Kail Lowry recently opened up about her longtime estrangement from her mother, Suzi Irwin, admitting that she still feels extremely guilty for going “no contact” with her mom years ago.
During Friday’s episode of her Barely Famous podcast, Kail was discussing Gypsy-Rose Blanchard‘s reality show, Gypsy-Rose: Life After Lockup, and wondering how Gypsy deals with the guilt she carries over the death of her mother, whom Gypsy helped murder in 2015. (Gypsy went to prison for eight years and was paroled in December 2023. She immediately started filming her reality show after her release.)
Anyway, Kail said that, like Gypsy, she carries a lot of guilt over her own past decisions, particularly her decision to stop speaking to her mother. (As Teen Mom 2 fans will remember, Kail has had a very strained relationship with Suzi for the majority of her life, due in part to Suzi’s alcoholism. Suzi has only met two of Kail’s seven kids because of this.)
“I’ve done nothing that involves murder, [but] I’ve made bad decisions, and the guilt has eaten me alive,” Kail told her co-host Kristen Hook. “But they weren’t necessarily, like, this level of permanent decisions… What would that sort of guilt feel like, to carry that with you for the rest of your life?
“Like, I cut off my own mom by choice, and it eats me alive every single day,” Kail said.
Kail— who has only heard from Suzi once in five years— said that the amount she struggles with her decision varies.
“It’s like one of those things where it comes in waves,” she said. “Like, some days more than others, some weeks more than others. But, like, that alone, I think about on a fairly regular basis. What would that be like to kill someone?”
Kristen went on to state that, in her opinion, Gypsy has “made amends” with her decision to help kill her mom, and that she doesn’t feel guilty about it anymore.
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“So, I’ve made amends, and I’m at peace with my decision to cut my mom off,” Kail said. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt on some days, weeks. That’s more so what I mean. So, I guess the same would, I would imagine, would be true for her. She’s come to terms with committing the murder.”
Back in January, Kail revealed on one of her podcasts that Suzi tried to contact her via Facebook message after Kail spoke about her mom on a podcast.
“My mom messaged me,” Kail said in January. “I think [the message said], ‘I love you, and I always will,’ or something like that…It took me a minute, but I messaged her back, ‘Then how could you walk this earth knowing that you have all these grandkids and you don’t care?’
“And her response to that really pissed me off,” Kail continued. “Because she goes back and forth with [taking] accountability [for her past actions].”
Kail stated that, previously, she had taken Suzi’s accountability as “not an apology but at least an acknowledgement.
“At least you know what you did and, you may not be sorry, but maybe that was your best [parenting]? I don’t know,” she said. “But you acknowledged [what you did], cool.”
However, Suzi’s response to what Kail wrote about her not seeing her grandkids shocked Kail.
“I just wasn’t prepared for that. She was like, ‘And your life? Walk a mile.’ And I was like, ‘Ma’am, you made my life hard. You very much f**ked me up. You chose whatever your life [was going to be].’ To this day, from all accounts that I have gotten about my mom’s life, my mom did not live a very difficult life. My mom chose a difficult [life]. She went down a path that ultimately…contributed to the life she’s living now.
“…I don’t understand how you can say ‘Walk a mile’ when you chose that,” Kail continued.
Kail’s interaction with her mom was short-lived, as Kail stated that Suzi ended up blocking her on Facebook.
“That was the first conversation that we’ve had since she called me in 2019,” she said. (That convo played out on an episode of ‘Teen Mom 2,’ by the way.) “Right before that, she…called me because my grandmother passed away. So I’ve had three conversations with her in six years. And I haven’t seen her. ‘Walk a mile’ was the last thing she said to me.”
Later on Friday’s episode of Barely Famous, Kail wondered if Gypsy would kill her mom again, even if she were given the chance to go back in time and change her decision.
“She helped murder her mom, goes to jail, becomes an overnight celebrity, and now she has her own TV show. Would she do this all again? Would she kill her mom again knowing what the outcome is today?”
Kail reflected on whether or not she would change the major event in her life that changed the course of her future: getting pregnant at 16 with her son Isaac.
“I say it all the time. I would never be where I am today if I didn’t get pregnant and go on 16 and Pregnant,” Kail said. ” So would I do it all over again? Yeah. Probably. I probably would. Not for the fame, but for everything else. Like, I don’t regret anything. Right? So, like, it worked out, but for her, someone was killed.
“…Like, I made permanent decisions and ended up where I ended up,” Kail said. “[Gypsy] made permanent decisions in another way that helped her end up where she is today.”
You can listen to the full episode of Barely Famous below!
RELATED STORY: Kail Lowry Talks About How Her Relationships with Men Have Caused Trauma To Her Kids;
(Photos: MTV; Instagram; Lifetime)
25 Responses
Her cognitive dissonance between Suzy choosing a hard life, but refusing to see that she does the same is wild.
I guess since she isn’t having any more babbbyses, the mom will be the new talking point/clickbait. Expect a multi-month “coming to terms” therapy review as she works thru feelings and collects dollars. It is at least more interesting than hearing her dish dirt on her baby daddies in between bouts of shooting things out of her cooter. I would have suggested a new fun quirky pet to have something to post about, but she seems to only listen to her PR team when damage control is involved. At some point she really needs to get therapy on her control issues and being a normal person with a normal life outside of television.
Kail needs therapy. She resents auzie and even more because Susie can live her life without being bothered by kail.
I say unbothered because she blocked her.
Her drinking was a choice, but the addiction wasn’t. The picking other men, that’s a codependency issue and yes should’ve been dealt with. Susie’s sister died and she started drinking heavily. She should’ve got therapy.
Kail should find a therapist for them both because trust me girl this will eat you alive.
