Why Kate Gosselin’s Daughters Mady and Cara Stopped Speaking to Dad Jon

Kate Gosselin‘s twin daughters Mady and Cara are 17 years old, which puts them at an age where they are capable of making some important decisions. One of those decisions is to remain estranged from their dad, Jon Gosselin, who the twins are not currently speaking to.

Talking to People in 2016, the girls opened up about their relationship with their dad, explaining that they aren’t being kept from him, a claim Jon has previously seemed to make.

“He makes it seem like we’re being kept from him, which is insane,” Mady said. “He should maybe spend some time thinking about why we don’t want to see him, and maybe realize that if he ever does want a relationship with us, talking about us on TV is not the way to make that happen.”

“He doesn’t even know us,” she added. “How can he dare to talk about us?”

Jon had previously given interviews about his relationship with his daughters, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2016 that he hadn’t seen all eight of his children together in about three years.

“Everybody used to come to my house,” he said. “You know, it was great, and then Madelyn and Cara just stopped coming, around 12-13 [years old]. I didn’t question it. I was just like, ‘Hey, do what you want, be with your friends’ and then it just became they’re not coming.”

He added, “Madelyn and Cara, I don’t see that much, or often. We’re kind of not talking right now.”

Kate and Jon are also parents to sextuplets Aaden, Alexis, Collin, Hannah, Leah and Joel, who will turn 14 next month. The family has appeared on reality television in different iterations throughout the years, and Kate will soon return to the small screen with the new TLC series Kate Plus Date, which will chronicle her dating life.

Speaking to People, the mom of eight shared that her oldest daughters support her new venture.

“As we’re talking about Mady and Cara going off to college which is becoming more and more of a reality, it’s gonna happen, it almost became like a worry for them, too, like ‘Mommy, you’re gonna be all alone soon,’” Kate said. “But it was very apparent, now that they’re older and talking about dating and how they’re all gonna get married someday … it became apparent: they want someone for me. They want me to have somebody in my life.”

Photo Credit: Getty / NBC NewsWire