Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of child abuse and domestic violence.
Jon Gosselin revealed this week that his 20-year-old son Collin Gosselin is hoping to mend his relationships with his estranged siblings and has already taken a step to make it happen.
“Collin will hopefully repair that [relationship],” the former Jon and Kate Plus 8 Star told Us Weekly. “It’s a two-way street. You know what I mean? He’s offered the olive branch, so hopefully the olive branch will be returned.”
As fans know, Collin is one of Jon and ex-wife Kate Gosselin’s eight children. The former TLC couple divorced in 2009, and in 2018, Jon became the primary guardian of both Collin and daughter Hannah Gosselin, while the other six Gosselin children remained in Kate’s care until they turned 18. While Collin and Hannah have a good relationship, he has not seen his other six siblings in years.
While Jon– who has been estranged from his other six children for years– said that Hannah “talks to all of her siblings,” but Collin has no relationship with the other seven Gosselin kids or Kate.
Earlier this month, Collin spoke about the possibility of reconciling with his mom, in hopes that will help him reconnect with his siblings.
“So first and foremost, my relationship with my brothers and sisters is of top priority to me,” he said, referring to brothers Aaden and Joel and sisters Leah, Alexis, Mady and Cara.
Meanwhile, the chances of Collin and Kate mending their mother-son relationship have seemingly become less likely as of late, with Collin alleging in an interview last month that Kate abused him as a child and sent him off to a mental health facility in order to keep the alleged abuse hidden. (As you may remember, Kate placed Collin in a mental health facility in 2016 for behavioral issues and because he had “special needs”– the latter of which both Collin and Jon have denied for years. Collin revealed in August that Kate’s decision to place him in the facility as a child had resulted in him being “discharged” from the Marines in 2023.)
While Kate doesn’t appear to be making an effort to fix her relationship with Collin, Jon told Us Weekly that he reaches out to 23-year-old twin daughters Mady and Cara whenever he’s in New York (where they currently reside), and remains optimistic that the girls will one day be receptive to his own olive branch.
“Maybe one day it’ll just happen, but we’ll see,” he said. “We talk about it a lot. Holidays are coming and maybe that’ll happen.”
Speaking of Mady, she is the only one of the Gosselin kids who remained with Kate to speak publicly about Collin and the Gosselins kids’ choice to be estranged from him. Last year, Mady came to her mom’s defense on social media after Collin, Jon and Hannah appeared on Dark Side of the 2000s and made claims that Kate abused Collin as a child. On the show, Collin also talked about the other Gosselin kids shunning him.
In an Instagram Story posted in July 2023, Mady claimed that she and her siblings have good reasons for not have a relationship with Collin, whom Mady claims has “physically threatened” her and every member of their family.
“I never wanted to have to speak up about this in order to allow my brother to live privately after the conclusion of our family’s TV show,” Mady’s Instagram Story began. “But I have been overwhelmed by hate messages in the last few days and I feel that I must set the record straight.
“I do not owe my allegiance to any person(s) who has physically threatened me and every member of my immediate family (some incidents as recent as last year),” Mady continued. “Further, I will never allow someone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior towards others based in their racial identity, gender identity or religious beliefs to be in my life.”
Mady went on to say she refuses to make an exception for anyone, even “my brother Collin, who has unfortunately made his opinions very clear in private…
“For me, there is no further conversation to be had about rebuilding relationships with anyone in my life after reaching the point of physical violence and hate speech. I cannot speak any further on why Collin has done these things, just that I have witnessed them.”
Collin did not respond to Mady’s claims at the time.
As for Collin, Jon told TMZ last month that his son is “moving forward” following the recent allegations against Kate. Jon noted that Collin likely wouldn’t have a conversation with his mom at this point, due to there being “so much animosity.”
“He’s doing really well,” Jon insisted. “That was like closure for him, I believe.”
Last week, Collin surprisingly revealed that he is open to repairing the relationship with his mom, but only if Kate is willing to “come forward with the truth” about her alleged abuse towards him.
(Photos: Instagram; TLC; VICE)
2 Responses
Sounds like a money grab. Why not reach out to them quietly. Doesn’t sound like pure intentions.
He’s not going to hear from them until they finish college/move out.