Jon Gosselin accused ex-wife Kate Gosselin of discouraging their children from talking to him while he was attempting to reconcile with them.
“There was so much angst between Kate and [me] and my kids are pleasers, they wanted to please their mom,” the former reality star, 46, told The U.S. Sun of his relationships with this eight children. “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.”
The former TLC personality went on to accuse his ex-wife, 48, of actively keeping the kids from speaking to him. “I didn’t do parental alienation on my side, but she definitely did on her side,” Jon alleged. “But now they are adults they may not be influenced as much by her and management and all those things. My door has always been open to them and I hope now they are adults they may want to reach out.”
The exes, who split in 2009 after a decade of marriage, are the parents of twins Cara and Mady, 22, and sextuplets Aaden, Collin, Joel, Alexis, Hannah and Leah, 18. By 2018, Collin and Hannah were living with Jon and had distanced themselves from their mom and their other siblings. Jon, for his part, has remained estranged from his other six children after his split from Kate.
“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,” the former DJ told the outlet, adding that all custody battles are over now that the younger kids are 18. “It happened so fast, the kids growing up. The six will be 19 in May — the time just slipped away.”
Last year, Collin opened up about his placement in the Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute after his mother claimed he required assistance for his “special needs” in 2016.
“I was in a dark place mentally. I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you,” he told Entertainment Tonight in November 2022. “After being there, I didn’t have a relationship with her. Even before then, I don’t think we had much of a relationship and I think that just kept tearing it even more down so.”
The teen went on to say that he doesn’t have a close relationship with any of his siblings except Hannah, revealing that he hadn’t spoken to the other six Gosselin kids in “probably” five or six years. “I haven’t reached out to them, they haven’t reached out to me,” he said of his brothers and sisters. “I want to respect their space and their time and respect how they feel about everything, so I’m kind of just waiting for the day that they reach out. I don’t want to reach out. I don’t want to invade their space. I’d rather just let them do it on their own terms.”
After Collin’s tell-all interview, a source close to Jon exclusively told Us Weekly that the father of eight hopes all of his kids could eventually have a better rapport with their mom. “Jon wishes Collin and Hannah could fix their relationship with Kate,” in the insider said. “That’s all he’s ever wanted.”
Last year, Kate’s attorney slammed Jon’s claims that she owed him child support and removed money from their children’s bank accounts. “Kate’s integrity is impeccable,” Richard J. Puleo told Us in August 2022. “I can’t say the same for Jon Gosselin.”
