Collin Gosselin, who grew up in front of television cameras on TLC’s hit reality series “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” has accused his estranged mother, Kate Gosselin, of severe physical and emotional abuse in a new tell-all memoir published Tuesday.
In the book, titled “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,” the 22-year-old alleges that his mother repeatedly slapped him, dragged him by his ear, confined him to a basement room and later had him placed in institutional treatment centers because he resisted participating in the family’s reality broadcasts.
Collin was one of the sextuplets born to Jon and Kate Gosselin, whose household of eight children made them major television stars in the late 2000s. After the couple’s divorce in 2009, Kate Gosselin continued the series as “Kate Plus 8” until the network ended it in 2017.
Allegations of Physical Harm and Confinement
In his memoir, Collin writes that his mother’s discipline turned violent when he began pushing back against filming schedules. He alleged that strikes across his cheekbone frequently left visible injuries. “It was always the same side of my face that carried the evidence. It would turn purple, bruised, tender to the touch, marks that faded just in time to be replaced by new ones,” he wrote, according to excerpts reported by the Daily Mail and Radar Online.
Speaking to ABC News, Collin described being kept in a locked basement room with only books and an air mattress while being watched through a camera system that his mother carried on a wrist lanyard. Collin also claimed that after an attempt to run away, his mother bound his wrists and ankles using black plastic zip ties.
Collin said in the ABC interview that a school teacher once noticed his ear was injured after an abusive episode. He claimed he was removed from formal schooling in the fourth grade and felt too frightened to speak openly when child welfare workers investigated.
Institutionalization and Financial Claims
In 2016, shortly before Collin turned 12, Kate Gosselin placed him in the Fairmount Behavioral Health System. Collin contends the move was designed to silence him and protect his mother’s public reputation. He spent about two years in residential centers before his father, Jon Gosselin, secured full legal and physical custody of him in 2018.
Kate Gosselin stated to People magazine in 2016 that Collin had received multiple psychiatric diagnoses, asserting that residential placement was necessary for his own safety and that of the family due to behavioral challenges and violent tendencies. However, Collin said subsequent evaluations by an independent clinical psychologist in adulthood found he suffered from no such psychiatric disorders.
Collin also leveled financial accusations against his mother during an interview with Page Six, alleging that records show she took more than $100,000 from a trust fund established for the children. He claimed she used that money to decorate a vacation property in North Carolina.
Kate Gosselin’s Response
Kate Gosselin has previously rejected allegations of mistreatment. While representatives did not immediately reply to requests for comment following the book release, she addressed critics on social media earlier this year.
Responding to TikTok users who asked why she did not file a defamation lawsuit against Collin, she wrote that high legal standards regarding public figures prevented her from doing so. She added in comments that only parents dealing with a mentally ill child could truly comprehend the challenges she faced raising him.
Collin, who currently appears on the reality competition program “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” remains estranged from his mother and five of his siblings. His mother has not announced any formal legal steps regarding the claims in the book.
