Jacob Roloff Reveals He’s No Longer on ‘Little People, Big World’ Because It’s “Ridiculous Reality TV”

With all the new additions to Little People, Big World, countless fans are asking — where is Jacob Roloff now? And why isn't he on the show? Fans of the hit TLC series love tuning in to catch up with the Roloff family — but many of them are wondering why the family's youngest son has been missing on the series for the past two years. Finally, we have an answer to the question that's been plaguing fans, and it's, uh, interesting.

The former reality star released his book Out to See today and revealed he struggled being in the spotlight. "Among so many things, I simply did not want this ridiculous reality TV to use up so much of my time, lest it leave too deep an imprint on my ability to influence the world otherwise," he wrote. "I did not want this imposition to become my identity, and so I rebelled in the manner that I did, and eventually exited the show."

The 21-year-old added that the TLC show turned his family into "characters." He said, "The entire concept of reality TV is strange because, as a viewer, you are subscribing to a particular illusion — that you are witnessing and being let in on the secrets of the subjects' lives. In reality you are being shown a shallow character and only what someone else approves of, in relation to narrative and talking points." He added, "This was my meaning in saying the 'Roloff Characters' in the past; not that the real people are characters or deliberately acting; but whichever Roloff you think you know is in a fact shown character — sculpted specifically to entice and convince you to keep this channel on."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjTdRYeBhL5/

When the rebellious Roloff son turned 18, he decided not to renew his contract with TLC — and he's been doing his own thing ever since. But he couldn't stay away from the camera for too long. He recently launched a YouTube channel with his fiancée, Isabel Rock, and the young couple set off to explore the Pacific North West on a three-week road trip last year — and they documented it on their video blog.

They posted their first-ever episode over the summer and teased what viewers can expect from their miniseries. "All these places have a lot to offer, we've probably driven through them on road trips but never really appreciated their beauty so I'm really excited to be able to do that," Isabel said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Qczfr3BS4

"These videos are going to be kind of a mix of dog life, travel life, just talking and stuff. We'll pretty much just show you scenery and tell you what we're doing that day or something and then also talks and stuff while we're driving," Jacob added, and Isabel revealed that her favorite part about road tripping are the talks they have on the long drives.

But it seems like they were struggling without the TLC camera crew because they kept reminding each other to look at the camera and not themselves. They also revealed that they'll be editing and filming with their smartphones. At about halfway through their first episode, the camera phone they were using fell and Isabel had to pause to pick it up. "Lord help us all," she said.

Little People, Big World airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on TLC.