Melissa Gilbert Reflects on ‘Tumultuous’ Relationship with Rob Lowe: ‘It Was Horrible’

During a recent appearance on Jennie Garth’s I Choose Me podcast, the Little House on the Prairie alum opened up about her six-year relationship with Lowe, and the intense ups and downs that came with dating one of Hollywood’s rising stars.

“I was such a baby when Rob and I were together,” said Gilbert, now 61, reflecting on the start of their relationship in 1981, when both were just 17 years old.

The two young stars dated on and off before ultimately calling it quits for good in 1987, when they were both 23. “It was very tumultuous,” Gilbert admitted. “I felt like a bit of an old sage in the business at that point, because I’d been doing it for so long.”

While Gilbert was already a seasoned actress thanks to her role as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lowe’s career was just starting to skyrocket, and that came with a whole new level of fame for which Gilbert wasn’t prepared.

“I was able to, sort of, sit back and watch this meteoric rise happen. I don’t think I was prepared for the stuff that came with it, necessarily,” she explained. “I was prepared for all of the having to go to premieres and things and award shows and all of that. But I wasn’t prepared for the fandom and, frankly, the girls.”

Gilbert recalled being stunned by how brazen some of Lowe’s fans were during their time together.

“It was like I didn’t exist. They just push right past me and stick phone numbers in his pockets and stuff,” she said. “To say it was disconcerting is doing it a big disservice. It was horrible.”

Despite the pain, Gilbert said the experience taught her some hard but necessary lessons.

“I think I learned a lot about what didn’t work for me, actually. And what I wouldn’t stand for later on,” she shared. “We had some really, really, really fun times,” she added, “but I also got some really valuable and important lessons.”

Gilbert noted how different her life feels now, compared to the anxiety she carried back then.

“In looking back, I look at the way my life is so easeful now,” she said. “But I look at it back then and I feel like I was all, like my shoulders were always up by my ears. Always waiting for the next shoe to drop or something bad to happen or some, I don’t know, something untoward or gross.”

After her relationship with Lowe ended, Gilbert married actor Bo Brinkman in 1988, with whom she shares a son. They divorced in 1994. She later wed Bruce Boxleitner in 1995; the two split in 2011. In 2013, she tied the knot with actor and director Timothy Busfield, and the couple has been going strong ever since.

As for Lowe, he went on to marry Sheryl Berkoff in 1991. The pair share two sons, Matthew, 32, and John, 29.