Kate’s Lies Exposed
Busted! Kate Gosselin’s attempt to rewrite history crumbles as the truth about her failed marriage, her eight kids and her obsession with fame come to light
Kate Gosselin wasn’t holding back. In what she tried to frame as a brutally honest interview, the Kate Plus 8 reality star trashed ex-husband Jon, 39, strongly implying he’s been an absentee father. “I really would have thought he’d have been here for the long haul,” she told People magazine. “The weirdest thing is that overnight he became a different person.” She later added, “I’ve felt very alone in this.”
She wasn’t telling the whole truth. According to a source who knows the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 stars, the truth is that Kate, 41, was only willing to stay in the marriage for money and fame. “Kate wanted fame and fortune at any cost,” the source exclusively tells In Touch, explaining that in 2009 — as Jon and Kate’s marriage was crumbling — their network, TLC, arranged a mediation session with Dr. Phil Mcgraw in LA, where they made Jon a lucrative offer. “TLC and Kate agreed that they needed to keep the marriage intact to make the show go on and offered Jon $2 million to sign a contract to stay married for two more years,” says the source. “In Dr. Phil’s private study, Jon was told that they could have an open marriage behind the scenes. Kate was fine with that. Jon refused — he didn’t want to have a fake marriage for a TV show.” Or to further Kate’s lust for fame. “Kate’s life has been one big lie,” adds the source. “She was willing to do it back then to stay relevant, and she’s still doing it now. That interview is filled with lies.”
Her relationship with Jon isn’t the only thing she tried to spin. In the interview, Kate revealed their son Collin has “educational and social challenges” that led her to send him away to a program so he could gain better “life skills.” Though Kate claimed she was protecting Collin’s privacy by keeping his diagnosis and treatment information private, she in fact spoke at great length about the 12-year-old’s issues, the “struggle” of raising a special-needs child and how he’s affected her other sextuplets — Alexis, Leah, Hannah, Aaden and Joel — and twins Mady and Cara, 15. “If [Kate] wants to talk about herself, that’s fine,” says psychologist Jean Cirillo, who has not treated the Gosselins. “But she is breaching [Collin’s] privacy and that’s not fair.”
Her behavior concerning Collin has long been troubling. In 2012, it was revealed in a book based on her personal diary — found on a computer hard drive that she threw out, according to the author — that she repeatedly spanked him and pulled his hair as a young boy. When he got older and misbehaved, “She wouldn’t let him eat with his siblings and forced him to sleep alone in a windowless room in the basement,” says the source. “A therapist who came to the home witnessed Collin was being locked in the basement in a windowless room and she turned Kate in to Children & Youth Services. But when they came to the home for their official visit, Kate wouldn’t allow them in. CYS warned Kate they would be back with a search
warrant and that gave her two weeks to prepare the home.” The source says that CYS has investigated six claims of abuse in the last two years, all deemed unsubstantiated.
Kate hasn’t told Jon where Collin is or revealed his diagnosis. “Jon would have taken care of Collin if Kate had let him,” says a source, slamming Kate’s claims that she’s forced to deal with Collin’s issues alone. “The truth is, she hasn’t let Jon see Collin in almost two years.” (Kate won primary custody after their 2009 divorce; Jon has visitation rights.) For Jon, it’s heartbreaking. “I’m a regular dad trying to spend as much time with my kids as possible,” he exclusively tells In Touch, adding that he sees most of his kids every Tuesday plus every other weekend (see sidebar). “I love all of my children and hope they all know I’m there for them unconditionally.”
In the interview, Cara and Mady confirmed they no longer speak to their father and haven’t seen him in a few years. “He doesn’t even know us,” declared Mady. “We don’t want to see him.” It’s a cruel dig that Dr. Lillian Glass says Kate should have never allowed. “That’s between them and their father and is a problem that needs to be discussed with a therapist and not in public,” says Dr. Glass, a psychologist and human behavior expert who hasn’t worked with Kate’s brood. “The mother obviously poisoned the well. That sounds like something she’s fed them.”
Those who know her say it’s typical Kate. “She’s not the good person she’d have people believe,” claims the source. “Kate’s so desperate for fame that she’s trying to rewrite history — all at the expense of those poor kids.” ◼