Kate Gosselin is reflecting on her 2009 divorce from Jon Gosselin, insisting that her and Jon’s split could have been “calmer” and “a lot nicer if everybody was willing to play nice.”
Kate opened up about her tumultuous divorce Wednesday on TikTok Live after a fan asked the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star for advice on how to get through ending a marriage.
“I made decisions based on how I would want to be treated, honestly,” Kate said, as reported by People. “And I didn’t buy into all the drama and the hate and the ugly. And I had kids involved, so I wanted it to be as peaceful for them as I possibly could…”
As fans of the show saw, though, that was not how things between the exes ended up playing out.
“A lot of things happened that I could not control that did not turn out well for my kids, but I did my best. We just got through it to the best of our ability,” Kate added.
As fans know, Jon and Kate share eight children– 24-year-old twins Mady and Cara, and 21-year-old sextuplets Leah, Alexis, Joel, Aaden, Hannah and Collin. The entire Gosselin family appeared on TLC from 2007 to 2009, and following Jon and Kate’s split, Kate and the Gosselin children went on to appear on Kate Plus 8, which aired for six seasons.
While Jon and Kate’s divorce was finalized in 2009, the exes went on to engage in a years-long messy (and costly) custody battle for their twins and sextuplets, with Kate initially receiving primary custody of all eight Gosselin children. As you may recall, Jon became the primary guardian of Hannah and Collin in 2018, while the six other Gosselin children remained in Kate’s care until they turned 18.
Kate insisted this week that her divorce with Jon became so nasty because somebody refused to try to get along.
“I did not hire an attorney that wanted to stir up trouble; I just wanted it to be peaceful and I wanted the best for my kids … it could have been a lot calmer and a lot nicer if everybody was willing to play nice.”
As The Ashley previously reported, Jon stated in 2019 that he spent more than $1.7 million in legal fees battling Kate (and TLC) in court, while insisting that the network “paid for [Kate’s] attorneys.”
Jon also claimed that he had to work three jobs to cover child support payments at the time, while alleging that his ex-wife had attempted to “ruin” his various money-making ventures over the years.
Meanwhile, Kate– who has been posting content regularly on TikTok after recently resurfacing on the platform– told fans earlier this month that she returned to a career in nursing because she needed the income, as her reality TV earnings allegedly went toward paying for all of her kids’ college educations, as well as legal fees.
“ … Sickening but I was [dragged] into court constantly and that costs A TON,” she said. “Sad [because] my kids could have a lot more saved and I could have a retirement saved if it weren’t for lawyers … .”
Collin– who is estranged from Kate and all of his siblings except Hannah– later disputed Kate’s claim, telling fans on TikTok that he was in possession of court transcripts in which Kate confessed to taking some of the money he earned from his years on TV. Seemingly proving his point, Collin shared that he’s currently working full-time while attending college. In addition to waiting tables, the 21-year-old revealed that he’s a residential advisor (RA) at his college, which provides him free room and board, as well as a meal plan.
“ … I work hard,” Collin said. “I’m paying for my tuition.”
Kate seemed to respond to her estranged son’s claims earlier this week, while maintaining that she never “stole” her children’s college funds.
“They have all their college money, all the money that was in my control, anyway,” she said. “And they have more than enough for college.”
Kate also insisted that “all” of her and Jon’s children had a college fund because of the family’s participation on reality TV.
“Yes, all of my kids’ college was paid for because of the show … yes, absolutely,” she said.
RELATED STORY: Kate Gosselin Denies Stealing Her Children’s College Money: “They Have More Than Enough for College”
(Photos: TLC; TikTok; Instagram)
11 Responses
My God, these people have been divorced for 16 years and they’re STILL crapping on each other? They haven’t found a way in almost TWO DECADES to coparent/communicate peacefully for the children they purposely created together?! They both suck.
I’m on Jon’s side. She did not even try to hide how narcissistic she is as well as controlling. Making statements like “someone didn’t want to play nice” when there were two people involved- her being one of them- all these years later shows who was the real issue. The fact she does TikTok lives and there is an audience for it is gross. She is constantly caught in lies especially about the college fund that she sys she didn’t “steal from” yet court transcripts show her saying she had to “borrow 50k twice and will need to borrow more to survive”, not to mention the 1.085 million she sold her Wernersville home for to buy the 750k lake house here on Laker Norman with a private pier and boat dock, 4 bedrooms, five baths, saying she has a very “affordable mortgage because of the large down payment” she put down. She was broke in her words so where did the big down payment come from and why did she need a house on the lake when in 2020 she could have gotten a 4 bedroom house with multiple bathrooms and good amount of land for privacy for 300k? She lived above her means and went through millions and even her oldest daughter, Maddie, stated she had half of her college tuition paid for and she is working to pay off the rest.
🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻
Does she need money or something? Why is she suddenly yammering on?
Also, she is allergic to accountability. Absolutely no self-awareness
Focus on repairing the broken relationship with your estranged children.
I agree but its just one child now. She has repaired her relationship with Hannah.
When TLC it’s trying to cover up your shittiness. Pay the bill.So of course, she didn’t have to get an attorney🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Why is she talking about it now 16 years later?
Because she’s broke and wants attention. It’s kind of entertaining to watch her lie and continuously get called out and fact checked though. She’s trying to play the game like it’s still the early 2000s and social media is eating her alive.