Paris Jackson Recalls Meeting Mom Debbie Rowe for the First Time at 15 and Says ‘We’re Very Similar’

Paris Jackson is looking back on the unusual path that led her to build a relationship with her mother, Debbie Rowe — a connection that did not truly begin until Paris was a teenager.

During an episode of Call Her Daddy released on Aug. 12, the 28-year-old singer and actress spoke candidly about first asking questions about her mother as a child, eventually meeting Rowe at around age 15 and gradually becoming closer to her over the years.

Paris said she first became curious about her mother when she was approximately 10 or 11 years old.

At the time, she was not demanding a detailed explanation of her family history.

She simply wanted to know who her mother was.

“You know, eventually, I remember kind of asking about it when I was probably around like 10 or 11, and the answers I got were sufficient to me,” Paris recalled.

Her questions were straightforward.

“Just like, ‘Oh, like, what’s her name?’ And I got told her name, and I’m like, ‘All right, cool.’”

Paris said she then simply continued with her life.

“I moved on,” she explained.

It was not until several years later that the two actually connected.

“We connected when I was about 15, and then really started getting closer towards the end of my teens,” Paris said.

Their First Meeting Was Surprisingly Casual

For someone meeting her biological mother for the first time as a teenager, the encounter might sound like it would have been emotionally overwhelming.

Paris remembers it differently.

When asked whether she was nervous, she described a surprisingly relaxed introduction.

“I remember coming downstairs and she was in the living room with my grandma,” Paris said.

She walked into the room and greeted Rowe directly.

“I came in. I was just like, ‘Hey, Mom,’ and she was like, ‘Hi.’”

There was no dramatic confrontation.

No lengthy emotional speech.

Paris said she sat down, spoke with Rowe briefly and then the two simply spent the day together.

“I sat down. We talked for a second. Then we went out for the day and just hung out.”

That low-pressure beginning appears to have helped define how Paris views their relationship today.

Rather than trying to force an immediate mother-daughter bond, she allowed the connection to develop over time.

‘We’re Very Similar’

As Paris got to know Rowe, she began noticing similarities between them.

Some of those similarities, she joked, may even be explained through astrology.

“She’s a Sag[ittarius], so she’s got the fire,” Paris said. “I’m an Aries, I got the fire… We’re very similar.”

But her reflections went deeper than zodiac signs.

Paris said one of the most important lessons she has learned — not only with Rowe, but in relationships generally — is the danger of carrying too many expectations into a connection.

“I think what’s really cool about my process, just in general, in all things, is learning how expectations kind of f— us up,” she said.

For Paris, expecting another person to behave a certain way can easily create disappointment.

“If I walk into a relationship with expectations, [I’m] probably gonna end up being maybe disappointed or frustrated or irritated or resentment will be born or something,” she explained.

Her alternative is to allow relationships to develop without trying to predict exactly what they should become.

“When I walk into something and I don’t have expectations, it creates this really cool space for something organic to just blossom.”

That philosophy appears to have been particularly important in her relationship with Rowe.

Paris Is One of Michael Jackson’s Three Children

Paris is the middle child of Michael Jackson.

She and her older brother Prince Jackson, 29, are the two children Jackson had with Rowe.

Michael’s youngest son, Bigi Jackson, 24, formerly known publicly as Blanket, was born through surrogacy.

Rowe, now 67, met Michael while working as an assistant at his dermatologist’s office.

The two married in 1996.

Their son Prince was born in 1997, followed by Paris in 1998.

The marriage did not last.

Jackson and Rowe divorced in 2000, and Rowe gave full custody of Prince and Paris to Michael.

That arrangement meant Paris did not grow up having a conventional relationship with her biological mother.

Following the divorce, Rowe largely stepped away from public life.

She settled in Palmdale, California, where she bred horses and maintained a relatively private existence.

Reconnecting During Paris’ Teenage Years

The first public indications that Paris and Rowe were developing a relationship emerged around 2013.

At that time, Paris was still a teenager.

A source told PEOPLE that Paris had been dealing with emotional struggles and had reached out to Rowe herself.

“Paris has been going through a lot of teenage angst and feels a little bit unloved,” the source said at the time.

According to the source, Paris told Rowe she wanted to establish a relationship.

“Paris reached out to her mother and told her she wanted to establish a relationship with her.”

Rowe was reportedly receptive.

“Debbie was open to it.”

