Heavy A DWTS alum's son is speaking out.
The son of “Dancing With the Stars” alum Kate Gosselin is speaking out about the relationship he had with his mom prior to their estrangement.
Collin Gosselin sat down with VICE TV and opened up about the life he once had living in Pennsylvania with his mom and siblings before he went to live with his father, Jon Gosselin, full-time.
“I know my mother was going through a lot of things. I mean, a divorce, and plenty of different things that can’t be easy to go through,” Collin Gosselin said in a clip from the interview. “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 continued.
“I’m not going to say I was a perfect child. But I’d say my misbehaving was no different than from my siblings,” he added.
Here’s what you need to know:
2 of Kate Gosselin & Jon Gosselin’s 8 Children Live With Their Dad
Following their time on reality television, the Gosselin family split up in more ways than one. Jon and Kate Gosselin got divorced in 2009, and the next few years were tough for the family as a whole; the Gosselin kids, including twins Mady and Cara, and sextuplets, Hannah, Aiden, Collin, Joel, Alexis and Leah, were learning how to share time between their parents. As they got older, however, they started making their own decisions about where they spent time.
In 2016, Kate Gosselin decided it was best to send a then-16-year-old Collin Gosselin to a school that caters to children with behavioral issues. While separated from his family, Collin Gosselin wrote his father a letter and asked him to come get him.
“It’s unfortunate that that’s how my mom, you know, phrased me as a person. You know, I don’t see those things and I don’t think anybody else sees those things, but if that’s how she sees me then, you know, that’s her point of view and I hope that, if we met again one day, she would understand that, you know, it’s not the case,” Collin Gosselin told Entertainment Tonight in November 2022, referring to his mother saying he has “special needs.”
Jon Gosselin did end up taking his son out of the school and went to court to file for full custody of his son — and of his daughter, Hannah, another one of the sextuplets. According to Us Weekly, a judge granted Jon Gosselin’s wishes in 2018.
Hannah Gosselin Also Spoke to VICE About Kate Gosselin’s Treatment of Collin Gosselin
Collin Gosselin’s sister Hannah Gosselin also spoke to VICE, corroborating his take on how their mom treated him differently.
“He would be separated from us. Like, he would not get to come and play outside with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us,” Hannah Gosselin explained.
“I don’t think effort was made in the home to help him learn what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not acceptable,” she added.
Both Collin and Hannah Gosselin have graduated from high school. Jon Gosselin hasn’t seen his six other kids in years, but now that they are all adults, he hopes that will change.
“The kids are full grown adults and unfortunately we missed those opportunities when they were growing up. With that said, there are many events coming up like the kids’ graduations, and hopefully seeing my ex and my other children isn’t awkward but instead a new beginning,” he told Us Weekly in May 2023.
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