Zach and Tori Roloff have recently found themselves in seriously hot water. In the newest season of Little People, Big World, their questionable parenting has been completely exposed in numerous scenes. The truth behind their troubling – and sometimes very problematic – parenting decisions is honestly crazy, so let’s get into it.
In Touch Weekly reported that Zach and Tori made a surprising announcement on an episode of their Raising Heights podcast. It turns out that they aren’t going to be returning for another season of Little People, Big World.
Now, viewers are wondering if their choice was based on the intense parenting criticism that they’ve faced. Both Zach and Tori have been called out for putting their children in potentially unsafe situations while filming. Even though season 25 just premiered in February, their controversial parenting has been shown in every single episode so far.
In the first episode of the latest season, Zach was recovering from surgery. This meant Tori had been taking care of all three kids on her own. You could tell how emotionally and physically exhausted she was by how she reacted when he made a pretty bizarre suggestion.
Zach encouraged Jackson and Lilah to race around the house indoors on their scooters. He told them whoever was the fastest would win. Tori quickly rolled her eyes, before telling him that the kids could end up getting hurt that way.
But what happened in the following episodes was extremely concerning. Zach has been catching way more heat than Tori lately. A lot of that has to do with how differently he treats Jackson and Lilah.
Zach Favors Jackson
Many viewers have accused him of showing favoritism toward Jackson in several scenes. This was incredibly obvious during episode two.
In one scene, Zach raced Jackson out of the house and completely left Lilah behind in the yard. He was showing the cameras the progress he’d been making on his workshop, and he held Jackson’s hand as they went up to the second floor of the structure. Meanwhile, Lilah was nowhere in sight.
At one point, Zach heard Lilah calling out for him and asking for help. She had tried to follow her dad and brother to the shop but ended up getting stuck in the mud.
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Shockingly, Zach sounded super annoyed with her when he finally went down to help her. His tone of voice was harsh as he told Lilah that she needed to learn to walk around the mud. When the episode was filmed, she was 3 years old and had recently started getting more steady on her feet.
But there’s another reason why the scene was so unsettling, and it’s absolutely terrifying. Zach clearly hadn’t been watching Lilah when he and Jackson were in the shop.
If Lilah hadn’t gotten stuck in the mud and had tried climbing the stairs in the workshop by herself, she could have gotten seriously injured. But that’s not all.
Most viewers already know that Zach and Tori’s new property has a stream running through the backyard. If Lilah had wandered too close to the water while unsupervised, there could have been a totally different situation with a very tragic ending.
Tori Caused Lilah to Have an Accident in Ballet
Eventually, Tori came outside so that she could get Lilah ready for dance class. She mentioned that her daughter really loved being in ballet so far. But what she revealed next was truly unbelievable.
Tori claimed that during a previous dance class, one of the other little girls had come out to where all the moms were waiting because she needed to go to the bathroom. Then, Lilah came out and asked to go to the bathroom as well, but she wasn’t allowed to go.
Tori explained that she refused to take her to the bathroom because she thought her daughter was just copying the other little girl. Five minutes later, Lilah unfortunately had an accident in her pants, which Tori claimed was a “whole thing.” Because she hadn’t believed her 3-year-old needed to use the bathroom, poor Lilah ended up embarrassed in front of everyone.
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Tori said that afterward, she made sure to have Lilah go to the bathroom before class started. But before they left for ballet that evening, Zach’s favoritism was exposed again in an outrageous way. After Lilah got dressed, she was trying to show Zach how well she could spin.
But one of the times she twirled around, she fell pretty hard onto the floor and almost hit her face. She immediately looked up at him, but how he reacted was seriously heartbreaking. Zach showed zero concern as he told Lilah that she needed to do that without falling.
Obviously, she hadn’t tried to fall on purpose. He didn’t even ask her if she was okay, or offer to help her get off the floor. What happened next was just as infuriating.
Zach Had Never Taken Care of All of the Kids on His Own
Later in the episode, Zach and Tori took the kids bowling. When they were talking about the outing in a confessional scene, Zach said it was so much fun being able to watch Jackson do new things. Lilah was there, too, so why didn’t he mention her at all?
