Kate Gosselin is defending her controversial parenting style, claiming that “it comes from a place of love.”
Appearing Tuesday at the 2019 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour to promote her new reality TV series Kate Plus Date, the mother-of-eight opened up about the criticisms surrounding her parenting choices.
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“I am a very protective parent, as you probably know,” Gosselin said, according to Us Weekly. “It comes from a place of love. I do think that I care so deeply that I have been, at times, overzealous.”
The Kate Plus 8 star went on to address the criticism surrounding her decision to have her eight children, whom she shares with ex-husband Jon Gosselin, grow up in the spotlight of reality TV. The family had appeared on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8 beginning in 2007 following the birth of their sextuplets, and went on to appear in Kate Plus 8 following Gosselin’s bitter divorce from her husband.
“I feel like, more than anything, it has enriched their lives. It has made them world-wise and taught them a lot about people’s intentions I think more so than other kids their age,” she explained.
Gosselin has long been at the center of controversy due to her parenting choices, at several points even being accused of child abuse after she enrolled her son, Collin, in a program that teaches “life skills” to help him overcome his “educational and social challenges.”
“I’m in the public eye. I have been investigated many times…It’s always unfounded obviously,” she said of the accusations during a November 2016 appearance on Good Morning America.
“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,” she continued. “I’ve felt very alone in this.”
Despite her claims, her decision to send Collin to a residential facility, seemingly without informing her ex-husband, became a point of contention among fans who frequently took to her social media posts ask where Collin was.
After failing to appear in front of a judge, Jon was awarded sole temporary custody of Collin, and later claimed that Gosselin now has “zero” involvement in the 14-year-old’s life. The former couple’s 14-year-old daughter Hannah also now lives with Jon, though their twin daughter, 18-year-old’s Madi and Cara, no longer speak to their father.
