‘Little People, Big World’: Zach Roloff and Tori Roloff Exit the Show After 25 Seasons
Zach and Tori Roloff have officially stepped away from their family’s reality show, Little People, Big World, after 25 seasons. Zach, the 33-year-old son of Amy Roloff and Matt Roloff, has been with the show since it began in 2006.
On Tuesday, the TLC series celebrated another season finale, which also marked Zach and Tori’s exit amid ongoing family tension.
During the episode, Amy and husband Chris Marek share a meal and Chris asks if things between Zach and Matt are “thawing.”
“I don’t know,” Amy admits. “Of course, he’s the father and grandfather, but I don’t think they’ll ever look at it in that father-son bonding relationship type of thing.”
Amy adds in an aside interview, “I don’t really know what type of relationship or any of that stuff that the kids now have with their father, especially with all the farm stuff now going on, especially with Jeremy and Zach. And that’s something for them to work on.”
Exes Amy and Matt share kids Zach, 33, Jeremy, 33, Molly, 30, and Jacob, 27. Zach’s siblings all left the show prior to his departure.
The mother of four notes that she’s “glad” she has a relationship with all of her kids, saying, “That’s what I’m happy about.”
Chris notes that Amy’s kids don’t visit much, suggesting they move to Idaho, where his family is from. Amy is hesitant, noting that when Zach and Tori moved, it changed their dynamic.
Later in the episode, Matt and his fiancée, Caryn Chandler, talk about building a playground on their property. When Caryn notes that Zach and Tori and their kids don’t come around anymore, Matt replies, “I’m always hopeful that Zach and Tori will bring the kids around and if not, the kids will be coming around later in life.”
Caryn adds, “I think we’ve just come to terms that they don’t want a relationship and we have to accept that.”
In an aside interview, Caryn adds that she still loves Zach and Tori’s kids, saying, “Just because it’s now ended sad, doesn’t mean that that didn’t exist. Those memories I’m holding onto. I don’t know the future. It doesn’t look bright at this moment in time, but I’m not gonna give up hope. Just because we missed a couple years, there’s always relationships to be rebuilt.”
Zach takes his kids to pick blackberries, reflecting on how his childhood will be different from theirs.
“Growing up on the farm, I spent a lot of time outdoors and I definitely want that same experience for our kids,” Zach shares. “The farm was part of my life and it’s not gonna be part of our kids’ lives the same way it was mine. No one’s holding grudges, no one’s intentionally not going to the farm. There’s just no interest. The kids don’t ask.”
As for his relationship with his dad, Zach says, “That ship’s all sailed. There’s not much of a relationship. It’s just doing our own thing. Time might even it out, but everything will be healed, it’ll just be different.”
Tori also talks about her family’s life separate from the older Roloffs.
“I think that we’ve created a life here that I don’t think could have been created anywhere else,” she said. “I think we’ve found an independency and we’ve found just our own space. This is all ours and it has nothing to do with anyone else.”
The moment marked the couple’s final scene on the TLC series.
Zach and Tori, who are parents to children Jackson, 6, Lilah, 4, and Josiah, almost 2, have been estranged from Zach’s dad, Matt, for several years due to drama surrounding the sale of the family’s farm.
The couple first confirmed they were leaving the show on their Raising Heights podcast in February.
“We are not [coming back], and we made that pretty clear the last cycle,” Zach said at the time. “This last cycle was rough between the family, the farm deal and we’re done with that. We’ve moved on.”
He added, “I think the chapter has closed regardless of us being asked back or not. We’ve made it pretty clear we’re done with that chapter for multiple reasons, the reasons we will get into here.”
In 2022, Zach addressed their future on the show, telling ET, “We take that day by day or week by week or month by month, so we take that one step at a time… Every year, we kind of reevaluate where we’re at and if we have more positive things to share.”
He added, “Just about the time we say, ‘Ah, man, we can’t do this anymore. It’s too embarrassing, it’s too hard.’ Then somebody comes up to us in public and says how touched they are and how their family is going through some of the stuff.”
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