Collin Gosselin has made another serious accusation against his mother, Kate Gosselin, before the release of his bombshell memoir about their troubled relationship.
The 22-year-old grew up in front of millions of people on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, which documented the lives of Kate, her then-husband Jon Gosselin, and their sextuplets and twins.
The 22-year-old grew up in front of millions of people on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, which documented the lives of Kate, her then-husband Jon Gosselin, and their sextuplets and twins.
Highlights
- Collin Gosselin claimed that, when he was a child, his mother wrote in her diary that she needed help to stop being physically aggressive toward him.
- Collin appeared on the reality show ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8,’ which followed his mother, Kate, his father, Jon, and the couple's sextuplets and twins.
- The 22-year-old has made disturbing allegations of mistreatment against Kate, including that she frequently locked him in the basement and zip-tied him.
The series ran for ten years, from 2007 to 2017, first on the Discovery Health channel and later on TLC. On the latter network, it became one of the highest-rated programs, with the fifth-season premiere drawing 9.8 million viewers.
After Kate Gosselin dismissed her son Collin's disturbing allegations against her, he fired back with another serious accusation
Image credits: Getty/Noel Vasquez
Collin, one of the sextuplets, revealed in an 2024 interview with The Sun that his experience was very far from the happy family that was shown on TV.
He claimed he was confined and "isolated" from his siblings by his mother and placed in the basement with his hands zip-tied, with Kate allegedly installing a camera to surveil him.
Image credits: Getty/Donna Svennevik
The young man also alleged that his mother, a nurse, was "physically aggressive" and "verbally ab*sive” toward him.
Two years later, the tension between the mother and son has not been resolved.
Image credits: The Sun
On Tuesday (June 30), Collin reacted to a TikTok posted by Kate in which she responded to some fans' comments about the memoir he is set to release.
The 51-year-old replied to a user who suggested she should take her son "to court and sue him for defamation" if she is "100% certain that the accusations against you are lies."
The 51-year-old replied to a user who suggested she should take her son "to court and sue him for defamation" if she is "100% certain that the accusations against you are lies."
Kate said she wanted to take legal action against her 22-year-old son over his tell-all memoir
Image credits: kateplusmy8
She explained that she wanted to sue her son but thought it was unlikely that she would obtain a legal victory.
She wrote, "I can't bc I'm a public figure. Rules are different unfortunately. Or I def would!"
She wrote, "I can't bc I'm a public figure. Rules are different unfortunately. Or I def would!"
Image credits: collingosselin1
"The rules are different for ppl in the public eye," Kate added in another comment.
"I consulted a high power LA attorney (you've definitely heard of him) years ago when other ppl were putting crazy stuff out there and that's what he said. The courts don't honor it if you're in the public eye."
When another fan asked whether she’d take a lie detector test, referencing Collin’s previous statement about wanting his mother to take one, the reality star simply commented “Ha!”
Collin alleged that his mother once wrote in her diary that she had to "pray to God to stop hitting me”
Collin reacted to his mother’s comments with a message on his Instagram Stories.
"Never forget the fact that my mom would write in her diary how she 'had to pray to God to stop hitting me' (this was while I was 2 years old by the way)," he claimed.
"Never forget the fact that my mom would write in her diary how she 'had to pray to God to stop hitting me' (this was while I was 2 years old by the way)," he claimed.
The 22-year-old stood by his decision to publish the memoir detailing his experience on Jon & Kate Plus 8 and his relationship with his mother.
"And this is why using my voice to put these things in the light is so important."
Image credits: collingosselin1
The book, titled In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, will be released on October 13.
“For years, I kept those experiences to myself. Some because I was afraid. Some because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. And some because I just wasn’t ready,” Collin wrote in an Instagram post announcing the memoir.
Image credits: Getty/NBC NewsWire
“Growing up, millions of people watched my life on television. People felt like they knew me. They knew my family. They watched me grow up. But there was so much they never saw.”
“This isn’t the story people think they know. It’s the story I’ve lived.”
Collin previously claimed Kate confined him to a locked room in the basement and zip-tied his hands and feet
In his interview with The Sun, Collin claimed that Kate had a room built in an unfinished section of the storage basement. The room allegedly had cameras, a tiny window in the corner, and it was locked from the outside.
Kate frequently made him sleep in that room on a mattress on the floor, he alleged.
Image credits: Getty/Donna Svennevik
"When my mother would put me in that room multiple times, she had zip-tied my hands and feet together and bolt locked the door, turned the lights off and had cameras there just watching me," the young man said.
Kate's attorney, Richard Puleo, told the outlet that he didn't believe she had done anything to "intentionally harm" her son. Instead, he said Kate tried to protect her son from what he described as "troubled behavior."
According to medical reports obtained by The Sun, Collin reported Kate's alleged mistreatment to his counselor.
His father, Jon, said he wasn't aware of the situation until he obtained custody of Hannah, one of the sextuplets.
Collin, who appeared alongside his sextuplet siblings and twin sisters on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, is close with his father
Image credits: Oprah/Courtesy Jon and Kate Gosselin
Kate and Jon divorced in 2009, with the father appearing sporadically on the show after that. The series was renamed Kate Plus 8 in 2010.
Collin has maintained a positive relationship with his father. In a Father's Day tribute this month, the 22-year-old wrote, "I love you and I am so grateful for the bond we share and how we have continued to grow closer and make great memories!"
Image credits: collingosselin1
He also sent a birthday message to Jon’s ex-girlfriend, Colleen Conrad, calling her "my real mom.”
With the exception of his sister Hannah, Collin is estranged from the rest of his sextuplet siblings, Aaden, Joel, Alexis, and Leah, as well as from his 25-year-old twin sisters Madelyn and Cara.
Image credits: collingosselin1
Jon, a DJ, obtained custody of Collin in 2018. He has validated his son’s accusations against his mother, stating that “the room in the basement where she kept Collin is still there.”
Kate maintains that Collin suffers from mental health issues and has a “distorted perception of reality”
Image credits: kate.gosselin
In addition to recounting the stories of being kept in the basement, In the Shadow of Eight will expose “the cocktail of powerful antipsychotics forced on an 11-year-old boy,” according to the publisher's description.
“This is a reckoning with the dark side of fame: the systems, the entourage, and the institutions that allowed one boy to be erased. This is the never before told story of how he escaped and found his way back from the dark,” the description reads.
The Kate Plus Date alum has referred to her son as a “very troubled young man” who allegedly received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years.
She said Collin has a “distorted perception of reality” and a “history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies.”
Social media users shared their thoughts on the reality stars’ public feud
