Osbourne Family Friend Robert Marcato's Mother Was Close to Sharon Osbourne — What Happened to Robert?

The MTV reality show The Osbournes ran for four seasons. It was part of the "golden age" of reality television in the early 2000s, when things felt more authentic and it was harder for reality stars to fake the drama. The show followed late Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family, but it also featured close family friends, like Robert Marcato. After fans rediscovered the series years after its 2005 finale, many began wondering what happened to Robert from The Osbournes.

The main focus of the show, which can be streamed on Prime Video, is Ozzy, wife Sharon Osbourne, and kids Jack and Kelly Osbourne. Eldest daughter Aimee Osbourne was not part of the series, but Robert filmed a bit, though he is not one of Ozzy and Sharon's kids. At one point, however, he was taken in by the couple. So, whatever happened to Robert, and does he still talk to the Osbourne family? That's what fans want to know.

Per the New York Post, Sharon was good friends with Robert's mother. Sharon promised to take care of Robert before his mom died of cancer and see him through school. He was 18 at the time, so he likely wasn't formally adopted, but Sharon and Ozzy did take him in, and they made sure he was taken care of, which included paying his college tuition.

Even though Robert isn't one of the main faces of The Osbournes, he is a small part of the series for a short time. Because of that, fans are curious about where he is now, years after the series wrapped for good. Unlike the main stars, the Osbournes themselves, Robert is no longer in the public eye. He did, however, share publicly years later that he wanted to reconnect with the family.

In 2016, the Australian publication New Idea reported that Robert missed his former quasi-adopted family. Because there are conflicting reports about Robert being formally adopted or simply cared for by Sharon and Ozzy, it's not clear if he was legally adopted. Still, the family treats him like a son in the few Osbournes episodes he is part of.

Robert told the outlet that after he finished college, he began to feel depressed, so much so that, according to him, the family urged him to be hospitalized for the sake of his mental health.

"I thought, 'What now?' I didn't know where I was going and the family didn't know what to do with me," Robert said at the time. "They encouraged me to go to hospital and I went along with it." He said that his estranged father then reached out, and he moved to Rhode Island with him. After that, he didn't have much more contact with the family.

When he spoke to New Idea, Robert also said that he wanted to be able to have a relationship with Kelly again. According to him, they had once had a close sibling-like bond. But it doesn't look like Robert has reconnected with the family.

Robert is only briefly part of The Osbournes, but Ozzy and Sharon's oldest child, Aimee, was even less involved with filming at the time. In 2015, she spoke with The Independent and shared that when the show began filming, she was 18 and trying to figure out her life. She didn't want it displayed in front of the cameras.

"Back then, I still felt I was trying to figure out who I was in the chaos of family life, so why on earth would I want that portrayed on television?" She told the outlet. "I wanted to protect myself, my parents, my siblings, too. They were very young, very impressionable."