Collin Gosselin grew up in front of the cameras on TLC’s hit reality series, Jon & Kate Plus 8. The show followed his parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin, as they raised their eight children, including twins Maddy and Cara and sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Leah, Joel and Aaden.
Now, Collin is sharing a very different account of his childhood, alleging that his famous mother subjected him to physical and emotional abuse behind closed doors.
In his new memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, released Oct. 13, the 22-year-old claims Kate isolated him from his siblings and confined him to a specially built room in the family’s home. He discussed the allegations during an appearance on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, per OK! Magazine.
“[The room] was a full-effort operation of [Kate’s] to silence me, and make sure I had no way to tell anybody what was going on,” Collin said.
Collin Gosselin Says He Was Isolated From His Family
Collin’s account includes his time at an inpatient mental health facility, where he was admitted shortly before his 12th birthday and remained for approximately 20 months.
He alleges that he was told his father, Jon, did not want to see him. Collin eventually reconnected with his father and went to live with him after leaving the facility.
Now, Collin says he has no contact with his mother and is estranged from six of his seven siblings.
“She had just dumped me in an institution with no reason to, besides the fact that she wanted to get me out of the house so that I wouldn’t keep trying to show the world what she was doing,” Collin told podcast host Jay Shetty.
His allegations paint a troubling picture of life away from the cameras that documented the Gosselin family’s daily routine for years.
Collin Alleged Physical Abuse by Mom Kate
Collin also described an alleged incident in which he says Kate pulled him by his earlobe, leaving it swollen and bruised.
He said the injury was noticeable enough that a teacher took an interest in what had happened.
“My mom had pulled me out of my room by my earlobe and my ear was purple and swollen,” he recalled. “My teacher saw it. I went and talked to my guidance counselor and told them about it. And my mom was not very happy that I spoke about that.”
During his interview with ABC News, Collin reflected on how different his childhood experience was from what viewers saw on television.
“Simply put, my whole life that I lived was a lie. All the things you see on TV, lies,” he said.
Collin alleges that the family’s public image did not reflect what he experienced at home. His claims have not been independently established by TVDispatch.
What Has Kate Gosselin Said About the Allegations?
Kate previously addressed abuse allegations involving Collin in a 2016 interview with ABC News. At the time, she said he had been sent for treatment because of educational and social challenges and maintained that reports of abuse were unfounded.
“I’m in the public eye,” Kate said in that interview. “I have been investigated many times…. It’s always unfounded, obviously.”
Childhood Medical Diagnoses Revealed
Collin’s childhood and time in treatment have also raised questions about his medical history.
According to People, records discussed in earlier reporting listed several diagnoses from his childhood, including ADHD, autism, OCD and bipolar disorder.
Collin has disputed that medical history. In his ABC News interview, he said he underwent an independent psychological evaluation in 2023 that did not identify any mental health diagnoses at that time.
The differing accounts add another layer to the family’s long-running public dispute over Collin’s childhood and the circumstances surrounding his placement in the facility.
Collin Hopes to Reconnect With His Siblings
Despite the painful memories he describes, Collin says he would like to reconnect with his siblings.
He acknowledged that their relationships may never return to what they once were, but he emphasized that his feelings for them have not changed.
“No matter what’s happened or what was said, no matter how things look from the outside, I love you, I always have and always will,” he said in his message to his siblings, per ABC News.
For Collin, sharing his story is an opportunity to describe the childhood he says viewers never saw. However, he also recognizes that he cannot get back the years he believes he lost.
His memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, is available now.
TVDispatch reached out to Kate Gosselin for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
