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Kate Gosselin on Her Kids: ‘They Want a Dad Who’s There for Them’

Family matters. Kate Gosselin opened up to Dr. Oz in an interview set to air on Thursday, December 15, saying that her eight kids have been through a lot with their parents’ divorce and they just want a little bit of stability.

“They want a dad who’s there for them,” the 41-year-old mom tells the talk show host of ex-husband Jon Gosselin in an exclusive clip obtained by Us Weekly. “If I’m gonna be really honest, there was kind of the old Jon and the new Jon and none of us can quite understand, like, what happened there. So we struggled together. I mean, they coined it years ago, old daddy and new daddy. That’s understandable, but, like, hard to kind of digest for all of us.”

Related: PHOTOS: Hollywood's Ugliest Divorces

Jon and Kate underwent a very messy divorce in 2009, much of which played out in headlines. The pair are now completely estranged and hardly communicate at all except when it comes to the kids.

In November, the Kate Plus 8 star told Extra that her son Collin, whom she had previously singled out for his behavioral issues, was now living away from his seven siblings. “He’s chugging along,” Kate said when asked about the 12-year-old, one of the couple’s sextuplets. “It’s a family experience that we are dealing the best we can with. Everyone’s got their stuff. Another bump in the road and we’re all doing the best that we can with it.”

Related: PHOTOS: Kate Gosselin's Life After Reality TV

Around the same time, Jon, 39, told Entertainment Tonight that he had not been informed of his son’s “special needs” program and, in fact, didn’t know where he’d been sent. “I have an idea where he is, but I don’t really know where he is,” the former reality star-turned-DJ said. “I mean, I ask but she doesn’t tell me. She doesn’t answer any of my texts.”

Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin
Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin on April 2, 2009 in New York City. Amy Sussman/WireImage

Related: PHOTOS: Stars Who Got Their Start on Reality TV

Kate confirmed that she doesn’t have a relationship with her ex anymore in her interview with Extra. “I support the kids and their relationship [with him] — some visit, some choose not to, some visit sometimes,” she said. “I support them and what they want so they can be happy and whole.”

In addition to Collin, the exes are parents of Mady and Cara, 16, and sextuplets Joel, Aaden, Leah, Alexis and Hannah.

Kate Plus 8 airs on TLC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

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