In a new expose on the (now-grown) kids of reality TV, Hannah Gosselin described her life growing up in front of cameras while filming Jon & Kate Plus 8— revealing how it felt to know everything she did could have ended up on TV for millions of people to view and comment on.
Hannah— who, along with other reality TV kids such as Sister Wives star Gwendlyn Brown— spoke to Teen Vogue about the reality of reality TV life.
“You’re always surrounded,” Hannah said, adding that there was a time that the film crew even lived in an apartment above her family’s home. “The film crew was there 24/7….that was our normal.”
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Hannah— who is one of Jon and Kate Gosselin‘s eight children— stated that she and her siblings often filmed for the show late into the night, even on school nights. As fans know, Kate and Jon would eventually divorce and engage in legal battles that would last until the kids turned 18. (The Gosselin sextuplets turned 21 earlier this week.)
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“[Filming] made my siblings and I closer to each other, even though it made my parents further from each other,” Hannah told the magazine.
The siblings— which include older twins Mady and Cara (who are 24 now) and sextuplets Collin, Leah, Alexis, Aaden and Joel— even bonded together and came up with a strategy to get the cameras off of them when they didn’t want something filmed.
“They realized that footage couldn’t be used if they said a name brand because of trademark and product placement issues,” the article states. “If the siblings ever wanted to say something that they didn’t want to end up on TV, one of them would say a brand name over and over while the other did or said whatever they wanted. Eventually, the crew caught on and told them to stop.”
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As fans of the show know, the Gosselin family fell apart after Kate and Jon’s divorce, with the kids initially going to live with Kate. However, Kate sent Collin away to a facility, claiming he had “special needs,” something Collin (as an adult) and Jon have vehemently denied.
Eventually, both Collin and Hannah ended up living with Jon, while the other siblings stayed in Kate’s care. Today, Jon has no contact with the kids who stayed with Kate, while Kate is not involved in Collin’s life at all. (She and Hannah had reestablished a relationship; however, it is unknown if Hannah remains on good terms with her mother.)
While Gwendlyn Brown said that she and her siblings weren’t even paid to appear on the show until her mother Christine Brown intervened and began paying her kids herself, Hannah and her siblings had a different experience. In 2012, the child labor laws in Pennsylvania were changed partly due to the Gosselin kids filming their reality show in the state and not having any sort of laws to protect them because reality TV had not been factored into the existing child labor laws.
Despite this, reality TV and other online influencing circumstances still remain mostly unregulated for kids, despite strict laws existing for child actors.
“Reality TV is the Wild West,” Sally Greenberg— executive director of the National Consumers League– told TODAY in a statement in 2022. “State and federal laws must be enhanced to … ensure children are not exploited and abused… child participants must have a portion of family proceeds placed into a trust fund for their future needs.”
Hannah told Teen Vogue that, because of the law they helped create, she ended up with enough money to pay for about half of her college education.
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This isn’t the first time that Hannah has revealed her feelings about filming for a reality show since birth. Back in 2023, she appeared on VICE network’s Dark Side of the 2000s along with Collin and Jon to discuss the effects of the show.
“I don’t resent my parents for putting us on TV because I understand why they did it,” she said at the time. “It was a good opportunity, and it just turned into something nobody saw it turning into…I never felt like I was forced into filming, but some days I didn’t feel up to it. But I still did it.”
RELATED STORY: Kate Gosselin Posts Photos with Four of Her Sextuplets on Their 21st Birthday; Fans Accuse Her of “Discarding” Collin & Hannah
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
7 Responses
kate was a horrible mom—she played everyone!!! it had to be in her total control! I remember watching her talk down to John constantly!!! she emasculated him all the time!!! he loved those kids but she destroyed that!!!! she took their Dad away from them!!! she is a cruel and nasty human!!! he made mistakes too—but he NEVER damaged her relationships with her kids!!! That is the worst thing a parent can do!!!!!! I remember them carving pumpkins in one show and he was right in it with the kids–the mess was driving her nuts so she shut it down and cleaned it all up–let kids be kids and make memories with their dad–!!!??? nope!!! kate only wanted shown her way on the camera–watch just one old episode–pick any one that John was in–you will see
ASHLEY, CAN WE GET A TEEN MOM RECAP PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!!!
I can’t get over the fact that Hannah said the show allowed her to pay half of her college – assuming she’s still going to the university of Miami that’s 240k (only tuition), she may have transferred bc in the article it says she’s in her home state of Pennsylvania- so she was given about 100k? For filming 10 plus years?
That would be horrific if that’s all she made. The way these kids were and are exploited by their parents is insane. Maybe she only had to pay half her tuition because of scholarships or something?
The Ashley posts when she cans.
Domtijrehuhy
her mom took everything–even their father and 2 of their siblings!!!
She should have had more. It’s in the official court record that Kate took $250,000 each out of her and Collin’s accounts after they moved in with Jon.