Rob Kardashian has opened up about the reason behind his decision to step away from the spotlight.
The 38-year-old used to star alongside his sisters in the hit E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, until he stepped away in 2017, leaving viewers wondering what happened.
His rollercoaster relationship with Blac Chyna was playing out on-screen, culminating in their own short-lived spin-off Rob & Chyna, which aired for just one tumultuous season in 2016. When the cameras stopped rolling, so did Rob’s willingness to live his life in public.
Since the cancellation of both shows, the youngest child and only son of Kris Jenner and the late Robert Kardashian has retreated from the spotlight, choosing instead to focus on raising his daughter Dream and finding peace away from the chaos of celebrity life.
All the while, his sisters built an empire, including their current Hulu show The Kardashians.
But fans never forgot about him, and he has slowly started making appearances on his sisters’ social media pages, as well as attending their lavish birthday parties and holiday celebrations.
Rob officially returned to reality TV, making a surprise appearance in the season seven premiere of The Kardashians, which aired Wednesday.
It was brief, but it was enough to remind viewers why they’d missed him.
Why Rob Kardashian Left Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Reality TV
Rob, who was only 20 when Keeping Up With the Kardashians began in 2007, explained his absence from the show and the public eye was because he was “not comfortable” with himself.
He struggled with depression, weight gain and type 2 diabetes, and co-parenting with his estranged partner Blac Chyna.
During a chat on his sister Khloe’s podcast Khloe in Wonder Land in July 2025, he explained: “Like, I’m not comfortable in my skin, so why would I wanna go be on camera and just be vulnerable and let people in? That’s not what I wanna do.”
Will Rob Kardashian return to The Kardashians permanently?
After a nine-year break from reality TV, Rob appeared for the first time on The Kardashians for the season seven debut - and his family hopes he returns for more episodes.
The 37-year-old joined his sisters and mom, and later Caitlyn Jenner, as the family bid farewell to their family home.
Family matriarch Kris told her son it “means the world” that he showed up for the occasion, and Khloe also said in her confessional that the family is hoping he “comes back to the show”.
Khloe shared: “Rob is doing well, he’s alive. The conspiracies run wild. One of the main ones is that he lives with me. He’s in our shadows and we don’t want to have him around us. He’s not [a] miserable person who lives under a bridge… we’re totally fine.”
Rob Kardashian returned to reality TV for season seven of The Kardashians. Credit: Hulu
Kim Kardashian also gushed about her brother and expressed her wish that he rejoins the show.
“He’s just so funny,” she shared. “It would be great if he would regularly be back on. That’s the goal.”
Kourtney meanwhile said that she and Rob are “very similar in a lot of ways,” adding that he’s “super sweet, the funniest person I know. I love having him around.”