Kate Gosselin “commanded” her eight children to “act happy” as young children, or they would face her wrath, her son Collin Gosselin claims.
uncertain
son → command → wrath
In his new memoir, “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,” which hit bookshelves Tuesday, Collin alleges his now-estranged mom forced her eight children to act a certain way in front of cameras while the family filmed their hit TLC show, “Jon and Kate Plus 8.”
asserted
family → survive → show
“For us kids, the script was nonnegotiable: behave, act happy, smile.
asserted
script → behave → us
If any of us slipped and became overwhelmed (and showed it), she’d lean in and hiss through clenched teeth: ‘Smile,’” he writes.
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he → slip → teeth
Collin, who was just a year old when their show started filming, recalls he and his siblings being punished for behavior considered normal for young toddlers.
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he → start → toddlers
After one incident, where he hit his brother Aaden in the head while fighting over a toy, Kate allegedly sent him to her version of timeout, which was sitting in the corner with his nose pressed against the wall while the rest of his family was “supposed to pretend [he wasn’t] there.”
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he → hit → family
Another of Kate’s alleged “unreasonable expectations” for her little ones was that they were not allowed to get any stains on their clothes.
“If we got even the littlest bit of dirt on our clothes, we’d be stripped down and punished,” Collin claims.
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Collin → allege → clothes
Other rules Collin recalls under Kate’s supervision included being allowed to use only a “tiny dot” of shampoo while showering and getting in trouble if it got under their fingernails.
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it → recall → fingernails
According to Collin, his mom’s harsh energy was noticed by all of the show’s production members, who would “just go quiet around her,” even those who had authority.
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who → accord → authority
The 22-year-old recalls Kate being “particularly hard” on him, often picking on how he smiled or how he acted.
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he → recall → him
Also in the memoir, Collin recalls an alleged screaming match between his dad, Jon Gosselin, and his mom while the TLC cameras were down.
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cameras → recall → dad
During the fight, Collin writes that he and his siblings cowered behind one of the doorframes in the house.
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he → write → house
Jon lost custody of all eight of his children when he and Kate divorced in 2009.
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he → lose → 2009
The show was then rebranded to “Kate Plus 8,” which ran from 2007 to 2017.
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which → rebrande → 2017
Three years later, Collin reunited with his father, who got him out of the facility and granted legal and physical custody.
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who → reunite → custody
Jon also got custody of Hannah Gosselin, one of Collin’s sextuplet siblings, after she left Kate’s house.
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she → get → house
The rest of the sextuplets — Joel, Alexis, Leah, and Aaden — continued living with Kate, along with their older twin sisters, Mady and Cara, 25.
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rest → live → sisters
They continue to remain estranged from Jon and Collin.
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They → continue → Jon
As Page Six previously reported, Collin announced the bombshell memoir in June and promised to expose “the shocking facade of his picture-perfect family.”
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Collin → report → family
After her son’s announcement and ongoing accusations of abuse against her, Kate called Collin “mentally ill” and claimed she is being “constantly disparaged and lied about” by an “adult child with a skewed version of their childhood.”
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she → call → childhood
Despite vehemently denying all of her son’s claims, Page Six exclusively reported last month that the “Dancing With the Stars” alum is “nervous” about the book’s release.
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alum → deny → release
“There is no doubt Kate is nervous this book is about to hit,” a source told us.
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source → be → us
“Kate doesn’t want anyone in the family to talk about their past.
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anyone → want → past
She considers any of the children who talk in the family as traitors.”
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who → consider → traitors
As for Collin, he isn’t concerned with what his mom thinks of him or his book.
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mom → think → him
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