Natalia Grace on Feeling Brainwashed, Her Daring Late-Night Escape & Looking Ahead

After a shocking array of twists and turns, including interviews with Natalia and her adoptive father, Michael Barnett, her birth year was confirmed as 2003 and she appeared on the verge of finally getting a happy ending and a family that would be there for her...

Until she wasn't.

The original run of the ID series ended with hints that things were already starting to go bad with the Mans family, who'd taken Natalia in after the Barnetts had dumped her to live on her own in an apartment at 8 years old, after legally changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989, making her legally 22 years old -- but biologically still only eight.

Now, Natalia is back to wrap up her story in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, airing on back-to-back nights, January 6 and 7, on ID.

Ahead of the docuseries premiere, in an interview exclusive to People, the 21-year-old opened up about the mental and emotional toll of her journey so far, as well as what life was like with both the Barnetts and the Mans, before looking ahead to her future now that she's actually an adult.

While Natalia has been the star of her own docuseries, and is back to continue telling her story, she told People that she's actually quite uncomfortable on camera, with the outlet detailing an incident where she had an emotional breakdown while filming.

According to the outlet, after shouting at everyone to "get out," with Natalia's face reportedly registering "anxiousness to raw fear and ultimately panic," she eventually emerged calm and ready to move forward. "I have anxiety all the way to the roof," she told People in explanation.

"I actually don't like being filmed or being on a TV show. I'm more of a quiet girl who enjoys sitting on a porch swing with a book and a hot chocolate or coffee in the morning," she added.

Natalia has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a behavior condition common for children who've spent time in an orphanage, as well as anxiety, ADHD and PTSD.

For Natalia, a lot of her triggers have to do with the tumultuous life she's led since her birth in Ukraine to a mother who gave her up due to her dwarfism. She was first adopted by Dyan and Gary Ciccone in 2008 at five years old, but they quickly gave up parental rights, citing her disruptive behavior.

It was then that her story with the Barnetts' began, after the Indiana couple adopted her in 2010.

Two years later, suspicious that she'd been lying about her actual age -- due to her having adult teeth, pubic hair, and experiencing menstruation -- and accusing her of attempting to kill mom Kristine Barnett, they had her legally re-aged into a 22-year-old adult in court and then in 2013, they set her up in an apartment to live on her own.

Kristine called Natalia a violent "sociopath" and alleged that her adoptive daughter had tried to poison her coffee and drag her toward an electric fence. The couple even said they woke up one time to Natalia looming over them with a knife, among other allegations of sexual deviance and violence.

In the new season of the show, Natalia counters these with allegations against Kristine, claiming her adoptive mother hit her with a belt, pepper-sprayed her, and overdosed her on medications on purpose. She also denies ever attempting to hurt the Barnetts.

"I feel like I have to defend myself and be like, 'Do I look like somebody that could push someone twice my size into a fence? Do I look like I could even grip a knife?'" she argues in the new episodes.

In January 2024, Kristine denied that Natalia was ever abused in a Facebook post, in which she wrote, "I sat through numerous hospital visits and therapy visits trying to understand and help Natalia and thinking we might be able to find the root of the issue. In the end I learned she is a sociopath."

Michael told Good Morning America that the doctors treating Natalia told the couple "this person is a sociopath. This person is a con artist. You are all in danger."

As Natalia's story first made its way into the media, the public didn't know what to believe. "There were a lot of people saying, 'You're fake. You're a liar. You're a pedophile.' I'm also known for the little girl that was helpless and was beaten and starved and all that," Natalia told People.

"That's not who I am," she said, explaining why she's agreed to tell her story in such a public forum by adding, "But that seems to be the only thing that people know -- and that's why it hurts me a lot."

Speaking about living on her own at eight years old in that second-story apartment, Natalia talked about how her physical disability made it difficult to reach things in the apartment, saying she didn't like living on her own and having to tell people she was 22 years old.

"I didn't understand why I was alone. I just knew I had this instinct in me to push and survive," she said. "All I was told was, 'You're 22 now. Whenever somebody asks you what your age is, you say you're 22 and you tried to murder your family.' I was taught to lie."

Prosecutors in Tippecanoe County, Indiana did ultimately charge the Barnetts with neglecting a dependent, but Michael was found not guilty by a jury in 2022, and the charges against Kristine were ultimately dropped the next year.

Natalia first met the Mans while living on her own in the apartment the Barnetts set up for her. After a few days of talking, Cynthia Mans invited Natalia to move in with her and her husband, Antwon Mans, a pastor, and their 10 children.

In 2023, Natalia's legal age was restored to 2003 after extensive medical tests and DNA analysis, and she was officially adopted into the Mans family. There, she said she was invited to join their religion and helped raise their children.

"I learned how to be a mother," Natalia said of her time with the Mans, which included everything from caring for babies to helping with homework.

According to Natalia, though, her independence and romantic life as a 20-year-old quickly became a source of contention in her new home.

According to Natalia, Antwon discovered her social media communications with a man named Neil and allegedly began to blackmail her with sexually explicit videos and photos he'd stolen. She also said he took her phone and refused to allow them to stay in contact.

In the new episodes, witnesses reported seeing the Manses assault Natalia with a belt, slap her across the face, and even lock her in her room. People did not receive a response from the Manses or their lawyers in regards to these allegations.

After a decade, Natalia planned her escape from the Mans' home with the assistance of UK-based boyfriend Neil and Vince and Nicole DePaul, who are also little people and had once tried to adopt her only to be turned down.

On December 22, 2023, Nicole drove from upstate New York all the way to Nashville, where she picked up Natalia at a church where the Manses had moved. Natalia said she was so anxious about leaving, she "had to text my mom to let her know I wasn’t kidnapped or dead."

"It was an emotional time. I had to spread my wings," she added.

Natalia is still living with the DePauls and thriving, with the couple emphasizing that taking in a child includes that whole child. "Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole says in the docuseries. "When you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don’t just get rid of them when they don’t fit into your puzzle."

"It's been a big learning curve for me," Natalia told People of her tumultuous life to this point these first 21 years. "For the most part, I've made peace. It is definitely a blessing to be alive today. And there's nothing I can do to change the past."

People reports that Natalia is now studying for her GED -- she was previously homeschooled -- with plans to become a grade school teacher.

For the first time in her life, the money she's earning is going into an account with her name on it (some in the show allege the Mans had been stealing her money for years). She is also learning to drive, with the hopes of being able to live fully independent in the future.

"I'm a girl who loves kids and wants to get married and have children," she said, sharing that she and Neil recently met for the first time and that they've expressed their love for one another, but she's taking it slow.

"One of my biggest things is not making promises I can't keep," she said. "I've had too many promises that have been broken. I'm just ready to move on."

Natalia also shared that she sipped alcohol for the first time on her 21st birthday in September and recently got her seventh tattoo, which translates from Ukrainian as, "Trust No One." She says it's a fitting motto for her story.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter airs January 6 and 7 on ID.