Some of the ex-couple’s kids have wildly different versions of events regarding what allegedly went down in their home growing up.
Since Jon & Kate Plus 8 premiered in 2007, there’s been no shortage of drama in the Gosselin household. While the show is no longer on the air, things for the family have still been messy — especially following Jon and Kate’s divorce. Over the past few years, even more allegations about the family have come to light, as they appear split on what led to Collin’s stay at a live-in learning institution.
While it was initially believed that Collin was sent to the facility due to his “special needs,” Collin has now come out to claim he never had any mental health conditions that required him to be sent away. Instead, Collin says he was treated unfairly by Kate and when he began to tell his teachers about the alleged “abuse” he faced at home, his mother transferred him to the institution to keep him quiet.
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Collin Gosselin Plans to Become a Marine, ‘Interested in Acting’
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Meanwhile, Kate and some of Collin’s siblings have a different story to tell. Following Collin’s tell-all interview, Kate came forward to share her truth — claiming Collin was “unpredictable” and often had “violent” outbursts that still continue to this day.
“My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs,” she wrote in a statement.
She continued, “Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help. His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us.”
In response, Jon called Kate’s statement “false accusations” and claimed that after years of not seeing her son, she was still “unable to control her abusive words towards him.”
Read on to hear what the rest of the Gosselin kids have had to say…
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Jon and Kate Gosselin’s Daughter Mady Hits Back at Nasty Comments About Her Family on TikTok
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Mady Gosselin
Mady, one of Jon and Kate’s twins, has often chosen to keep her family life private. In April 2023, she told her TikTok followers in a now-deleted video that whatever people had to say about her family was not their business. She added that all her siblings were “doing so well,” despite the rumors surrounding their family.
“Perpetuating the narrative that we are ‘damaged’ or that we are ‘crazy child stars,’ or whatever you want to say, is extremely harmful as myself and my siblings are going out into the world and will be functioning members of society with careers,” she said.
But following Collin’s recent statements about their mother, Mady decided to break her silence about what she claims happened behind closed doors. In a lengthy statement on Instagram, she accused Collin of “physically threatening” every member of the family, including incidents that happened as recently as last year. She added that she had no plans to rebuild her relationship with him, especially after things had reached “the point of physical violence and hate speech.”
“I will never allow someone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior toward others based on their racial identity, gender identity, or religious beliefs to be in my life. Kindness, tolerance, love, and acceptance are core values in my life and I refuse to compromise them for ANYONE, even my brother Collin, who has unfortunately made his opinions very clear in private,” she wrote.
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Cara Gosselin
Cara, Jon and Kate’s other twin daughter, has remained very private about her family life and even during interviews has refrained from speaking. According to Jon, Cara, as well as Mady, haven’t spoken to him since 2014 and he wasn’t invited to their college graduations.
“The last time I spoke to Mady and Cara was 2014,” Jon told The U.S. Sun. “I periodically text Mady and Cara to see if I get a response and at this point, I’ve never heard from them.”
Collin Gosselin
Collin has been the most outspoken sibling when it comes to his family and how he was allegedly treated by Kate growing up. When he was just 12, he was sent to a live-in learning institution due to what Kate said were “special needs.” After spending several years there, he says he wrote to Jon, who helped remove him from the facility and was then awarded full custody. Collin later called the institution a “scary place” where he felt he didn’t belong. Jon has even said that Collin was never “diagnosed with any known medical condition,” aside from ADHD, that would require treatment at such a place.
While recently looking back on the experience, Collin called out his mom for putting him in the facility and treating him unfairly as a child. Although he admits he wasn’t a “perfect child,” he says his “misbehaving was no different” than his siblings. He believes that since Kate “was going through a lot of things” at the time, she unfairly took it out on him.
“I mean, a divorce and plenty of different things that can’t be easy to go through. And, you know, I want to think that she needed someone to take out her anger and frustration on, and it was just kind of me. I was in the way, and I was there. So, she chose me,” he recently said on an episode of Dark Side of the 2000s.
Collin said that when he began to tell his teachers at school that Kate was “abusive,” that’s when she decided to send him away. He explained that he believes she had to “put [him] somewhere” where he “wouldn’t be able to get the secrets out.”
He said that being in the institution took a toll on him mentally and put him in a “dark place” with no support system. He says he’s doing much better after his father took him home. Now that he has graduated college, he’s headed to the Marines but has still not spoken to his mother.
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Collin Gosselin Says Mom Kate Would Take Out Her ‘Anger and Frustration’ on Him
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Hannah Gosselin
After Collin was sent to an institution, his sister Hannah made the decision to go live with their father. While recently reflecting on her choice, she said that prior to moving, she had seen Collin receive unfair treatment from Kate.
“He would be separated from us, like he would not get to come outside and play with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us,” she said on Dark Side of the 2000s. “I don’t think effort was made in the home to help him learn what behavior is acceptable, what behavior is not acceptable.”
She explained that the moment she found out that Collin was in an institution, she “couldn’t comprehend” why a mother would do that to their child. She told her dad that very day that she wasn’t going to return home to her mother and has lived with him ever since. At that time, Hannah cut ties with Kate but has since tried to mend the relationship — and even invited her to her high school graduation.
“When I decided to move in with my dad, I didn’t have a relationship with her at all. And now, I would say, we’re trying to fix our relationship, at least talk to each other more,” she said.
Alexis, Aaden, Leah & Joel Gosselin
The rest of the Gosselin sextuplets have primarily remained out of the spotlight and refrain from discussing their family life. While they all appear to have relationships with their mother, as of 2022, they do not have a relationship with Jon.
“Communication with my children that live with Kate is very difficult because I have been alienated from those children. I think it was a poor parenting decision,” Jon told ET. “I’ve texted them but I’ve never got a response.”