Importantly, Paris’ grandmother Katherine Jackson, who served as one of her legal guardians, also supported the developing relationship.

“Katherine Jackson is supportive of the developing relationship,” the source said.

The reconnection was not necessarily immediate or simple.

Reports at the time described the relationship as developing after periods of estrangement.

But Paris’ latest comments suggest that it eventually became something meaningful precisely because she did not demand that it fit a predetermined idea of what a mother-daughter relationship had to look like.

Rowe’s Cancer Battle Brought Them Even Closer

Several years after reconnecting, their relationship became particularly visible during a difficult period in Rowe’s life.

In 2016, Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Paris became an important source of support during her treatment.

Rowe later spoke publicly about how quickly Paris responded after learning of the diagnosis.

“[Paris] is my rock, she’s amazing,” Rowe told Entertainment Tonight in October 2016.

“She’s been with me the whole time.”

According to Rowe, Paris reached out almost immediately.

“She was there. First phone call, [it] took her 30 seconds [to reach out] when she found out.”

The comments provided a striking contrast with the years when mother and daughter barely knew one another.

By then, Paris was not simply rebuilding a connection with Rowe.

She had become someone Rowe described as a central source of strength.

Paris Celebrated Her Mother’s Recovery

In 2017, Paris publicly celebrated another important milestone in Rowe’s cancer journey.

After Rowe completed chemotherapy, Paris posted a photograph on Instagram showing her mother holding a sign that read, “Chemo Done!”

Paris added an enthusiastic caption.

“My badass mom, kickin butt n takin names. Ain’t she f—in fabulous.”

The post was one of the clearest public signs of how much their relationship had changed.

Years earlier, Paris had only wanted to know her mother’s name.

Now she was openly celebrating Rowe’s recovery and referring to her with pride.

Their Bond Has Continued Into Adulthood

The relationship has continued developing long after Paris’ teenage years.

More recently, in February, Paris shared rare photographs with Rowe on her Instagram Stories.

One image showed the two smiling together.

Another captured them cuddling outdoors.

Paris kept the caption simple.

“Lately ❤️”

The photos suggested that the relationship has remained part of her life in adulthood, even if it is not something she frequently discusses publicly.

Paris has generally maintained boundaries around her family life.

Because of her father’s fame, much of her childhood was intensely scrutinized.

Michael Jackson made extensive efforts to shield his children from photographers while they were young, sometimes covering their faces during public appearances.

After his death in 2009, Paris, Prince and Bigi became subjects of enormous media attention.

For Paris, building a relationship with Rowe therefore unfolded under circumstances that were anything but ordinary.

Learning to Let Relationships Develop Naturally

Paris’ latest comments make clear that she does not view her relationship with her mother through a simple narrative of separation and reconciliation.

Instead, she describes it as a gradual process.

She asked questions when she was ready.

She met Rowe when she was ready.

They spent time together.

And over the years, the connection deepened.

That approach fits with Paris’ larger philosophy about relationships.

Expectations, she believes, can create unnecessary pressure.

Entering a relationship already deciding what another person should be can make disappointment almost inevitable.

By contrast, allowing something to grow naturally can create room for a relationship to become whatever it genuinely is.

For Paris and Rowe, that appears to have worked.

Their bond did not begin when Paris was a baby.

It did not even begin when she first asked about her mother.

It began years later with a simple moment in a living room.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hi.”

From there, they spent a day together.

Then more time followed.

Their connection strengthened toward the end of Paris’ teenage years, survived difficult periods and eventually became strong enough for Rowe to describe her daughter as “my rock.”

A Relationship Without a Traditional Beginning

Paris’ story is unusual because it challenges conventional assumptions about what a parent-child bond is supposed to look like.

She did not grow up with Rowe raising her.

She did not have memories of her mother from early childhood.

Their relationship began when Paris was already old enough to understand that it came with history and complexity.

Yet instead of allowing that history to determine everything, Paris says she learned to approach the relationship without rigid expectations.

That may be why her description of the first meeting feels so understated.

She did not walk into the room demanding answers.

She simply said hello.

More than a decade later, she can now look back and recognize how much of a connection eventually formed.

And perhaps the most surprising discovery of all was how much the two had in common.

“We’re very similar,” Paris said.

For a mother and daughter who did not truly meet until Paris was 15, that similarity became something they had the chance to discover gradually — not because they were forced into a traditional relationship, but because they allowed one to grow on its own.