For the longest time, TLC’s reality show “The Little Couple” captured our hearts by giving us a deep and emotional insight into the relationship of Bill Klein and Jennifer Arnold. While raising awareness about skeletal dysplasia, “The Little Couple” also taught us that people with this disorder are actually just like everyone else.
Nonetheless, it’s been a while since we last saw “The Little Couple” on TV and that has brought out many questions, especially regarding the current state of Bill and Jennifer’s marriage, their health and family. If you want an update of what our favorite little pair is doing, just keep with us!
Did They Get Divorced?
You might have heard a lot of rumors about Bill Klein and Jennifer Arnold recently. The long hiatus their show “The Little Couple” went through following the 14th season’s finale obviously caused many rumors to arise, including those which tried to explain the series’ prolonged disappearance from TV as a product of marital problems between the couple.
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However, any good fan of “The Little Couple” will be relieved and happy to know that Bill and Jen are in fact still together. It’s unknown where rumors of a separation or divorce come from, but just by taking a look at the couple’s individual Instagram accounts should erase any doubts about the state of their relationship, as neither of them is shy about sharing pics or stories including their spouse. All in all, their relationship hopefully will continue on strongly for many years to come.
Did They Sue Their Network?
One of the main worries when it comes to the current state of “The Little Couple”, is related to a lawsuit that Jennifer and Bill filed against Discovery Communications.
The issue goes back to 2016, when the show’s production company, LMNO Cable Group, sued Discovery Communications for fraud. As LMNO claimed, the network falsified records in order to ‘hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in embezzled money’, in addition to hi-jacking “The Little Couple” from them.
Though Discovery and LMNO eventually came to a settlement for an undisclosed amount, Bill and Jen weren’t pleased with the outcome, and in 2017 filed their own lawsuit against LMNO for breach in contract, unfair competition and fraud. As stated in court papers, Bill and Jen felt ‘entitled to a portion of LMNO’s contingent compensation in “The Little People”’.
The case was ultimately dismissed in 2020, after Bill and Jen came to an undisclosed out-of-court settlement, but many people wonder if this legal battle is the cause of “The Little People”s hiatus. Nonetheless, while that was a strong possibility, the fact that the issue started long before the show was put on hold and hadn’t effected the show in any way back then, points out the business relationship between both parts was still in place, despite their legal problems.
What Happened To The Show?
Everyone knows that the entertainment industry is not to be trusted. More often than not, shows are suddenly cancelled regardless of their apparent success, or how long they’ve been on air.
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So it’s not surprising seeing many fans of “The Little Couple” worrying about the show’s future, as the series wasn’t immediately renewed following the end of its 14th season in late 2019. That’s a rare occurrence considering the show had usually premiered at least one season per year. As well, the cast’s then-ongoing lawsuit against Discovery only made the situation more worrisome.
Nonetheless, there’s apparently nothing to worry about. Although the show hadn’t been renewed by late 2021, in December Jennifer took to Instagram to say she had ‘exciting things’ to reveal soon, which her fans immediately suspected are related to the show.
Though her words weren’t a straightforward confirmation of a new season, it would make sense for the show to return to TV screens, as the legal battle against their producer had already ended. Besides that, the fact that TLC never officially cancelled “The Little Couple” makes its fans hopeful for its eventual return.
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Did Bill Have An Accident?
Every good fan of “The Little Couple” knows that Bill and Jen’s health has always been a big concern, due to their skeletal dysplasia. That’s why it was so worrisome when Bill Klein revealed in July 2021 that he’d had an accident.
Showing a pic of a concerning-looking radiography on Instagram, Bill confessed that while trying to flee from a swarm of wasps, he fell to the pavement and severely injured his elbow: ‘my head forgot that my legs have never “run” (to or away from anything, before, ever), even when chased’, he wrote on the caption. Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time for Bill to suffer a similar traumatism, as he’d actually already broken his elbow, when he crashed his bike at seven years old.
Back to the present, Bill initially checked his elbow right after the accident, but after a month without any visible recovery he went back to the doctors. By early October he’d gone through four surgeries and six procedures before being told his elbow was finally recovering.
Though Bill didn’t further update his fans on his elbow’s situation for the next couple of months, he evidently looked better in the pics shared by Jen in December 2021.
Were They In Another Show Before?
If you’re a recent viewer of “The Little Couple”, you most-likely don’t know that the show isn’t Jen and Bill’s first experience with TV. The couple actually debuted on TV with the one-hour documentary “Little People: Just Married” premiered in 2009 on TLC.
The special set both in New York and Texas, documented Bill and Jen’s lives as newly-weds in a long-distance relationship, as they overcame health-related issues. Jen’s experiences while completing her Master of Medical Education were complemented with Bill’s struggles to manage his business alone.
The rating success achieved by “Little People: Just Married” was so massive, that TLC premiered “The Little Couple” shortly after.
Afterwards, Jen and Bill have made several appearances in talk shows such as “The Dr. Oz Show”, and in the renovation series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, making it evident that their fame surpassed their own show by a long shot.
Bill & Jen’s Health
Ever since “The Little Couple” debuted on TV in 2009, Bill and Jen have fairly taught us valuable things about relationships, mutual respect, and how to have a good marriage even when their careers keep them both extremely busy.
