Collin Gosselin, one of the eight children of the hit reality TV series “Kate Plus Eight,” has spoken out regarding his estranged family and the damaged relationship he shares with his mother Kate.
In an interview with ET, Collin, 18, discussed his relationship with his mother, Kate, 47, saying how they never recovered after he left an institution for troubled youth.
Colin explained, “After being there, I didn’t have a relationship with her. Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship and I think that just kept tearing it even more down.”
Collin continued to say that he felt the damaged relationships were a cause of the reality TV show and the exposure and pressures that put on their family. During the show Collin was a minor and didn’t really have a say if he wanted to do the show or not.
“I want to believe it was because of TV and what being in the public eye does to a family. I think it tore us apart. It gave us less time to actually be together as a family, [and] more time to be in the public eye.” he said.
Collin’s father, Jon, gained sole custody after his mother failed to appear at the court hearing when Collin was just 14 years old.
Collin told ET that her absence “didn’t really bother” him.
“I mean, it’s like I said, it’s on her own terms and if she doesn’t want to show up she doesn’t have to show up,” he said.
Collin went on to say that his mother’s parenting “was worse than what you would say the average teenage kid goes through.”
“I came to the conclusion that everybody has their own agenda, you know? My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was. But I was put in a tough spot and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot,” he said.
Despite their troubled past, Collin stated that he would be open to reconciliation with his mother and that one day he would like a relationship with her.
“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a relationship. I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom. But I’m doing very well. I want to say that in life we all go through hard things. We all get knocked down, we all experience really, really difficult things,” Collin stated.
He continued saying, “But don’t sit around and mourn and cry about it, address the situation you’re in and fix it and come out on top of it. Because resilience is a really important thing.”
He ended the interview by saying, “My one message to everybody, to the world, in general, is just be kind to people. It’s really not that hard, you know? Be kind, talk to people, hear other people’s stories, just spread kindness.”
