Collin Gosselin’s dream of becoming a United States Marine has reportedly been derailed due to a decision that his mom Kate Gosselin made in 2016.
The former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star revealed this week in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he is no longer in the Marines after it was discovered that he had spent time in a mental health institution back in 2016, resulting in him being “discharged” from the military service branch.
“I was towards the end of training– very close to graduating– the paperwork was looked into and they found out that I was, in fact, in an institution at one point in my life,” Collin said. “And see, they don’t need any deeper reason. Being in an institution, that’s good enough … it’s the fact that I was in an institution, and that’s it.”
Collin–- one of Kate and Jon Gosselin’s eight children–- said he is working to have the decision appealed but, in the meantime, plans to major in finance at Penn State. However, the 20-year-old still has his sights set on becoming a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
“I have very few other wishes in life that would top being a United States Marine,” he said.
As The Ashley previously told you, Collin and Kate are not on speaking terms and haven’t been for years. Collin has lived with his dad and sister Hannah since Jon gained sole custody of Collin in 2018 after Kate failed to attend the court hearing to fight her ex-husband for custody. (The other Gosselin kids– twins Mady and Cara and other sextuplets Alexis, Leah, Joel and Aaden– have been estranged from Jon and Collin for years.)
Collin spoke about his experience in the institution— as well as how he felt about Kate placing him there as a kid— last year in an episode of Dark Side of the 2000s on VICE TV. (It’s unknown if Collin talking on the episode about being institutionalized was what caused the military to look deeper into his history.)
At the time that Jon was awarded sole custody of Collin, the teen was residing in a residential treatment facility for children, which he was placed in by his mom. Kate has claimed in the past that Collin was placed in the facility for behavioral issues and because he had “special needs.”
Collin lived in the facility for years, until he contacted Jon and pleaded with his dad to rescue him. (Jon has claimed that Kate refused to tell him where she placed Collin. He and Collin have denied for years that Collin has “special needs.”)
In his interview with Entertainment Tonight this week, Collin confirmed that he still has no relationship with his mom or any of his siblings other than Hannah, something he blames Kate for.
“I love my siblings very, very much. I would never hurt them, I would never trash their names in the media,” he said. “But what I do believe is that my mother is behind things that they say in the media. She’s behind their opinion of me.
“I think if we knew each other today, we’d be very good friends,” he added.
With his military plans now on hold, said he’s living with Jon. He also revealed that he is currently in a relationship.
Despite the multiple estrangements within the Gosselin family, many (if not all) of which seemingly stemming from Jon and Kate’s decision to appear on reality TV years ago, Collin said he would be open to appearing on reality TV again, though most likely “not as a full-time thing.”
“You know, I think I might as well use that name and use the history of it and return to it,” he said. “ … I’m older now and it’s my choice.”
You can watch Collin’s full interview below.
RELATED STORY: Jon Gosselin Gives Update on His Son Collin; Says His Current Girlfriend Speaks to His Estranged Kids & More
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
14 Responses
Oh come on, he had to share medical information and where he went to school from the age of 5 etc.
They already knew or he lied.
He and John claim he was kept in the youth mental health care system by his mom against his will and without need.
There was an incident in which he accused Jon of severe abuse and publicly blasted Jon for it. Jon and his sibling said he really needed to be controlled physically.
His mom and siblings are scared of him, he threatened and harassed them.
It’s possible he didn’t need to be institutionalized but there is something going on.
So maybe, the military looked at his behaviour in the past years with them, had their medical staff look at his file and it was his behaviour and his stay in a facility that confirmed to them he wasn’t suitable.
And now he’s blasting the militairy, not too smart when you want a career there and show you are stable and loyal. Too little self control, he’s just proving them right.
I think it’s for the best when he doesn’t serve. For his sake first of all.
He can easily get a waiver to go back in. Most Military medical processing facilities only go back 5-7 years and it not a computer that flags any medical history problem, it’s look though by an actual person.
Let me get this straight, they take people into the Marines and Army with criminal records but won’t take someone that has been in an institution?
And Collin was about to graduate (I’m assuming basic training) when this was found out?
Yeah I don’t believe this. My brother was an army recruiter. You have to turn over TONS of documents regarding your health. So either he lied and got found out or he flunked out of Parris Island.
He was a juvenile aren’t those records closed?
Not when you apply to the military, it’s part of the job application essentially as it would be important to know if there’s a reason you wouldn’t be able to do your job.
If there is a petition to support him getting back into the Marines, I would be the first to sign it ♥
Kate’s issues still messing up that boys life. She’s awful.
I always felt bad for Collin. When I used to watch the show it was very apparent that Kate treated Collin differently. She was horrible to all of the kids but Collin especially. That little boy should never have just been lost to a mental institution with no one other than Kate knowing where he was. I’m sure he has a lot of trauma he deals with because of that. It sounds like being a Marine has been a dream for him. Hopefully this doesn’t derail him in any way. You would think that this would have been disclosed on the application to join the Marine’s unless he knew it would disqualify him & he hoped they wouldn’t find out. It would be nice if the Marines would take Collin’s involuntary & unnecessary commitment to an institution in consideration. But I don’t think it works like that.
Hopefully Colin will win the appeal. I’m praying that he does anyway. I hate Kate so much for what she has done to him. She only put him in that place because he wasn’t willing to go along with her BS anymore. If you fight her, you get put away. At least that seems to be what her thought process was. Best of luck to Colin on the appeal.
How do they not find that out before he did all that training? That truly stinks
Well, he’s young enough to pivot to something else.
That poor kid has had it pretty rough. I remember an interview Kate did where she talked about how she always had to spank Colin as hard as she could because he made her so mad. Great mom. She sent him away because he began talking about her abuse. She ruined his childhood and that has caused him a lot of hurt. She also succeeded in getting the other six kids who had to stay with her, to turn on their brother. Having an evil mother who is truly psychotic makes it very hard for a kid to move on. Makes me think that Jenelles kids will feel the same way about her!