Nonetheless, the most inspiring factor of “The Little Couple” is how Bill and Jen’s resilience has kept them afloat as they faced some of the most enduring health issues. As it happens, both Bill and Jen have skeletal dysplasia, a disorder which affects the development of bones, and causes several physical functionality issues.
Dealing with this condition since birth surely hasn’t been easy and both have gone through surgery several in order to avoid using wheelchairs.
Nonetheless, the couple’s condition hasn’t stopped them from having successful careers. For starters, Bill is an entrepreneur and businessman, while Jen is a neonatologist, and worked at the Texas Children’s Hospital for several years.
Though the couple’s condition obligates them to use some tools, such as pedal extenders to drive, they feel that their lives activities shouldn’t be regarded with amazement: ‘We go through the same steps to get there. Just because we have the intermediary of a stepladder or something like that, it’s not that big a deal’ said Bill to the sudburystar.com in 2009. Indeed, what defines him and Jen the most is how common they are, despite every hardship they’ve faced.
Business
As if having successful careers wasn’t enough, Bill and Jen also opened their own business. Rocky & Maggie’s in 2012, which functions both as a physical and online boutique, wellness center, and salon for pets.
More than a business, Rocky & Maggie is a dream come true for the couple. As Bill narrated on his old blog, his best memories while growing up had something to do with his pets. Out of those, the ‘fondest one’ was definitely his dog Midnight’s company while he recovered from his leg surgery: ‘Midnight spent nearly every night sleeping on my bed. Most mornings, I would wake up with her sleeping on my cast… always right there next to me.’
Later when Bill met Jen, their relationship was inherently tied to pets. They adopted a dog named Belle in New York, and soon afterwards also took in Rocky, who lived in their Florida residence. Nonetheless, dealing with their constant travels and Belle’s increasing size, made it difficult to keep the dog, ultimately letting Bill’s mother adopt her.
After moving together, they also adopted Maggie, who along with Rocky and all their past pets were the inspiration behind establishing their shop, which is still active and thriving nowadays.
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Kids’ Adoption
Besides their struggles with skeletal dysplasia, for a long time, Bill and Jen were unable to conceive. After Jen was told her dwarfism made it difficult for her to get pregnant, their attempts at a surrogate pregnancy resulted in two miscarriages, which left them devastated.
Nonetheless, it’s obvious that Jen and Bill don’t give up easily. Looking for more options, Jen joined rainbowkids.com, a site specialized in the adoption of kids with special needs and health problems. There she found William, a three-year-old Chinese boy with dwarfism, who became the couple’s adopted son in 2013: ‘It was instant, our connection. My relationship with Will is something I didn’t expect’, Jen confessed to People.com.
Only six months after Will’s adoption, Zoey became the fourth addition to their little family. Though the girl’s adoption was apparently harder than Will’s, Bill and Jen were finally able to adopt the two-year-old girl, who also has dwarfism, from a foster home in India.
Of course, the road after adoption hasn’t been an easy one. While Zoey had problems adapting to her family, and went through speech therapy, Will’s difficulty hearing required several surgeries. Fortunately, both children’s health issues and social skills have improved for the better, and they live happily nowadays.
Jennifer’s Cancer
One of the hardest times of Jen’s life was definitely being diagnosed with cancer in 2013. The first hints that something wasn’t well with her came while in India, when Jen suddenly started bleeding, while Zoey’s adoption was in process.
Leaving her husband to complete the adoption, Jen rushed back to the US to be treated, and was diagnosed with a stage three choriocarcinoma, a type of cancer product of the miscarriage she suferred in September that year. As explained by Jen’s treating doctor, the rare condition originated in the placenta cells that weren’t developed after her lost pregnancy. Jen’s body’s lack of reaction to the chemotherapy also made surgery unavoidable.
As is obvious, the news was heart-breaking to everyone: ‘The one time I get pregnant, I get cancer’, Jen told People.com at the time. Nonetheless, Jen finished her treatment by February 2014 and went into remission, though she admitted that sometimes the road was unbearable: ‘I had a lot of fatigue and nausea, and some days it just felt like my hands and feet were very heavy.’ The whole process was shown during the seventh season of “The Little Couple”.
Fortunately, nowadays Jen is cancer free.
What Are Jen and Bill’s Religion?
Regardless of being reality TV stars, some details about Bill and Jen’s personal lives might not be as clear as others. While they might appear as people disinterested in religion, any good fan of “The Little Couple” might remember that back in the seventh season, Bill and Jen baptised their children in the Catholic faith.
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Although this tradition usually happens when kids are toddlers, it was delayed that long as Zoey and Will were well past that age when they were adopted, added to their adoptive mother’s cancer treatment not allowing them to do the ceremony.
All in all, while faith is usually not a topic that our favorite little family often talks about, it’s clear they highly value their spirituality.
Why Did They Move From Texas?
Ever since “The Little Couple” premiered, Bill and Jen had us used to their life in Texas, where they made one their biggest dreams come true after buying a custom-made home.
That’s why the family’s sudden move from Texas to Florida left viewers lost and with too many questions. Nonetheless, it’s been reported that what pushed the family to make such a big change was a job opportunity Bill couldn’t reject in Florida.
Despite the unexpected move, the couple has the support of Jen’s family in Florida. The most important part is definitely the family’s well-being and happiness, something that Bill and Jen have taught us very well.
