YouTube Collin Gosselin talks about his past experiences.
TLC fans watched Jon and Kate Gosselin’s eight kids experience big ups and downs during their early years in front of reality television cameras. “Jon and Kate Plus 8” debuted when the family’s sextuplets were 3 years old, and the original series ran for 11 seasons, detailed Fox News. After Jon and Kate split, she continued to work with TLC to do “Kate Plus 8” and many specials. The sextuplets are now 18, and their older sisters, twins Cara and Mady, are 22. While many of the Gosselin youth chooses to keep their lives fairly private, one sextuplet recently opened up about some of his experiences growing up. Collin Gosselin went through some especially difficult times as a teen, and now he is sharing his perspective.
Here’s what you need to know:
Collin Gosselin Was Determined to Persevere Over Those Tough Times
Collin talked to Entertainment Tonight about how he is now, as well as what happened when he was younger. As TLC fans may remember, Kate placed Collin in an institution when he was 12. “I spent my 13th and 14th birthday there, so I was young,” he recalled. Collin’s “special needs” were the catalyst for her decision to move him to a program away from home, Kate insisted at the time. Collin feels “it’s unfortunate that that’s how my mom, you know, phrased me as a person.” He added, “You know, my mom had her own agenda” about why she felt he should be in an institution, and “I don’t know exactly what that was.” However, he explained, “my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”
“I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you,” he added, and he wrote to his father to ask for help. Jon successfully got Collin removed from the institution and gained full custody of him. “After being there, I didn’t have a relationship” with his mother Kate, Collin detailed. “Even before then, I don’t think we had much of a relationship.”
He Hopes to Reunite With His Siblings
When Jon went to court seeking full custody of Collin, Kate and her legal team chose not to attend. Collin admits her decision “didn’t really bother me.” He still has no ongoing relationship with his mother, nor does he have contact with six of his seven siblings. He is close with Hannah, one of the other sextuplets, as she had decided to live with Jon rather than Kate too.
Despite all that has happened, Collin remains open to reconciling. “I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom.” He added he has not spoken to his other siblings in “probably five or six years now” and it’s tough. “I love them to death… There’s nothing like the bond between brothers and sisters,” Collin admitted, as he got emotional. He hopes to reconnect with them at some point, without parents involved, and he envisions that someday when they have children of their own, his kids will know their aunts and uncles.
Collin felt the biggest misconception about him was that he was incapable, or that he’s “hung up” on those difficult experiences, but he says those things are not true. These days, he’s working, going to school, and hanging out with friends, and he’s considering joining the Marine Corps after high school.
Many Gosselin fans gushed over Collin after his interview was released.
“Seems like Collin carries himself very well, I’m glad we were able to get an update from Collin himself,” one fan noted on Reddit.
“Collin seems incredibly sweet. Poor thing cried when he started talking about his siblings and how he missed them. It broke my heart. He seems amazingly well adjusted, though. Definitely an old soul,” added another fan.
“This was heartbreaking. I’m happy he’s out of [Kate’s] histrionic reach,” someone else detailed.