Collin Gosselin is exposing the abuse he allegedly endured at the hands of his former reality TV star mother, Kate Gosselin.
“…She used to pull me and drag me across the room by my ear, which is when I went to school that one day with a swollen ear,” the former “Jon & Kate Plus 8” star exclusively claimed to Page Six in an interview while promoting his new memoir, “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.”
Collin claimed in the book that ear grabbing became a pattern, writing that when his mother was angry, “she would grab me by the ear” and that sometimes “a snappy pull could turn into a smack to the side of my head.”
He also alleged in the book that the same side of his face would become “purple, bruised, tender to the touch.”
Collin, 22, told Page Six in the sit-down interview that although he believed he was singled out by Kate, 51, he witnessed what he described as mistreatment of his siblings while they were growing up in front of cameras.
“When I was in the home, I’d witness horrible mental, emotional, and verbal abuse against my siblings, not just myself, of what I can imagine was their emotions and reactions to being on TV as well,” he claimed to us.
“I voiced it the most, but I know that does not mean that my other siblings did not feel it as well,” Collin continued to allege. “There’d be normal temper tantrums that me and my siblings would have, and I’d see them having, like I said, what I could imagine was being in front of the cameras.
“And the way my mom would react to them, she would manipulate them into just basically disregarding their emotions and making them feel like it was their fault.”
He claimed in the book, “She spanked all of us frequently. And she did it hard.”
A representative for Kate did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Kate released a statement in September 2024 regarding abuse claims made by her son.
“My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs,” she wrote.
Kate is referring to when she sent him to live in a behavioral health institution at 11 years old for alleged behavioral issues in 2016.
She continued, “The decision to admit him was made by emergency room doctors following one of his many attacks/outbursts—this one involving his use of a weapon. Fast forward to the present day, and following Jon’s removal of Collin from treatment, my son’s unpredictable and violent behaviors have sadly continued regularly towards Jon, Hannah and others around him.
“Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with. As many people who have family members grappling with mental health issues can attest, it is rarely and sadly surprising when complete fabrications occur, and this is just another heartbreaking facet of this fight.”
She ended in part, “Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help. His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us.”
Collin was one of the sextuplets featured on his parents’ hit TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” alongside siblings Aaden, Joel, Alexis, Hannah and Leah. Kate and her ex-husband Jon Gosselin, 49, also share older twin daughters Mady and Cara, 25.
Kate and Jon tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in June 1999. Kate filed for divorce from Jon ten years later in June 2009 and it was finalized later that year in December.
Collin has been estranged from his mother since 2016, when she sent him to live in the behavioral health institution.
Collin has since disputed his mother’s characterization of him, claiming she abused and institutionalized him because he did not want to participate in the family’s reality shows.
Jon ultimately obtained legal and physical custody of Collin in 2018 after getting him out of the facility.
Jon also obtained custody of Hannah after she left Kate’s home, while the remaining sextuplets continued living with their mother along with Mady and Cara.
Collin, who stars in Season 5 of Fox’s reality competition “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” details more about his childhood and his estranged family relationships in “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,” released Tuesday.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text BEGIN the National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-422-4453.
