Love on the Spectrum Star Pari Kim Loses Mother to Cancer

Pari Kim, the 24-year-old star of Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum, is grieving the loss of her mother, Esme Kim, who has died following a battle with breast cancer. The reality TV personality shared the news on Wednesday, May 13, in a deeply personal Instagram post that laid bare the emotional toll of losing a parent.

In her statement, Pari didn’t shy away from the raw complexity of grief. She described the internal conflict between the devastated version of herself—the girl mourning what was“cruelly and unfairly taken from her at such a young age”—and the one who has to keep moving forward. Her metaphor was distinctly hers: comparing life to a train ride, where some tracks are smooth and others rough, and where you desperately need“other trains to help you pull through.”It’s a poignant image, especially knowing how much Pari’s love of trains has been woven into her public persona on the show.

This loss comes on the heels of another major life shift. Just weeks earlier, on April 24, Pari had announced her split from Tina Zhu Xi Caruso, whom she’d met on Love on the Spectrum. In that post, she used her signature train metaphor again—describing them as“two trains on different tracks”—and emphasized handling the breakup with grace and compassion. Now, as she navigates that relationship change, she’s also processing the death of the mother she’d described on the show as someone she was“very close with”and loved“very much.”

What makes Pari’s current moment particularly heartbreaking is context. Her father died by suicide in 2020. To lose both parents by age 24 is a weight most people shouldn’t have to carry. In a follow-up Instagram Story post, she urged her followers to be grateful for their parents if they’re still here.“Time is precious,”she wrote,“and I didn’t expect to lose both of them so young.”

Her Love on the Spectrum costars rallied immediately. Madison Marilla wrote that Esme“fought very hard”and that the“LOTS family”would be there for her. Abbey Romeo offered her condolences and said she wanted to give Pari and her sister Teal a hug. These moments—when a community shows up—matter when you’re in the dark.

Pari made her debut on Love on the Spectrum during season 3 in 2025 alongside her mother and sister. She brought authenticity and heart to the show. Now, as she processes this profound loss, that same authenticity is what she’s leaning on to help her keep moving forward—even without her“guardian locomotive,”as she so poignantly put it.