Jon and Kate Gosselin’s Son Collin Opens up About Estrangement From Kate

Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Collin Gosselin has finally opened up about his estrangement from his mother, Kate Gosselin. In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 18-year-old said he was open to reconciling with Kate, 47. Kate previously revealed that Gosselin spent time in an institution because of alleged “behavioral issues.” After he left, he chose to live with his father, Jon Gosselin, 45.

Once Gosselin left the institution, he “didn’t have a relationship” with Kate, he told ET. “Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship and I think that just kept tearing it even more down.” Gosselin believes that the pressures of being a reality TV star played a role in his estrangement from his mother.

“I want to believe it was because of TV and what being in the public eye does to a family. I think it tore us apart,” Gosselin, who was 14 when Jon won full custody of him in December 2018, told ET. “It gave us less time to actually be together as a family, [and] more time to be in the public eye.”

Jon received full custody of Gosselin after Kate and her lawyer missed a hearing. Kate wanted the hearing postponed, but the judge refused her request. Kate’s absence at the hearing “didn’t really bother” Gosselin, because their relationship was already fractured at that point.”I mean, it’s like I said, it’s on her own terms and if she doesn’t want to show up she doesn’t have to show up,” he said.

Gosselin added that the troubles he had with his mother were “worse” than what an average teenager would face with their parents. He came out of the situation understanding that everyone has their “own agenda” that could be to the detriment of others. “My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was,” Gosselin said. “But I was put in a tough spot and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”

It is “unfortunate” he did not have a good relationship with Kate, Gosselin said, adding that it would be “ideal” to have one today. Despite these challenges, Gosselin is keeping a positive outlook, and he hopes others “spread kindness and love” after hearing his story.

“I want to say that in life we all go through hard things. We all get knocked down, we all experience really, really difficult things,” Gosselin told ET. “But don’t sit around and mourn and cry about it, address the situation you’re in and fix it and come out on top of it. Because resilience is a really important thing.”

The Gosselin family gained fame on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8. The series followed Jon and Kate as they raised Gosselin and his seven siblings. He is one of the couple’s sextuplets, alongside Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah, and Joel. Jon and Kate are also parents to 22-year-old twins Cara Nicole and Madelyn “Mady” Cate. The series was renamed Kate Plus 8 after the couple’s divorce and the final episode aired in July 2017.