Collin Gosselin is challenging his sister Hannah Gosselin’s statement that the siblings have not spoken in almost a year.
“I want to respect her privacy, so I’ll keep this brief,” Collin, 22, said during his Thursday, October 22, appearance on The View. “But I will say that every family is complicated. I’ve seen Hannah many times over the past year—at our house with me and my father. I even have pictures if you want to see them.”
Hannah, also 22, addressed the situation in a TikTok Story posted Wednesday, October 21, shortly after her brother’s memoir, In The Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, was released.
“I’ve decided to take a step back from everything happening because I haven’t lived with my dad in over a year and haven’t spoke [sic] to Collin in close to a year,” she wrote. “That being said, I have maintained a relationship with my mom and other siblings for several years. That is the only thing I’m clarifying.”
Ahead of the publication of his tell-all memoir, Collin Gosselin has been discussing the complicated relationships within his family. “I think [my sister] Hannah [Gosselin] is very sentimental and reminiscent, in a way, and I think she wants to still have a piece of that family,” Gosselin, 22, said in an interview first conducted for The Sun over a […]
Hannah continued, “Beyond this, I will not be commenting on Collin’s behavior growing up or my experiences growing up with him.”
Collin said Hannah’s statement “sounded like a lot of the words of my mother, especially the last part.” He added, “What I do believe has happened is that Hannah is caught in the middle, and nobody deserves that.”
“I understand what it feels like to believe you have to fight for a relationship with your siblings,” he said. “I don’t have one with my siblings, and I know how painful that is.”
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In his memoir, Collin revisits his childhood as part of the family featured on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8, later renamed Kate Plus 8. The series followed Collin, sextuplets Hannah, Aaden, Leah, Joel and Alexis, older twins Mady and Cara, and their parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin. He also details his estrangement from Kate, 51, and alleges that she physically abused him and confined him in a basement.
Collin was sent to a behavioral facility in 2016, remaining there for two years. He alleges that Kate placed him there to stop him from speaking publicly about the abuse he says he experienced. Kate has denied those claims, saying Collin was admitted because he displayed dangerous behavioral problems and needed treatment.
After Jon & Kate Plus 8 stars Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin separated in December 2009, the former couple became involved in a bitter custody dispute. The arrangement ultimately left two of their eight children living with Jon and the other six in Kate’s care. Collin and Hannah Gosselin—two of […]
Once Collin left the facility, Jon, 49, secured custody of him. Hannah later chose to live with their father so she could spend more individual time with him. Since that period, Collin says he has remained estranged from most of his siblings.
On The View, Collin was also asked whether he believes Kate is using Hannah’s bond with the other siblings to exert influence over her.
“Throughout my childhood, I was constantly seeking my mom’s approval,” he said. “No one wants to accept terrible things. No one wants to believe that their mother could do something like this. Even now, when I see her, I think, ‘Why do I feel sorry for my mom? I shouldn’t feel sorry for someone who has done these things.’ But that’s what it means to have a heart.”
Speaking about the recently announced Netflix documentary starring Jon, Collin and Hannah, the Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test personality said, “We’ve already filmed a significant portion of the documentary. Hannah revealed a great deal of truth—not only corroborating what my mom did to me, but also discussing things she experienced at my mother’s hands. So now I believe she’s trying to do pre-damage control.”
Collin said Hannah should not be blamed for the tension, explaining, “My mom has put that guilt on her, and it isn’t Hannah’s fault. She deserves to have a relationship with her father, her mother and all of her siblings. Everyone should have that.”