Paris Jackson Reveals What Life at Neverland With Dad Michael Jackson Was Really Like

Growing up at Neverland wasn’t as much of a thriller as fans might have thought. 

Indeed,Paris Jacksonshared insight into the time she spent on dad Michael Jackson’s California ranch as a kid. Named after the fictional paradise in Peter Pan, Neverland featured a private amusement park, a zoo, movie theater and train station. 

“I didn’t grow up there,” Paris clarified during her appearance on the Aug. 12 episode of Call Her Daddy. “It was only the first few years of my life that I was there.”

But despite the many offerings that seem as though they were taken straight from a child’s daydream, Paris revealed she and her brothers Prince Jacksonand Bigi Jackson(formerly Blanket) didn’t spend much time enjoying the home’s extra features.

Instead, “I’d wake up and I’d go to school,” Paris, who was homeschooled at Neverland, explained. “I’d wake up and we go to the room that was our classroom and we would go to school.”

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As the 28-year-old explained, “It was made very, very clear that all of the attractions there were not for us, that did not belong to us. That was for underprivileged children and children that were terminally ill that couldn’t go to Disneyland.”

Indeed, during his tenure at the ranch, the King of Pop often opened the doors of the estate to allow access for underserved groups to enjoy the rides and animals. 

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“The cool, like very congruent line throughout my childhood that kind of started there,” Paris explained, “and then just continued on wherever we went, was if you’re good and you do your chores and you do your homework, and you do the things that you’re supposed to do, then on the weekends you can go see some animals and you can go ride some rides and you can go to the movies.”

“Same thing with like television,” she added, “like we weren’t allowed to watch television or movies and stuff either unless we were studying it for film with the sound off. Or, it was on the weekends if we had done everything we were supposed to.”

So, despite the belief that Paris spent the first seven years of her life gallivanting around amusement parks, that wasn’t quite the case. 

“It would’ve been cool, but no,” Paris admitted, before quipping, “I probably would have grown up to be an a–hole.” 

Another way the Jackson family tried to instill a sense of normalcy was having his three kids wear masks and cover their faces when out in public. While the move frustrated the public at the time, Paris said doing so never bothered her. 

“It just it made sense,” she recalled, “because it was like, ‘Oh yeah, if you do this now, then you can go to Chuck-E-Cheese and be normal this weekend because no one will know who you are.’ Like that made sense to me.”

Michael passed away in 2009 at the age of 50. At the time, Paris was 11, Prince was 12 and Bigi was 7. 

And though there years together were short, Paris still remembers her dad as a “really funny guy.”

As she put it, “That was my best friend.”

For a closer look at the lives Michael’s kids have lived in the spotlight, read on. 

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