The Untold Truth Of Jacob Sartorius' Childhood

Jacob Sartorius — the YouTuber and singer who rose to fame with his single "Sweatshirt" in 2016 — has always been open with fans about his family and personal life. Even so, few people recall the moment he revealed he was adopted and the details he shared about how that big event impacted his childhood.

In a video just three months after launching his YouTube channel in 2016, Sartorius told his viewers that although he grew up in Virginia, he was actually born in Oklahoma. "At the time, my birth parents weren't able to take care of me, so they made a plan for me to be adopted," he explained. "Luckily for me, I was blessed to be able to be adopted by two of the most loving parents in the world — my mom and my dad." 

The star's parents, Pat and Rolf Sartorius, have always been supportive of him and his career. In fact, the only photo on his mom's Instagram is of Sartorius and his sister, Caroline Sartorius. 

Speaking about his adoption in his Aug. 22, 2016 YouTube video, Jacob Sartorius — who turns 18 in October 2020 — said that revealing such a personal fact about his life only made him feel closer to all his viewers. He also explained that being adopted doesn't make him feel any differently about his parents, who gave him the best childhood and have continued to give him the best life.

"It's had its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade my life for anything," he said (via Seventeen). The singer ended his video by stressing that despite his bombshell reveal, nothing about him changed. "I'm still me and being adopted is something that I've never tried to hide or keep a secret," he explained. "My friends and family have known all this, but I think it's time for you guys to know too... I know this is only going to make us closer."

As soon as he published the clip, fans and friends filled the comments section with love. Sartorius even took to Twitter to thanks everyone for the support. "These are the moments when I realize how strong we are as a family," he tweeted on Aug. 23, 2016. "Thanks for being there for me when I'm not at my highs... I LOVE YOU." 

Jacob Sartorius had a happy and normal childhood in Virginia. According to The Fact Site, the young singer liked to play basketball and had a massive crush on Selena Gomez. "I think Selena might be perfect for me, but I have to talk to The Weeknd and make sure it's cool with him," he told HuffPost in 2017 when asked about his longtime A-lister crush.

Though he's made it big now, Sartorius has long admitted that he went through a phase as a kid when he had braces, suffered from asthma attacks, and was being bullied. 

In Tiger Beat's #19Under19 video in 2018, Sartorius shared that he'd been partnering with anti-bullying campaigns to help kids just like him. "It's just been awesome to get to work on an actual cause that I believe in and I've had to deal with and I know what it's like to be bullied... so, I just want to be one of the voices where people know that I went through that too, I was there," he said. 

In an interview with J-14 in 2018, Jacob Sartorius — loved by many for his outgoing, friendly personality and his approachable demeanor in interviews and on stage — revealed that he was actually incredibly shy as a kid. Music helped him grow out of it. 

"I was shy in the hallways," he said. "Being awkward was my biggest insecurity. If I could go back and be more confident, it would have allowed me to have more friendships and meet new people."

In his town of Herndon, Va., he always had his small group of friends, but he told the outlet that he always dreamed of bigger and better things.

According to Wealthy Persons, the singer has a net worth of $4 million as of April 2020. He also has 9.3 million Instagram followers, 1.5 million followers on Twitter, more than 3 million YouTube subscribers, and over 23 million fans on TikTok.