He was one of eight adorable munchkins — a set of twins and sextuplets — who charmed fans of the TLC reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8. But Collin Gosselin has dark memories of his childhood. While viewers were charmed by the plus-size family’s wholesome outings and cheerily chaotic household led by the hyper-competent Kate Gosselin and her laid-back husband Jon Gosselin, Collin was ostracized by his high-strung mother. “I want to think that she needed someone to take out her anger and frustration on, and it was just kind of me,” he says. “I was in the way and I was there. So she chose me.”
In a shocking new interview with Vice TV, the 19-year-old and his fellow sextuplet Hannah lay bare the mistreatment Collin allegedly received at the hands of Kate. According to the siblings, the high school grad was isolated from his siblings and institutionalized twice. “Kate used ‘tough love’ and punishment instead of talking to him about why he was acting out,” an insider tells Star. As a result, both Collin and his sister have severed ties with Kate. “I’m not going to say I was a perfect child,” he told Vice. “But I’d say my misbehaving was no different from my siblings.”
CAST OUT
Among the rambunctious brood, Collin was singled out from twins Cara and Mady as well as 19-year-old Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel as a problem child. “He would be separated from us,” Hannah recalled. “Like, he would not get to come and play outside with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us.”
Former nurse Kate claimed her son had special needs, a designation he’s disputed in the past. “It’s unfortunate that that’s how my mom, you know, phrased me as a person,” he’s said, adding, “But if that’s how she sees me then that’s her point of view.”
Things only got worse when Kate’s marriage to Jon began to disintegrate, ultimately ending in 2009. Her son acknowledges his mom was “going through a lot of things” at the time — including Jon’s infidelity. “I mean, a divorce and plenty of different things that can’t be easy to go through.” By 2016, she had placed him in Pennsylvania’s Fairmount Behavioral Health Institute. According to Collin, who spent his 13th and 14th birthdays there, being institutionalized was devastating. “I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you.”
At the time, Jon, 46, was estranged from his kids, yet Collin reached out to him as his “savior,” begging him to take him in. “I’m YOUR son, not hers,” he wrote his dad. “She was abusive to me after I left your house… I’m counting on you to get me out of here.”
HER WAY — OR ELSE
For her part, Kate has defended her parenting style in the past. In 2009, the Dancing With the Stars alum was photographed hitting Leah during a family outing. “The girl was screaming and crying,” noted an eyewitness. “Kate just pushed her away and walked off.” In a statement, the 48-year-old said she was “a mother first. I love my children and when they misbehave, I discipline them as I deem appropriate for the situation.”
She maintains she’s done nothing wrong in bringing up her kids — which makes Collin and Hannah’s tell-all a huge betrayal. “Kate’s livid that they’re perpetuating this story that she’s a bad mom,” says the insider. “Everything she did, she did for them and their brothers and sisters.”
As for the other sibs, the insider says they all felt growing up on reality TV was difficult. “They all just want to live their lives and be ‘normal,’” says the insider. “And for all this drama to go away.”
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