Jon Gosselin did a bombshell interview this week with Daily Mail and it seems like he's ready to blow the roof off of Kate Gosselin's (allegedly) abusive manner.
“I have watched my children suffer and I have not been able to say a word,” Jon said, referencing a gag order from their 2009 divorce. “It’s not about me, I don’t give a s**t, I’m like whatever, I’ll just go to work, you know? But my kids have suffered so much. Who’s going to defend them?”
According to Jon, TLC offered him $1 million to stay with Kate for another two years, which is something he couldn't morally do.
“I left the show so my children would never have to relive our divorce,” Jon said. “That’s it. I could have made millions of dollars if I would’ve just continued, took their offer and stayed married for two years and I probably wouldn’t even be sitting here today. But I couldn’t live with myself. I couldn’t live a lie.”
Jon also revealed that marriage counseling was paid for by TLC, but Kate decided not to show up.
“Kate even picked the counselor but I went to the sessions by myself,” he explained. “It was clear to me that I was the only one that wanted the marriage to work. Kate came to me and said that she was leaving the marriage and she’s the one that filed for divorce. I had Kate against me, I had TLC against me and when you’re inside the fishbowl, you have nowhere to move, you have no way of breaking the glass. But when you’re outside you can see everything. That’s why I ultimately was glad to leave. I left the marriage in 2009 so I could come out and help my children and have more power on the outside because on the inside I was powerless.”
What's interesting is that in 2011, Kate was sued by Dr. Sylvia Lafair, the head of a marriage counseling organization, for an unpaid bill of $10,476.
“There are commitments that people make…and they should be followed through,” she said of Kate's refusal to pay.
Kate said there was never a contract with the company so she shouldn't have to pay, but the court disagreed and she had to fork over the full amount. So are these sessions different than the ones Jon said TLC paid for? That's not clear.
Jon then went on to claim that Kate is an emotionally and physically abusive person, and that's why Hannah and Collin chose to live with him permanently.
“I do know what she’s capable of, whether it’s mental or physical [abuse],” Jon said. “I have two kids in my house who left a whole pile of money behind. They left fame and money and came to my house. They left it all behind. I know my children have suffered abuse and I know one day they’re going to tell their own story. And sadly enough, I know what PTSD is. It’s really upsetting,”
Collin made his decision while he was away at the Fairmont Behavioral Institute for ADHD. In his interview, Jon explained that Kate just didn't know how to handle him.
“Kate … couldn’t deal with him,” Jon. “He was alone for three and a half years with no parents, all alone. It was inhumane. Other than ADHD, which is extremely common, Collin has never been diagnosed with any known medical condition, there's nothing wrong with him."
Jon shared a letter that Collin sent him while he was at the institute, in which he begs his dad to "save" him.
“Dear Dad, I’m not trying to trick you, but I still love you,” Collin, 15, wrote in a June 2017 letter. “I told Mom I want to live with you, she said no. But right? She can’t choose for me. I’m old enough now, I’m YOUR son, not hers. She was abusive to me after I left your house. I’m sorry. Take this to court because … you’re my dad, my savior. Please help me and let me meet Colleen [Conrad, Jon’s girlfriend]. I’m counting on you to get me out of here. Daddy, I love you. save me. Please come FAST. I love you. Help me. BYE.”
Once Jon got that letter, he immediately “raised the money to get a lawyer and went through the courts to get joint legal custody” only to have Collin moved to another institution five hours away in Pittsburgh. “I’d drive out to Pittsburgh to visit him as much as I could and eventually it progressed to overnight stays before he was finally released into my custody,” Jon explained.
Jon now has primary custody of Hannah and Collin. While Collin's choice was because of being sent away, Hannah's was because she was tired of Kate's targeting.
“Hannah had had enough, she was always labeled the leader of the pack. She just got tired of being the leader of the pack and all that responsibility. She just wanted to be a kid,” Jon stated. “Kate targeted her. I mean, who puts all that pressure on to someone that’s 12 years old, it’s a lot.”
While talking about his kids, Jon noted that they all feel obligated to appear on TV because Kate likes it.
“They have all said they have to film because they feel they need to provide a lifestyle for their mother,” he said. “They don’t want to film. They said they have to film. That’s heartbreaking. Why do my kids need to provide for themselves? They’re kids."
Jon also believes that Kate is only in it for herself.
"Kate is not doing the shows for her family, Kate is doing it for herself," he said. "She's narcissistic and selfish. That's it. Period. All of this is for her -- Kate Plus Eight, Kate Plus Date, it's her name first. She always speaks for the children. It's all lies. They all have voices."
Because the kids have only grown up on TV, Jon says that all of his kids lack social skills, and that they don't really know how to handle difficult situations in life.
“I’m glad they have great grades and all this stuff, but in an uncomfortable social situation, like college or an environment that’s not suitable to white collar demographics, it’s going to be difficult for them and intermingling with other races and demographics and geography,” Jon explained. “It’s going to be difficult because they’ve been isolated so much and they haven’t been taught those life skills.”
Something that peeves Jon about Kate is when she says that she's a single mom of eight who is doing it all herself.
"The reality is I know how to do math," he explained. "There's two going to college. There's two that live with me full time and four live with her. So I don't know where eight is coming from. It isn't Jon & Kate Plus 8 anymore, it's not even Kate Plus 8 anymore. Those things are long gone. This is a whole new world. Move past that stuff."
Kate often says that the couple co-parents, but that idea is laughable to Jon.
"It's so far from co-parenting," he said. "We don't even talk to each other. So why are you even bringing that up? You know, there's stuff that she said in the media that's so far from the truth. It's not even funny. It is the complete opposite of truth."
Hannah and Collin live with Jon, but the father of eight doesn't see any of his other kids. Mady and Cara, the couple's twins are at college, and the four other sextuplets don't want to see their dad. This, according to Jon, is Kate's fault.
"I think Kate has really poisoned my children's minds against me," he said. "She's put stuff in their minds about my personality. I never cheated on my wife, I'm not a monster, I love my children more than anything. I brought Collin home. He's a great kid. I want the family unit together, I even want to co-parent."
So if all of this stuff is true about Kate being abusive, why has Jon waited so long to speak out about this?
"I didn't want to upset the court, I didn't want to upset my children that were a lot younger," he said. "There's a lot of stuff I want to dispel - there's a lot of untruths. I have watched my children suffer and I have not been able to say a word. Kate wanted the gag order because she didn't want me speaking the truth. I know everything. I lived it with her and without her. So I know every single thing that has transpired and what has been portrayed to the American public, it's not all true."
In the end, Jon just wants the world and his kids to know that he loves being a dad, and he wants them all to live normal lives.
“I want to be genuine. I want a good upbringing for my children. I want them to be children and not on television anymore and I want them to live good, healthy, normal lives. I provide an income for my children. I go to work every single day. They need to enjoy their lives. Go to school and then go to college. I love my kids. That’s it.”
Kate has yet to respond to any of these allegations, but knowing her, she'll have something to say.
