Next Friday, Marriage Bootcamp digs pretty deep as Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert, both 29, are forced to confront some childhood trauma and abuse that has made dating and marriage difficult for them. It’s not really a shock that former Playboy Bunny, Jade had a tough childhood —especially after seeing her Hometown on Chris Soules season of The Bachelor. And on Friday the professionals at We tv will dive in and get Jade to open up about the challenges she faced.
In a preview clip, Dr. Venus Nicolino introduces an exercise that requires the couples to reveal their ’emotional baggage’.
“The whole point of today’s lesson: how to get your emotional baggage out of your relationship,” she says. “And right now, step one is putting it all out on the table.”
“I’ve been through some therapy for this, because it was just something I thought I deserved — and I thought about suicide all the time,”
She then laments that her father Laren Roper despite witnessing the abuse, never intervened on her behalf,
“My dad knew about it, but my dad never did anything. … If my dad didn’t stick up for me, then [it was] like what my mom said was true.”
Ironically Laren is a therapist in Gering, Nebraska.
“I grew to like hate myself,” she reveals. “I became very depressed. Then I had anxiety and I started drinking a ton just to like numb myself.”
Again, not surprised. Jade has the resume of a girl that is trying to escape pain. Not to mention tattoos are often a sign that someone was abused.
Of course I do consider that we are only hearing her side of things and her parents may have a different version of events, but either way, this is a girl who is trying to escape pain. Recall she also has a criminal record–everything from trying to sell drugs to a DUI to shoplifting.
- 2004: Criminal case, minor in possession to sell/dispense alcohol that went to juvenile court and eventually dismissed
- 2005: DUI, pleads no contest
- 2006: 2 counts of theft (0-$200, $201-$499), dismissed
- 2011: Shoplifting under $300, dismissed
Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars airs on WE tv Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.
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