Jon Gosselin Gives Update on Son Collin

Jon Gosselin says that his and ex-wife Kate Gosselin’s son Collin Gosselin is working on “moving forward” after the 20-year-old came forward earlier this month with allegations of abuse against mom Kate.

Jon, 47, told TMZ on Wednesday that his son was “doing really well” and that he had decided to attend Penn State University as a freshman this fall. “That was like closure for him, I believe,” the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star shared. As for if Collin and his mom would be sitting down for a conversation about his accusations against her, Jon thought there was “so much animosity” that it wouldn’t happen.

Jon and Kate appeared on their family’s TLC reality show from 2007 to 2017, divorcing midway through in 2009. They are parents to 23-year-old twins Mady and Cara, along with 20-year-old sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Leah, Joel, Alexis and Aaden.

Earlier this mont in an interview with The U.S. Sun, Collin alleged Kate, 49, was physically aggressive and verbally abusive to him when he was a child. “My mother had a room built in our unfinished section of the storage basement. She had a room put up with cameras in it, a tiny window in the corner and it was bolt-locked from the outside,” Collin claimed to the outlet. “It was like a containment room, literally, and it had a mattress on the floor and that’s how I lived.”

Collin claimed that his basement “containment” began when he was 8 or 9 years old and prohibited him from going to school, as he was there for “most of the day.” He also alleged that his mother “zip-tied [his] hands and feet together and bolt locked the door,” turning the lights off when leaving him alone and watching him via cameras.

Collin said he was “100% treated differently” than his siblings, claiming, “I definitely went through it a lot as a kid from my mother’s end. So, it was tough. I just remember being isolated from my siblings and constantly taking the fall for her emotions or the tough things going on in her life.”

Kate has not publicly addressed the claims against her, but her attorney, Richard Puleo, told The U.S. Sun in a statement that he didn’t believe she would ever “intentionally harm” her son. “She did what she did to protect herself and her family,” Puleo continued, claiming Collin had “troubled behavior” as a child.

Following his public allegations, Collin took to social media to double down. “It has taken me a long time to find the strength needed to speak about my mother’s abuse,” he shared on his Instagram Story on Sept. 10. “I have finally found my voice, and I hope to be the voice for children everywhere facing abuse. It is never OK. Your story can be told, just like mine.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.