The Reason Collin Gosselin Returned To Kate Plus 8

Collin Gosselin surprised viewers when he appeared on this week's season finale of Kate Plus 8, as the 12-year-old was revealed to have been enrolled in a program away from home to help him cope with his special needs.

In the episode, Collin appeared in a family game night scene, as well as an interview with brothers Joel and Aaden. He remained fairly quiet, but still participated in the family activity. Despite his appearance on the episode, however, a source told People the footage had actually been filmed prior to Collin leaving.

"The reason he was on the show is that it was shot before he went away," the source explained, "and sometimes footage airs out of order."

Kate previously spoke to People about her decision to enroll Collin in the special needs program.

"Collin has special needs," she explained. "[There's] a fairly fluid diagnosis of what those needs are, but he needs to learn certain strategies to help him deal with things. This has been a struggle we've had for a very long time, and it's one I've dealt with on my own. I've felt very alone in this. By the same token, it's not something that has only impacted me or him – our entire family has been impacted."

"We miss him so much, so it's been hard because there is a huge hole in our family without him here," she added. "But it comforts us to know he's where he needs to be right now, and I can feel good about that."

This article first appeared on Womanista.com