'Little House on the Prairie' star admits it was 'horrible' dating Rob Lowe during his heartthrob era

Melissa Gilbert is reflecting on her past love life During an appearance on the I Choose Me With Jennie Garth podcast the Little House on the Prairie star got candid about navigating fame from a young age and explained how dating Rob Lowe impacted her view on relationships moving forward I guess looking back on those six years I mean I was such a baby when Rob and I were together stated Gilbert who dated Lowe on and off from when she was to It was very tumultuous I felt like a bit of an old sage in the business at that point because I'd been doing it for so long And I was still on Little House on the Prairie when we met and it had already been years and he was sort of starting out LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE STAR MELISSA GILBERT'S NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER CAUSED TOUGH CHILDHOOD He'd done a little bit of television And so 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 I was prepared for all of 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 I dependably thought that every girl and woman was my sister We're sisters but it was not evident at all when Rob and I were a couple I mean it was like I didn't exist They just pushed right past me and stuck phone numbers in his pockets and stuff Gilbert admitted that period of her life was laborious To say it was disconcerting is doing it a big disservice she explained It was hard and horrible A representative for Lowe did not directly respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSDespite the challenges Gilbert disclosed the relationship helped her learn a lot about desires when it came to finding love I think I learned a lot about what didn't work for me truly and what I wouldn't stand for later on she announced They're hard because they usually are born of heartbreak and angst but those are really valuable and central lessons We had a few really really really fun times Last year Gilbert - who landed the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder at the age of - opened up about her decision to leave Hollywood All of the pressures I faced all of them Gilbert explained to People magazine at the time When you live in Los Angeles it s like living at the mall when you work at the mall Literally everyone is in the business When you walk into a restaurant every head turns to see who walked in Everybody's inevitably looking curious competing and that's a really arduous thing especially for a female actor It puts a lot of pressure on staying thin and staying young and really it makes it hard to feel relaxed in one's own skin because of the aging process No matter how much we push it downstream it's inevitable she continued So are you going to age comfortably and happily Are you going to fight it be unhealthy and feel like there's something wrong with you for aging and that you're defective because you've gotten older Gilbert and her husband actor Timothy Busfield moved to Michigan in The actress spent the next sparse years without Botox or facial fillers She even had her breast implants removed in The -year-old film producer emphasized aging is a blessing CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER I had to get out of there L A because it felt like I was not being authentically myself she informed People In the five years that I was in Michigan all of that stopped I stopped everything and just focused on being as physically and emotionally healthy as I could And I think that shows Yes I'm aging but it's not a curse it's a blessing Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this summary