Once her daughter starts getting older, her unresolved issues with her mom are going to come out. She needs to heal that relationship,
Not as in heal it and allow mom back in, but heal the relationship as in heal all those feelings so she can move past it.
There’s nothing that can be done about whats happened in the past. Even if Susie took accountability, told kail all the things kaik wants to hear won’t make everything okay. There’s a lot to unpack and move through
I believe she is better off than her mom as a mom, but she never had much support and that can trukt affect your parenting unless you sought the correct therapy.
This chick…. Was seeing someone else while living at Jo’s…. Went to do all that schooling and still does nothing. Of course she’d do it over again. She makes money despite the begging and pleading of her first born son to cut it out. Doesn’t care about anyone.
I will never forget him telling her to use a condom! When even your oldest son is smarter than you…(I think this was after Chris’ kids so clearly she didn’t listen to his advice)
Isaac won’t end up being a teen dad. I am sure of it.
I’m in no way team either of these women, but Kail has no real idea what suzi’s life was like when she was young, or what trauma she may have endured. I also have a hunch mental illness is involved.
It was defintely cruel what Suzi did to Kail as a teen, but I mean….Kail didn’t NEED to have a bunch of baby daddies either. She CHOSE that life herself.
Sounds like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
She stated in the story that Suzi had a normal life. It doesn’t matter what life she had. I was terribly abused. That doesn’t give a mother the right to get wasted, pick men over her daughter and act like a bitch.
Are you slow?!
What the hell are you talking about? Was that supposed to be directed at me? You obviously have a problem if you feel the need to go around insulting people.
Cutting off toxic family members might be hard, but sometimes it necessary, you need to establish boundaries and if they are not going to be a good healthy addition to your life then sometimes you have to say no more and cut them off for your own mental health and well being. I have cut off family members who were toxic and it was the best thing I did.
Here is the problem I have with Kail, SHE LIES SO MUCH AND GETS A LONG WITH NO ONE. Just watch, soon Elijah Scott will be in the same boat with the rest of her kids dads. Kail is toxic as hell.
She’s not “toxic” she’s maladjusted. She grew up with an alcoholic mother who chose men over her. She doesn’t know how to truly trust anyone and yea, that causes problems. I really haven’t heard her lie that much, so I’m not sure where that’s coming from.
Her brain leaks and she has the IQ of a toenail
Toxic breeds toxic.
Suzi brings no positivity, so yes, she’s better off gone.
However. Kail has no idea what Suzi’s life was like when she wasn’t around, so I do not agree with the whole comparison and deciding that Suzi coasted. “From all accounts.. “, from outsiders who never.. “walked a mile”..
Yes Suzi chose badly, but did Kail ever ask why.
Gosh. With all the therapy talk these folks love to do, I’m pretty sure Suzi has “her truth” and has been through the wringer.
Just like April. Just like Dawn. Just like Christy. Just like Barb.
I can acknowledge that adults have experiences we don’t know about and how those experiences affected their development as adults without defending any of them or their decisions.
Kail’s decision to cut off her mom is pretty much the only behavior people agree with.
Kali is strong and doing what she needs for her mental health and she’s a great mama to her kids.
How can you call her a great mom? She has 17 baby daddies that she constantly fights with publicly, she has nannies take care of her children and she didn’t even admit she had 1 child until she got busted by the press. She lies about being pregnant and so much more. She cheated on her husband. Just because she has money does not mean she is a good mother it takes way more than cash to make a mom. If I was a little child and I was in line for a mother I’d pass on Kail and wait for another!
I am one of the first to criticize Kail for her poor decisions and her life.
Suzie is an alcoholic who always chose her boyfriend and her unstable life over her daughter and grandchildren, those few times Kail let Suzie around Issac.
I don’t blame Kail at all for not allowing Suzie back into her life. As messy as Kail is, she is a stable reliable parent to her children, and its not worth her mental or physical health nor her children to let her Suzie back in. Even if Suzie could get sober, sometimes the damage has been done, and its just not even worth opening those old wounds.
Kail is absolutely not a stable parent. Being physically there and having money does not make a good parent.
Wait till Isaac cuts you off due to Your bad decisions.
Issac is like 15, if he wanted to he could move in with his dad, and stop speaking to Kail if he wanted too.. But he hasn’t….
Look I think Kail is petty, spiteful and messy. But she loves her kids and they love her.
Kail has had a revolving door of men, but unlike Suzi, Kail is not an alcoholic, nor would she ever choose a man over her kids. Kail would literally k!ll over her kids. She has a lot of issues, but Kail is leaps and bounds better of a parent that her mom ever way. At 16, Kail was living in her bf’s parents house with the Riveras having custody of her because Suzi didn’t have a job or a home. That’s not going to be Issac’s trajectory even if he does get a girl pregnant.
… man I hate defending Kail…
Let me preface- I’m not a Kail fan, but like her, I’m an adult child of estranged parents.
And like her, I know that adult children become more stranger adult children when a parent’s presence hurts more than their absence.
I wish her well as she seeks healing and cycle-breaking for her own kids. It’s an incredibly hard path to raise them differently than you were raised, and without the built-in support of healthy family members.
* adult children become estranged adult children*
(Hit comment too fast – happy Sunday, everyone!)
I cut my mother off as an adult because she liked her pills more than me or her grandchild. When she passed, I had 2 more children she had never met. She made that decision for herself. I told her if she got help, I would be there, but she died saying she didn’t have a problem.
That is very sad, but you did the right thing. My mother brought a junkie three doors down from us. He used her for money, never worked, stole. Among many other things. She couldn’t understand why I constantly tried to set boundaries with her. I don’t need a junkie around my kids.