Collin Gosselin is 22 years old now, but for a whole generation of TV watchers, he’ll always be one of the eight kids running through the living room on“Jon&Kate Plus 8.”On Tuesday, he released a memoir called“In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,”and with it came a message he aimed straight at the brothers and sisters he hasn’t spoken to since 2016.“I do love them very much,”he told Page Six. The last time he said those words to them, he was only 14 or 15.
The estrangement traces back to when Collin was 11 and was sent to a behavioral health facility in 2016. His father Jon later obtained custody of Collin and his sister Hannah in 2018. In the interview, Collin described what tore the family apart as“triangulation,”saying the siblings were pitted against each other. Kate Gosselin and TLC have not responded to requests for comment on the book or the interview.
For those who watched these kids grow up on camera, the memoir raises uncomfortable questions about what child reality TV does to a family long after the cameras stop rolling. Collin’s plea isn’t about drama. It’s about wanting his family back.
Do you think reality TV kids should have a say in whether they’re filmed? Sound off in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.