What Jon Gosselin's Relationship With His Eight Kids Is Like Today
When "Jon & Kate Plus 8" first aired on TLC in 2007, it seemed as if Jon and Kate Gosselin were living the typical American life — except for the fact that they were raising sextuplets and a pair of twin daughters. As viewers watched them parent their big brood, Jon and Kate dealt with the highs and lows of managing a big family. After struggling to maintain their relationship and dealing with rumors of infidelity, the couple divorced in 2009 after 10 years of marriage.
Kate was given primary legal custody of their eight children, which led to a strained relationship between them and Jon. In 2016, he took to "The Steve Harvey Show" to reveal more about the situation. "Most of the time, I get four. I haven't seen all my kids together in about three years. I only get what I get," he shared (via Us Weekly). Jon also claimed he hadn't seen one of his sons in over a year. "I don't know why. I can't talk to him, I have no communication," he bemoaned. In 2018, two of the sextuplets, Hannah and Collin, made the decision to live with Jon. However, he has been estranged from the rest of his six kids since the divorce.The sextuplets are now adults and since years of battling it out in court have ended with Kate, Jon is hoping to regain his relationship with his children.
Jon Gosselin blames Kate Gosselin for alienating him from the kids
Jon Gosselin's relationship with six of his kids continues to be strained, but now that the younger ones are legal adults, his and Kate Gosselin's fight over custody and child support is finally over. Jon is hoping for a fresh start with his adult children. "Before, the kids living with Kate were under her thumb but now they are adults and going off to college or the military or whatever, I don't have as much fear about reaching out to them," he told The U.S. Sun. "I always wanted to talk to all of my kids but I didn't want to put them in an awkward position because Kate didn't want them talking to me. I didn't do parental alienation on my side but she definitely did on her side, but now they are adults they may not be influenced as much by her," he added.
Last year, Jon lamented to Entertainment Tonight about how Kate supposedly kept their kids away from him. "[Communicating with] the children that live with Kate is very difficult, because I don't have an open relationship with them ... I feel it's a really poor decision on Kate's part because she alienated me from those kids," he stated. In the meantime, Jon is focusing on being a dad to Collin and Hannah, but a prior incident with his son caused an investigation.
Collin once accused Jon Gosselin of physical abuse
While living with his father, Jon Gosselin's son, Collin, accused him of punching and kicking him during an altercation in 2020, per People. "My dad is a liar. Yesterday he beat me up and thought nothing of it, he punched me in the face and gave me a swollen nose and I started bleeding. He then continued to kick me in the ribs after I was on the floor. He is a liar," Collin wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. A source told the outlet that Collin was upset and reportedly threw a heavy object at his father's car, causing a dent. "Jon got out of the car enraged, put him in a headlock, punched him square in the nose, and when Collin fell to the ground, then he kicked him in the ribs," the insider shared. An investigation by Pennsylvania Child & Youth Services was launched but there were no charges filed at the time.
Days after, Jon denied any physical abuse on his part to Entertainment Tonight. "It escalated into something, you know, I had to restrain him and I've done that a couple times. I didn't think he would call the police but he wanted to get his way and the police did their investigation and there were no charges or citations filed." Following the incident, Collin remained with Jon and is now considering joining the military. He and his sister Hannah seem to be tight and hopefully, the rest of the Gosselin family can be close once again.