Last month, Jacob Roloff announced his wedding date. He and his fiancee have been spending a lot of time with his family.
Well, with most of his family. Jacob and his dad are still awkward around each other … when they’re even in the same room.
An inside source has come forward to open up about why Jacob and Matt might never mend their shattered relationship.
RadarOnline has the scoop on why the Little People, Big World patriarch and his youngest son can’t see eye to eye.
“Jacob and his dad,” the insider begins. “They don’t have the best relationship.”
Well, that’s not exactly a huge bombshell.
In fact, it’s kind of an understatement. Things are tense now, but once upon a time, these two were fully estranged.
“I think when his parents divorced,” the source continues. “He put a lot of the blame on his dad.”
“His mom was hurting for a long time,” the insider explains.
Now, she has been able to heal and to move on with her new love.
(She and Chris Marek have been together for two years and counting)
The source continues about Jacob, saying: “and he believes Matt was the sole cause of that.”
This insider believes that, to Jacob, it is “like his dad is the one that blew up the whole family.”
There’s more to it than Jacob seeing his father as the instrument of his family’s disruption.
“I also know that they don’t really see eye to eye on a lot of things,” the source shares.
“And there’s this tension between them,” the insider admits. “But they make it work.”
“They’re both slowly building on their relationship,” the source adds. So that’s progress!
“But,” the insider follows up. “I did know Jacob was very angry when his parents were first going through the divorce.”
Jacob Roloff wrote about his issues with his family in his book, and made it clear that a huge sticking point for him was the reality series.
“The entire concept of reality TV is strange because, as a viewer, you are subscribing to a particular illusion,” Jacob wrote.
This illusion, he explained, is “that you are witnessing and being let in on the secrets of the subjects’ lives.”
Obviously, the cameras aren’t omniscient or hidden, and then there’s planning, producing, and editing. It’s not a documentary, it’s entertainment.
As Jacob says: “In reality you are being shown a shallow character and only what someone else approves of, in relation to narrative and talking points.”
There was a more practical gripe that Jacob had with his folks, and the reality series was involved in that, too.
On Twitter in 2015, he leveled the accusation at his parents.
“Man I wish it didn’t feel like I was getting f–ked out of the money from the show that was my childhood right now,” he wrote.
We can’t claim to know the details of the Roloff family’s financial dealings.
We can say that Jacob was a teenager at the time, and there are few worse experiences than feeling chronically powerless.
Jacob felt that he grew up with few choices — in terms of the reality show, in terms of even his personal beliefs.
Fortunately, he at least remained close from his mother even after he set off away from his family.
On Mother’s Day in 2016, he posted a tribute to Amy.
“I loved the memory of how simple that time was,” Jacob wrote.
“And how us kids would just run around and eat fruit, play soccer, and be outside,” Jacob continued. “it was bliss!”
Jacob is what you would call outdoorsy.
“Even with sibling and parent quarrels, it was all part of it,” Jacob concluded. “I love this picture and I love my mom.”
As we mentioned, though, Matt and Jacob are making it worse.
Jacob has once again been spending time with his family, even though he and Matt aren’t exactly close these days.
Sometimes, people in families do things that are truly unforgivable. These people are toxic, and you cut them out of your life.
But sometimes, resentments formed as personalities clash can be smoothed over with time as both parties grow older and wiser.
Only time will tell if Matt and Jacob can once again become close.
