Melissa Gilbert is getting candid about her rollercoaster relationship with Rob Lowe, describing their six-year romance as “very tumultuous” and filled with emotional ups and downs.
The former Little House on the Prairie star, now 61, dated Rob Lowe off and on from 1981 until 1987. Speaking on the I Choose Me podcast, she reflected on their time together, admitting that his sudden rise to fame and attention from other women made things difficult. “I was such a baby when Rob and I were together,” she shared. “I was 17, and we broke up for the last time when I was 23. It was very tumultuous.”
At the time they met, Melissa was already a seasoned actress, while Rob was just getting started. “I was still on Little House on the Prairie and he was just starting out, so I watched this meteoric rise happen right in front of me,” she recalled. But with that fame came challenges she didn’t expect — especially the attention he received from female fans.
“I wasn’t prepared for the fandom and frankly, the girls,” Melissa said. “I always thought every woman was my sister. But when Rob and I were together, it was like I didn’t exist. Women would push past me and stuff phone numbers into his pockets. To say it was disconcerting is doing it a big disservice. It was hard and horrible.”
Despite the heartache, Melissa now sees the relationship as a learning experience. “I think I learned a lot about what didn’t work for me and what I wouldn’t stand for later on,” she said. “Those are really valuable and important lessons, even if they’re born of heartbreak and angst.”
While acknowledging they had “really, really, really fun times,” Melissa admitted the relationship kept her in a state of emotional tension. “I look at the way my life is so easeful now,” she added, “and I look at it back then and feel like my shoulders were always up by my ears — always waiting for the next shoe to drop.”
Today, Gilbert is happily settled and grateful for the growth that came from that chapter of her life — no matter how rocky it may have been.
