest son, left the reality show when he was 18, saying the crew dictated the direction of conversation between family members. He said, “For me, noticing how the agenda of the crew doesn’t work well with the health and happiness of our family is what made me decide quite a while ago that I would not be a part of it as soon as I was able.” The 26-year-old continued, “the family that is filmed is not my family. They are the Roloff Characters and I have scarcely anything in common with them, nor do I want to be a character myself. As soon as the cameras drop however, it’s almost like they never played the part.”
Molly also left the reality show, and is now working as an accountant and living privately with her husband Joel Silvius.
Jacob however, recently accepted an invitation from Matt to move back to the $4 million farm. Living in a five-wheeler with his wife and baby, Mateo, Jacob now helps Matt, working the land full time.
His move fueled the fire between him and his brothers, both whose bids to buy the land were unapologetically rejected by their father. Matt’s Instagram was previously filled with photos of the twins and their kids but now, his posts are dedicated to Caryn, the farm, and Jacob’s family.
But, the squabbling started long before Jacob grabbed a piece of land by the famed pumpkin patch.
After issues with his parents were resolved, Jacob, an agnostic, is still clashing with Audrey, a Christian marriage blogger.
In fact, Jacob canceled her on social media when the mommy blogger slammed his 2017 Christmas 2017 engagement with his now wife.
While Amy, Matt and some of his siblings were thrilled over the engagement, Audrey had different opinions and decided to publicly scrutinize him in a post that appears to be aimed at Jacob and Isabel.
In January 2018, Audrey wrote, “Some words on dating from a Christian perspective…Let’s just say you recently hurried into a relationship, dabbled with sexual intimacy, and then became emotionally attached.” Audrey was allegedly referring to Jacob living with Isabel before marriage.
She continued in her highly critical post, “As time passes, your friends and family may raise concerns about the person you’re dating. But you won’t be able to rationalize with them because all you will see is perfection. This is a titanic problem.”
After a brief calm, their feud was fired up again in January 2019 amid Audrey’s controversial posts, some fans blasting her as a bigot for opinions on Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community.
A source told RadarOnline that Jacob was yet again distancing himself from the pair.
“People already know that he doesn’t really get along with Audrey. He thinks she’s too judgmental, and I’m guessing he just didn’t want to see her on his brothers’ account anymore.”
The battle between Jacob and Audrey is not the only one in the family.
Viewers watched in 2016 as Matt and Amy split, later settling into new relationships, and bickering about who would get the farm. Feeling “pressured” by her ex-husband into selling him her portion of the farm, Amy said, “I was hoping though by [selling him the farm] I would make it more palatable that maybe of one of the kids … I had no inkling, what is happening now … it blows me away.”
Amy was referring to the ongoing feud between Zach and Matt, which played out in season 22. Blindsiding his son and making it impossible for him to buy the property, fans grew frustrated with the Roloff elder, whose puzzling decisions were questioned. Responding to the slew of hatred, Matt wrote on his Instagram, along with a photo of Jacob, Isabel and Zach’s son, “I caught up a bit on recent social media posts … it’s very apparent that people are frustrated and angrier then normal. I understand. But getting on the internet and being a mean person is no way to live your life.”
In an episode from season 23, Zach said he was looking forward to raising his three children on the farm, “…we want to be somewhere that we can see our family a long time and where we’re at right now is not that place.”
Another scuffle, though it hasn’t been confirmed by either, is between wives Audrey and Tori, who for some reason just don’t engage.
As for Amy, she’s still the glue that keeps the family together and continues to support all of her children. In February, Zach had emergency surgery on his shunt, and the grandmother posted a photo of her son in hospital, saying, “I’ve been watching the grandkids so she (Tori) has been able to be with him. Zach’s a trooper as well as Tori…taking care of the kids–that has been a blast. He’ll be back home in a day or two.”
Over 24 seasons, fans shared in the ups and downs of the Roloffs, a family that introduced many of us to dwarfism. It’s sad that their issues are ongoing, and we hope they are soon resolved. What are your favorite memories of LPBW?