In the third episode, Zach took care of the kids for a few days while Tori went on a girls’ trip to California. But before she left, he asked her what he needed to know while she was gone. It turns out that he had never really taken care of all three kids on his own before.
Tori made a huge list for Zach including what to make for dinner each day, down to the cooking instructions. She also wrote down reminders of when Jackson needed to be dropped off and picked up from school since Zach wasn’t completely sure of the times.
The first morning, things were already off to a bad start. When Lilah woke up, she asked Zach to change her dirty diaper.
But instead of cleaning her up, he gave her some yogurt and told her that he would change her later. Not only was it unsanitary for Lilah to sit in a soiled diaper, it must have been so uncomfortable for her.
Throughout the rest of the episode, Zach’s incompetence as a parent was on full display. In one scene, Zach took the kids furniture shopping, which was a total disaster.
He claimed that, unlike Tori, he wasn’t comfortable disciplining the kids in public. So when Lilah and Josiah started hitting each other in the store, it quickly turned into a complete meltdown. Zach decided that he would look for furniture another day and left the store.
Zach Left Josiah to Nap Alone
But instead of having Jackson and Lilah walk near him as he pushed the stroller, he put them in an insanely dangerous situation. Zach let Jackson and Lilah walk out of the store before him. They were already in the parking lot by the time he got through the door.
Thankfully, they didn’t end up getting hurt. But it was pretty shocking that Zach seemingly didn’t even think about the cars driving around.
When Jackson was at school the next day, Zach took Lilah for a walk outside after he put Josiah down for a nap. He didn’t even bring a baby monitor as they made their way along the banks of the stream. But what happened next was unbelievably frustrating.
Zach pointed out that Lilah was wearing her baby brother’s jacket and her boots were on the wrong feet. It seemed like he hadn’t even tried to help her get dressed to go outside. He just shamed her for wearing the wrong things instead.
Not surprisingly, Lilah had trouble walking in the mud and ended up slipping. Zach sounded so annoyed that he would have to change her clothes, even though it was his fault for not helping her in the first place.
Zach Didn’t Send Jackson’s Lunch Notes to School
Unfortunately, Jackson was also late to school each day that Zach was in charge of the kids. Every morning, Zach had somehow also forgotten a really important detail.
Tori had pre-written notes for Jackson’s lunches before she left, because of how much the messages meant to him. But sadly, Zach didn’t remember to pack any of the notes in his son’s lunch bag.
Zach didn’t seem to think it was that big of a deal, even though he had caught Jackson writing notes to himself in the past. All of his classmates would read the notes their parents had left them aloud, so Jackson probably felt really disappointed each day that Zach forgot.
Needless to say, how he parented when Tori wasn’t home was extremely telling. Many viewers have been discussing Zach’s parenting on Reddit, and most of them feel like he must be pretty uninvolved. It was chaos when Tori left him in charge, so it seems pretty safe to say that he usually doesn’t help out that much at all.
But what happened during the next episode was just as ridiculous. In episode four, Zach invited Jackson’s soccer friends and their parents over to the house on a Saturday evening. Since it would be about 5:30 p.m. when the guests arrived, Tori decided to order pizza.
But instead of being grateful that she stepped in to help feed everyone, Zach responded in a seriously crazy way. Zach claimed that Tori couldn’t let him throw “his” party on his own, and made it seem like she was overstepping by ordering food.
He even criticized her for making things too complicated all of the time. But after the party, he ultimately realized that she was right.
The Real Reason Zach and Tori Left Little People Big World
Zach and Tori explained on their podcast that they were leaving Little People, Big World because that chapter in their lives had closed. According to Screenrant, the couple also claimed that they didn’t like that the show’s narrative was so focused on the Roloff family drama.
Tori and Zach revealed that their kids were also starting to become very aware of the cameras. They didn’t want their participation in the show to become too much for their children so that also factored into their decision to stop filming.
But now that the couple’s questionable parenting has been exposed more than ever in the latest episodes, it’s hard not to wonder if that also played a role in their departure. After filming season 25, maybe they realized how much of the footage would feature their family’s chaotic moments.
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next on Little People, Big World, especially when it comes to the couple’s parenting choices. Hopefully, Zach will stop showing favoritism to Jackson and start treating Lilah more kindly.
