Jon Gosselin believes his ex-wife and Jon & Kate Plus 8 co-star Kate Gosselin is “warped” by fame. The former reality TV star made the allegation in a new interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz, which will air on Monday’s episode of The Dr. Oz Show. In the same interview, Gosselin said the divorce battle and a lawsuit from TLC almost “bankrupted” him.
In a preview clip from the interview released Friday, Oz asked Gosselin if he believes Kate is an “unfit” mother. While Gosselin would not say yes or no, he said he believes her “belief system is skewed.”
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“That’s what I believe. I believe her intentions in the beginning were good intentions,” Gosselin said. “Bringing kids into the world that she fought to have, these kids. But I think once fame and money got involved, it twisted her belief system. On my end, I’ve been fighting to get my kids off TV forever.”
Gosselin said he believed TLC supported Kate in their divorce and the network sued him in 2009 for breach of contract because he would not appear on the reality show.
“I literally hung a sign on my gate saying if any crew members show up I’ll have you arrested for trespassing,” Gosselin told Oz. He said he “pretty much bankrupted myself” by fighting the lawsuit, but did not regret it. He claimed he spent $1.7 million in legal fees out of his own pocket, but TLC financially supported Kate.
“I didn’t understand, at first, why but now I understand why.All she wanted was legal custody to film my kids to sustain her lifestyle and their lifestyle. It gets all warped. That’s fame though. It just twists things around,” Gosselin said.
“I have consistently made it a rule never to respond to Jon’s delusional ramblings, and I will not break that rule now,” Kate told PEOPLE in response to Gosselin’s Dr. Oz interview. “However, at some point soon, I look forward to making sure the absolute truth about our family is known.”
Gosselin and Kate were married for 10 years before Kate filed for divorce in 2009. The former couple have eight children – 19-year-old twins Cara and Mady; and 15-year-old sextuplets, Aiden, Collin, Leah, Joel, Alexis, Hannah and Collin. Although the divorce is finalized, Gosselin and Kate are still embroiled in a custody battle. Collin and Hannah live with Gosselin, while the other children remain with Kate. Cara and Mady, who have said they have had no contact with Gosselin, are now in college.
After the divorce, Jon & Kate Plus 8 became Kate Plus 8 and continued airing on TLC through 2017. This year, Kate starred in a spin-off called Kate Plus Date and featured the children in a Kate Plus 8 special called “College Bound,” which aired on Oct. 2. The special showed Mddy and Cara touring colleges with Kate.
After “College Bound” aired, Gossellin did an interview with the Daily Mail, in which he blasted TLC and Kate for including four of the sextuplets in the episode despite court orders against including them in future shows. Gosselin said Pennsylvania officials also denied filming permits to include the children.
“It’s just disheartening that I have to read about it… first of all, it’s called Kate Plus 8 which is absurd. There’s not eight children there. Two kids live with me, Hannah and Collin, they’ve lived with me for over a year,” Gosselin told the Mail. “At the end of the show Kate said that kids keep leaving – kids don’t keep leaving, you threw one out. Institutionalized one. So he didn’t leave on free will, Collin was kicked out of your house, thrown into an institution, mentally abused by you and the institution, so he didn’t leave. Let’s just put that on there. My daughter Hannah, she did leave and she chose to live with me.”
Gosselin later said there was “no reason” for the children to be on television anymore, adding, “It doesn’t benefit them in any way.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
