Jon Gosselin Shares Update on Son Collin After Enlisting in Marine Corps

Jon Gosselin has shared an update on his son Collin after the teen enlisted in the Marine Corps. Jon and his girlfriend, Stephanie Lebo, spoke with Entertainment Tonight recently and shared how the 19-year-old is doing. “Collin’s super independent, so he lived on his own a little bit during high school like he just wanted to experience that,” Jon said. “[Then] he enlisted at 18 and he left when he was 19, [and] I think it taught him to grow up a lot faster.”

“I got some letters from him from boot camp, from Parris Island,” the doting dad added. “He’s doing super well he just talks about like training… He said he doesn’t really have time to do anything [else].” Lebo then offered, “It’s very structured.” Gosselin continued, “It’s very, like, at 4 a.m. they get up, they do PT, they go eat, then they go study, classroom, then they eat, then PT, you know? It’s what he’s always wanted to do.” He then shared, “We sent him gift cards to go shopping but he won’t be able to do that until the ninth week. [But] he just writes like, ‘Hey, I miss you guys, I can’t wait to eat a real meal.’”

Speaking about how much of a “gentleman” Collin is, Lebo said, “I mean, he brings flowers and he loves that his dad is happy, so it allows them to be happier,” then adding, “Things are great.” Gosselin chimed in, “I think we built a good solid foundation for Collin to go into the Marines and now he knows he has a strong support system at home. He has good friends that back him up so that he can fulfill his dream of being a Marine and still come home.”

The new update on Collin comes after the Gosselin family has been weathering some drama. In July, Vice TV aired the “Jon & Kate: Family Circus” episode of their Dark Side of the 2000s docuseries, which features testimonials from both Jon and Collin, with the 19-year-old opening up about his relationship with his mom, Kate. Speaking about his childhood, Collin says she took out her “anger and frustration” on him.

“I’m not gonna say I was a perfect child, but I’d say my misbehaving was no different from my siblings,” Collin says in the teaser shared on social media. “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.” He added, “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.”