Reality TV Icon Accused Of Horrific Abuse By Her Own Child
Jon and Kate Plus 8 was once inexplicably a hit reality show, following the misadventures of the titular couple as they raise their brood of eight children. The show was canceled 13 years ago and TLC recently announced plans to start airing old episodes, but those plans may now be in jeopardy due to bombshell allegations from one of the now-grown children. According to a recent interview with Collin Gosselin, his mother would often zip-tie his hands and his feet together and lock him in the basement for periods that lasted up to an entire day.
The Allegations
These stories are particularly horrific for fans of Jon and Kate Plus 8 because they effectively watched Colin grow up onscreen. While she often seemed short-tempered with the henpecked Jon Gosselin, Kate always presented herself as a caring mother who doted on the needs of her eight children.
But Colin says things were much bleaker when the cameras weren’t rolling. He gives vivid accounts of how he was allegedly zip-tied and locked in a dark basement for most or all day “multiple times,” with his mother allegedly monitoring him via cameras she had installed in the space.
The Basement
As for the basement itself, it was supposedly much more sparsely furnished than the living areas we often saw in Jon and Kate Plus 8. Colin Gosselin described the space as “a containment room,” one that basically just had a mattress on the floor for him to sit on and sleep on. “That’s how I lived,” he added.
According to Colin, this was basically par for the course because his mother treated him differently than she treated the other siblings that we saw on Jon and Kate Plus 8. For example, he claims that she sent him to a psychiatric facility for no documented medical reason, something which disrupted his early education.
However, he came to be grateful for his time there because it helped him escape his mother’s “physically aggressive” and “very abusive” wrath.
Looking For Help
The interview got even sadder when Colin read from a letter he had written to his dad in crayon back when he was 12. The letter reveals his request to live with his dad after he and his Jon and Kate Plus 8 costar split and that he admitted to his father that Kate “was abusive to me.”
He encouraged Jon to “take this to court” and “help me,” ending on a heartbreaking note: “I’m counting on you to get me out of here.”
More Problems
Jon eventually won custody of Colin as well as his sister Hannah, but according to Colin that doesn’t mean that Kate was done allegedly messing with her son’s life.
After graduating high school, Colin joined the Marines but was soon kicked out after his mother made a long Instagram post claiming that her son had many “attacks/outbursts” and needed to be left in the care of a facility after getting several mental health diagnoses.
Colin later blamed his mother’s post for getting him booted from the Marines and claims he was evaluated by an independent doctor who found no evidence of the alleged diagnoses.
A Sad Situation
Kate’s lawyer has denied that her post affected Colin’s military service, but now it seems turnabout is fair play, with her son’s recent interview jeopardizing the return (albeit only in reruns) of Jon and Kate Plus 8.
Honestly, the whole thing is very sad, and it makes us long for the simpler reality TV pleasures of Paris Hilton and The Simple Life.
Source: The Daily Beast
