Collin Gosselin’s decision to join Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test was influenced by more than just one factor.
“I mean, a part of me for a long time was like, ‘I’m gonna prove my mom wrong after everything she did to me as a kid,’” Collin, 22, exclusively shared with Us before the show’s season 5 premiere on Thursday, September 24. “But at a certain point, it’s not for her — this journey, saying yes and going out in the jungle — this was for me.”
When Special Forces premiered in 2023, Kate Gosselin was the first celebrity contestant out of the competition when she was medically withdrawn in the first episode.
As season 5 kicks off this month, Collin is determined to complete more tasks than his estranged mom.
“Looking back, it’s been a couple of months, but I feel like I learned and grew so much, and I did this for me and for all the children who are part of the mission I’m on,” Collin explained to Us. “I just want to show them you can be strong. You can be a warrior and push through and keep going. That’s who I did it for. Not for her.”
Collin grew up in the spotlight when his parents, Kate, 51, and Jon Gosselin, appeared on the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8. When his parents divorced in 2009, Collin remained on TV thanks to Kate Plus 8.
He later moved in with his father full-time and began speaking out about the alleged abuse he experienced from his mother. (Kate’s lawyer shared in a 2024 interview with Fox News that she would not be responding to the allegations.)
Collin is expected to share his story about “truth, survival, resilience and finding my voice after years of being silenced” in the upcoming book titled In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.
While filming Special Forces, Collin was grateful to build such strong connections with his fellow contestants, including Ruby Rose. The bonds formed while filming pushed him to keep going.
“There’s nothing else out there besides the people around you,” he shared. “That bond we shared — at the end of the day we’d all sit on our cots and talk, and that’s what kept me going — that community is really all you have out there.”
When asked if Jon, 49, could ever join the show in the future, Collin made it clear that he doesn’t see the DJ traveling to the jungle to complete demanding training exercises led by an elite team of ex-special forces operatives.
“He wouldn’t do it,” Collin said. “After I told him everything when I came back home, he was like, ‘I’m glad I didn’t do that. I would never want to do that. Not for me.’”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 5 premieres on Fox Thursday, September 24 at 9 p.m. ET.
