7 Little Johnstons season 13 recently premiered, and stars Trent and Amber Johnston have faced a lot of backlash over the years. The couple is proud parents to five children ranging in age from 17 to 23 years old. Their big family has grown up in front of the cameras, and they have shared their ups and downs along the way.
Trent and Amber have been married for 28 years, and began sharing their story on 7 Little Johnstons in 2015. The couple has two biological children, Jonah and Elizabeth Johnston, and they later adopted Anna, Emma, and Alex Johnston. All seven of the Johnston clan have achondroplasia and the show centers around their daily lives as a family. Living their lives in the spotlight has undoubtedly made them susceptible to criticism throughout the seasons, and Trent and Amber have taken the brunt of it for various reasons on 7 Little Johnstons.
8 Trent & Amber Fail To Keep Anything Private
Since the beginning of 7 Little Johnstons, Trent, and Amber have been very open about their intimate relationship. Instead of keeping such personal details behind closed doors, the couple does the complete opposite and shares too much information. Whether it's on television or on social media, they aren't afraid to talk about it. Most recently, Trent and Amber shared their risqué Valentine's Day photos on their shared TikTok , team7lj, much to the dismay of their followers.
7 Trent & Amber's Hypocritical Tendencies
As open and free as Trent and Amber are to share their private life with the world, they have a whole other set of rules when it comes to their kids’ love lives. Even with their adult children, they've asked them to keep PDA at a minimum because of how it may come across to their younger siblings. Trent and Amber's rules and advice surrounding this particular topic can come off as hypocritical, considering they constantly bring up their personal lives in the bedroom, and even going so far as to shower together on 7 Little Johnstons.
6 Trent & Amber's Entitled Attitude
Trent and Amber have faced numerous obstacles navigating the world with achondroplasia. Often times, things aren't set up with them in mind or have accommodations for their height. Despite this, they've found a way to work around it and figure things out when issues do inevitably present themselves. However, in knowing this, Trent and Amber aren't always prepared for certain situations and can sometimes have an entitled attitude.
The new season of 7 Little Johnstons shows a prime example of this when Amber is taking her son Alex to the airport to visit his girlfriend. After cutting it close and arriving at the airport with little time left to spare after being stuck in traffic, Amber was concerned about Alex missing his flight and was unsure where to park.
When Amber asked the attendant at the airport how to park in the garage and he told her he didn't know, she was clearly irritated. She ended up parking off to the side in front of the building in hopes that Alex wouldn't miss his flight. Instead of planning ahead and arriving to the airport early, Amber was frustrated and didn't consider her poor planning.
5 Trent & Amber Are Overbearing
Throughout the seasons, Trent and Amber have come off as overbearing on 7 Little Johnstons when it comes to how they parent their children. Now that they're entering into adulthood, the parents of five seem to be grabbing the reins even tighter. They often don't give their children the opportunity to figure things out and are constantly intervening in their lives. Since the kids are entering into serious relationships in their 20s, Amber and Trent are constantly giving advice and interfering instead of trusting that their adult children are equipped to handle it.
4 Trent & Amber Are Sometimes Oblivious To Their Children's Needs
Sometimes Trent and Amber are so focused on making all the right decisions for their kids that they fail to see what they're doing wrong on 7 Little Johnstons. While it's important to make sure that their kids are set up for success, they don't give them much of an opportunity for growth or development. This is a problem seen with all five of their kids as they try to parent them through every phase of their lives, good and bad. Trent and Amber are only setting the children up for difficulty later down the line when they will ultimately have to figure things out on their own.
3 Trent & Amber's TikTok Obsession
The Johnston family has always enjoyed playing games in their backyard and having fun in friendly competition on 7 Little Johnstons. Recently, they've taken their challenges to TikTok under the team7lj , and constantly post various games, dance videos, and trends. While it's fun to participate in particular dance routines and competitive games, sometimes it's too much, and Amber comes off as if she's on the verge of obsessed with the popular app.
2 Trent & Amber Are Condescending And Controlling
Trent and Amber have been accused of being controlling parents on 7 Little Johnstons. However, most recently, fans were shocked to find out that they went through Jonah's cell phone and looked through text messages with his girlfriend, Ashley. The couple have been dating for quite some time, and fans thought it was crossing the line and completely inappropriate. Amber and Trent have a shared Instagram under the name team7lj, and their followers called them out for their questionable behavior. One fan commented on the photo, "Ain't no way you're going through your 23-year-old son's phone with his partner."
Amber and Trent spoke up justifying their actions, and explained that it happened over a year ago. They also went on to say that they felt it was necessary because Jonah was laying unconscious in a hospital bed. In that instance, they felt they had the right to parent him however they chose to, regardless of his age.
1 Trent & Amber Don't Treat Their Children Equally
For years, fans have felt that Trent and Amber don't treat their children equally on 7 Little Johnstons. They seemingly don't hold them all to the same standard, and let behavior slide with some and not with others. Most notably, fans took issue with the way they treat their daughter Anna and how they are constantly reprimanding her for almost everything she does.
Viewers have taken notice of the difference on 7 Little Johnstons. Reddit HomicideJohnny started a thread discussing Anna's mistreatment and wrote, "They- specifically Amber tried to dull her light early on in the shows and throughout the seasons." The fan then added, "But she's well on her way to being a very productive young adult pursuing her dreams and goals." It seems like the criticism for Trent and Amber won't end anytime soon.
Sources: team7lj/TikTok, team7lj/TikTok, team7lj/Instagram, HomicideJohnny/Reddit