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Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Collin Gosselin is sharing a heartfelt message to his six estranged siblings ahead of the release of his bombshell memoir about their televised childhoods and the alleged abuse he claims he endured.
Collin, 22, and his seven siblings — twins Madelyn and Cara, 25, and fellow sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah and Joel — were brought up on the set of their family’s TLC reality series, which premiered in 2007 and documented Jon and Kate’s daily life with their eight children.
Following Jon and Kate’s divorce in 2009, Kate was granted primary custody of all eight children, and the show was renamed Kate Plus 8.
It was after the split, Collin claims in his new memoir In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, that Kate allegedly began to abuse Collin, which eventually led to him leaving her home and becoming estranged from his siblings.
Kate has denied all allegations of abuse.
Now, Collin is only in touch with his sister, Hannah, although he told ABC News’ Juju Chang that he “would love to” reconnect with their other siblings.
“No matter what’s happened or what was said, no matter how things look from the outside, I love you,” Collin said in a message to his siblings. “I always have and always will.”
Collin has been estranged from Kate for about a decade since her decision to send him to a behavioral health institution due to his “unpredictable and violent behavior” days before his twelfth birthday in 2016.
“I was told, ‘This is for your own good,’” Collin told ABC News. “I threatened my mom’s income, I threatened her image, and people will do anything to protect their reputation, especially my mom.”
In the years leading up to his stay at the facility, Collin alleges that his mother made him sleep in a locked room in their basement. When he tried to run away, Collin alleges that Kate zip-tied his hands and feet together and locked him in the room.
In 2024, Collin came forward with a public account of the alleged abuse in an interview with The U.S. Sun.
Kate’s attorney, Richard Puleo, told the outlet at the time that he did not believe Kate had done anything to “intentionally harm” Collin and that “she did what she did to protect herself and her family” from what he called “troubled behavior.”
The Independent has contacted Kate for further comment.
After Collin left the institution in 2018, he moved in with Jon alongside Hannah, who chose to leave Kate’s care. The two siblings are both now attending college.
The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
