‘Little House on the Prairie’s’ Melissa Gilbert Once Said Rob Lowe ‘Ruined’ Her Life
Little House on the Prairie’s Melissa Gilbert was in a serious long-term relationship with Rob Lowe. The couple dated on and off from their teen years into their 20s. Although their courtship was magical at first, everything changed when Lowe’s stardom reached an almost unfathomable level. After starring in The Outsiders, it seemed like everyone suddenly cared more about him than Gilbert.
All at once, women began throwing themselves at the blue-eyed heartthrob, and Gilbert felt like she could never compete with the countless women who were after her man. Unfortunately for the Little House on the Prairie star, Lowe loved the blatant attention he received from women. And because of this, Gilbert told Lowe that he “ruined” her life.
Rob Lowe and Melissa Gilbert were the perfect couple before ‘The Outsiders’ premiered
In Gilbert’s memoir titled Prairie Tale, she recalls her tumultuous relationship with the Brat Pack member. At first, their relationship was perfect.
Lowe and Gilbert were madly in love, and they used to sneak through each other’s bedroom windows at night just to snuggle up next to each other. Lowe would write her endless poetry and spoil her with affection. As Gilbert reports in her memoir, “I fell instantly, hopelessly and stupidly in love. We went from first date to instant couple. I felt like I was starving for Rob.”
But as the honeymoon phase slowly fizzled out, so did Lowe’s love for her. After starring in The Outsiders as SodaPop Curtis, his fame heightened to a whole new level. Suddenly, he couldn’t enter a room without women stuffing their phone numbers into his pocket. It didn’t matter if Gilbert was right next to him.
This was his new life, and the Prairie actor became more and more uncomfortable with his newfound fame.
Rob Lowe cheated on Melissa Gilbert with a co-star
Gilbert became weary of one of Lowe’s co-stars, who her boyfriend seemed a little too interested in. And as it turns out, her suspicions were valid. Lowe began a secret affair with his co-star, leaving Gilbert heartbroken. And in a heap of anger, she told him that he ruined her life.
“I was mad,” she writes. “I had gone from crushed to perplexed to f*cking pissed. He’d call and say he wanted to see me and talk. I’d tell him to go f*ck himself. He called and pleaded.”
Gilbert continues, saying, “I said I didn’t want to see him. I told him that I hated him. I described how he had ruined my life, explaining if this was the way it was going to be between us, I wasn’t up to it.” Gilbert adds that she “didn’t want to be that person who, every time Rob went on location, sat at home wondering who he was screwing.”
Rob Lowe left Melissa Gilbert after they got engaged
Their love story ultimately ended in tragedy. According to Gilbert’s memoir, Lowe proposed to Gilbert. And although she thought everything would finally be OK between them, everything changed for the worse after she got pregnant with his baby. When she told Rob the news, the actor got cold feet. Not ready to be a father just yet, he left the Little House on the Prairie star.
Not long after, Gilbert suffered a miscarriage. She was devastated. “I had lost my baby and my relationship with Rob,” she writes. “And it hurt like hell.”
