If there is one thing that television history has made very clear it is this, a lot of sitcom viewers love to watch shows about families that include adorable kids. For example, when Taran Noah Smith was still a very young child, sitcom fans all over the world adored his portrayal of Home Improvement’s Mark Taylor. Ultimately, Smith would go on to play Mark in 201 episodes of Home Improvement that spanned the show’s eight-season run.

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Even though Smith was happy to be done with Home Improvement, Taran’s life hit the skids in many ways after the show ended. For example, Smith entered into an extremely controversial marriage and then it came to an unceremonious end. Amazingly enough, even though it has been many, many years since Smith went through a divorce, people still are asking why his marriage ended.

Taran Noah Smith’s Headline Grabbing Marriage

As anyone who evenly casually follows the tabloids should already know, so many male stars get involved with much younger women that it has become a cliché. Despite that, there certainly have been some male celebrities who’ve romanced much older women so that alone isn’t overly attention-grabbing. However, since Taran Noah Smith was still underage when he got involved with a woman who was 16 years older than him, his relationship garnered lots of headlines.

Related: 20 Celebrity Couples With Disturbing Age Gaps

According to reports, Taran Noah Smith and Heidi Van Pelt met when the actor was only 14-years-old and she was roughly 30. Despite the disturbing nature of their age difference, Smith and Van Pelt would go on to become a couple and tie the knot. While that was headline-grabbing enough, the fact that Smith’s parents disapproved of his relationship led to even more controversy.

Related: Is 'Home Improvement' Star Jonathan Taylor Thomas Still Single?

When Taran Noah Smith’s parents learned how much older Heidi Van Pelt was than their son, they refused to support their relationship. Most notably, when Smith wanted to take control of his money before he turned 18-years-old so he could build a life with Van Pelt, they refused to let him. That led to even more headlines as Smith took his parents to court and accused them of misappropriating his money. Many years later, Smith would make up with his parents and make it clear that his previous accusations were unfounded.

When Taran Noah Smith was only 17-years-old and Heidi Van Pelt was in her early-30s, the couple got married. For obvious reasons including the fact that Smith has been famous since he was a kid, a lot of observers were outraged by that revelation.

Why Taran Noah Smith Got Divorced

During Taran Noah Smith and Heidi Van Pelt’s marriage, the couple would give a handful of interviews in which they defended their marriage. Despite that, virtually everyone thought their marriage was a massive mistake. Ultimately, the naysayers turned out to be right as Smith and Van Pelt ended their marriage after roughly six years.

In the aftermath of their divorce, Taran Noah Smith and Heidi Van Pelt offered different reasons for their split. According to reports, Heidi Van Pelt blamed her divorce on two things that Taran Noah Smith did wrong. First off, Van Pelt claimed that Smith began partying excessively. That accusation is buoyed by Smith’s DUI conviction that stemmed from an incident in which he was caught with an illegal substance. On top of that, Van Pelt claimed that Smith was a serial cheater. Worse yet, Van Pelt reportedly claimed that Smith stepped out on their marriage with one of her friends.

Unsurprisingly, Taran Noah Smith blamed Heidi Van Pelt for their divorce. For example, he addressed cheating accusations by telling the that Smith and Van Pelt had an open marriage. “Heidi told me she preferred girls to guys. She began to bring girls home. But if they paid more attention to me than to her, she’d get jealous. Finally, we agreed to have an open marriage. But when I began seeing another girl, Heidi got so mad she broke every dish in the house.”

On top of disputing his ex-wife’s accusations that he was unfaithful, Taran Noah Smith claimed that Heidi Van Pelt essentially stole from him. According to Smith, when he and Van Pelt started a vegan restaurant together, his ex-wife began taking money from the business’ account for herself. On top of that, when TMZ reported that a bank had foreclosed on the house he bought and it was in disrepair, Smith blamed Van Pelt through his attorney. After he blamed Van Pelt for the state of the house, the former child star’s lawyer claimed that Van Pelt ruined Smith financially. "You can thank his gold-digging ex-wife for the debacle he's in."

As the old saying goes, there are three sides to every story. My side, your side, and the truth. With that saying in mind, it is clear that there is no way for people who weren’t involved to know whether Taran Noah Smith or Heidi Van Pelt’s explanations for their divorce is closer to the truth. That said, it is very clear that there were a lot of very harsh feelings after Smith and Van Pelt’s marriage ended and at least one of them was disloyal in one way or another. On the bright side, it seems like Smith has found happiness after his divorce in part by giving back to several charitable causes.

Next: What Happened To Taran Noah Smith After 'Home Improvement'?