‘Little People, Big World’ Star Matt Roloff Was ‘Touched’ By Natalia Grace’s Story, Wants to Help Her and Her Family
Little People, Big World star Matt Roloff was just as captivated by the strange saga of Natalia Grace as everyone else.
In late May, Investigation Discovery aired The Curious Case of Natalia Grace. The docuseries explored the story of a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism who was abandoned by her adoptive parents. Kristine and Michael Barnett claimed their daughter, Natalia Grace, was not a child at all, but rather a 22-year-old “con artist” and “sociopath,” in Michael’s words. Natalia and her advocates insist that she was a child when she was adopted and that the Barnetts lied about her violent behavior.
Viewer opinion on Natalia’s story was divided. But Roloff is firmly on her side, he shared in a June 3 Instagram post.
“I was very touched by the story on Natalia Grace (google it),” the TLC star wrote. “For those that don’t know she has the same type of rare Dwarfism as me. A variant of Diastrophic dysplasia.”
Matt also shared a link to a GoFundMe to help Natalia and her new family raise $10,000 for a wheelchair-accessible van.
“Let’s help get the new van and send them on a fun vacation,” he added.
Several of Matt’s followers praised him for supporting Natalia.
“I appreciate everything that your family does being advocates for disabled children who can’t advocate for themselves,” one person commented. “I believe Natalia is one of those children. Those meant to advocate for her failed her time and again.”
Natalia Grace will share her side of the story in an upcoming documentary
Until recently, Natalia could not speak out about her experience with the Barnetts because of a gag order related to a criminal case against them. Now that the gag order has been lifted, she’s free to share her side of the story. She’ll do just that in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. It will air later this summer on ID.
“I want to tell people what really happened. Because I didn’t get that chance,” Natalia says in a first-look teaser for the documentary (via YouTube).
“The things that Michael said that I’ve done is a lie,” she adds. She also says Kristine “was trying to make me seem like I was just this big, crazy person.”
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace is streaming on both discovery+ and Max.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
