Jon Gosselin‘s accusations against his ex-wife, Kate, have become more serious since Sept. 2019 — from allegations of illegal filming to alleged mental abuse, he is not happy with her parenting. But for the most part, Jon just focuses on raising two of their eight children. “Jon only wants what’s best for kids and working so hard to protect his kids. Jon keeps up on everything going on in all his children’s lives the very best he can, but he mainly focuses on the two he has at home [Collin and Hannah, both 15] because he knows what’s going on with them,” a source close to the Gosselin family EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife.
Jon revealed that he had full custody of Hannah in the summer of 2018, and Collin also moved into his dad’s Pennsylvania household by December of that year. “Hannah and Colin are both doing amazing because of Jon. They’re both really good students and they’re doing well despite everything going on with their mother,” our source continues. “He’s built a great life for them and they love to go to the beach, the city and love traveling together. He really lets them have a normal childhood.”
The rest of Jon’s minor children — Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah, also 15 — all live with Kate, and so did twins Mady and Cara, 19, before they headed off to college. “Jon would love a relationship with all of his children, but Kate makes it challenging,” our insider tells HollywoodLife. These challenges included a disagreement over their minors appearing in the Kate Plus 8 “College Bound” special, which TLC aired on Oct. 1! After the spin-off series was cancelled in 2017, a judge reportedly ruled it was not in the “best interests” of the younger Gosselin kids to be filmed on the TLC show in 2018, DailyMailTV reported. That led an “absolutely furious” Jon to slam the network and his ex, Kate, for allegedly filming “illegally without work permits,” which he vented in an Oct. 10 interview with the outlet. HollywoodLife had reached out to Kate’s rep for comment, but didn’t receive a response.
Jon made an even more serious accusation when he claimed that his children “suffered abuse” from Kate, in a Sept. 2019 interview with DailyMailTV (he accused her of running a “running a military-esque regime,” among other allegations). In another claim, Jon said he received 50 to 60 letters from the the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) over the years, which allegedly informed him that “reports of suspected child abuse were being investigated” — however, DailyMailTV reported that Jon learned the reports were “unfounded” in follow-up letters.
Jon also recalled his shock after learning that Kate sent their son, Collin — then 11 years old — to a child and adolescent behavioral unit, unbeknownst to him. The father claimed Collin “was alone for three and a half years with no parents” despite not being “diagnosed with any known medical condition,” asides from ADHD. In Kate’s 2010 memoir, I Just Want You to Know, the mother of eight claimed Collin had struggled with behavioral issues and that doctors advised for the child to be enrolled in special treatment. Jon and Kate haven’t been on good terms since their split in 2010, following a decade-long marriage.