Kate Gosselin: A Closer Look At The Reality TV Star's Life
When "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" first premiered on Discovery Health, it garnered tons of attention from people who were curious to know about the family dynamics of such a large household. 2007 was a big year for the Gosselin family, because it was the year reality TV cameras started following them around to capture their every move. According to Time.com, the show eventually moved over to TLC, where it received even more positive feedback from a much larger audience. In fact, the family as a whole was able to pull in a dedicated fan base of loyal viewers while the show was still airing.
The union between Kate (a Caucasian woman) and Jon (a Korean-American man) opened the door to conversations about society's progress toward a more open-minded view of interracial marriage. What makes their relationship even more interesting is the fact that the couple welcomed eight children into the world together.
Jon and Kate have twin daughters named Cara and Mady, and sextuplets named Leah, Aaden, Alexis, Hannah, Joel, and Collin. At this point in time, the family's reality TV show is over –– and so is Kate's marriage to Jon. These are some of the things reality TV fans have never known about Kate or her intriguing life after the cameras stopped rolling.
Her divorce from Jon was riddled with rumors of infidelity
After 10 years of marriage, Jon and Kate decided to get a divorce. Their marriage officially came to an abrupt end in 2009. According to People, the shocking split happened due to rumors of infidelity and cheating. Interestingly enough, Jon and Kate decided to renew their vows during their ninth year of marriage, just a year before calling it quits. Kate is the one who ultimately filed for divorce. They let their viewers in on the heartbreaking situation during an hour-long special episode.
Separately, Kate released a statement opening up about the divorce. According to the New York Post, she said, "Over the course of this weekend, Jon's activities have left me no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children. While there are reasons why it was appropriate and necessary for me to initiate this proceeding, I do not wish to discuss those reasons at this time, in the hope that all issues will be resolved amicably between Jon and myself. As always, my first priority remains our children."
Following the divorce, Jon entered into a long-term relationship with a woman named Colleen Conrad that lasted about four years before they broke up.
She starred in a failed dating show after the divorce
After Kate and Jon's marriage fell apart, she wasn't ready to throw in the towel on the prospect of finding true love just yet. Kate decided to star in a reality TV dating show to pursue her perfect match. Unfortunately, "Kate Plus Date" ended up being both a failure and a flop. She didn't find love, and the ratings were abysmal. According to Distractify, the TLC spinoff focused on Kate doing her best to navigate the dating world after a public and messy divorce — but viewers didn't seem very interested.
Reality Titbit explains that the first season premiered in 2019. Kate enlisted advice from professional dating experts and relationship coaches about how to connect with the right person. They suggested she enjoy a variety of playful experiences with her dates. Kate took that advice to heart, inviting the men to try grape-stomping, archery, and racquetball. During Season 1, audiences were able to watch Kate go on bowling dates, dinner dates, and even squash dates. In one of the episodes, she shared a kiss with a man she was spending time with.
In the end, Kate didn't settle down with any of the men she dated in front of the cameras. There were rumors about a second season for 2022, but it never came to fruition.
Kate isn't super close with all eight of her kids
Unfortunately for Kate, she's not as close to all eight of her children as she would probably like to be. According to Radar Online, she was having serious issues with her son, Collin, in 2019. At the time, Jon won primary custody of the then-14-year-old, citing the fact that Kate hadn't "cooperated" with Collin's necessary medical treatments. Jon also labeled Kate as a "trigger" for Collin, who was struggling with mental health issues. Jon and Kate were unable to get on the same page about how to handle things; Kate claimed Collin had "special needs," which Jon denied.
Kate's relationship with her daughter, Hannah, began raising questions from fans in 2021, when Hannah and Collin both decided to move in with Jon while the rest of the children continued living with Kate. According to Entertainment Tonight, Hannah opened up about her decision to live with Jon, saying, "I chose to live with my dad, I feel like I just made the choice for myself. I have always been closer with my dad and we've always had a strong, good relationship."
She went on to say, "It's a lot, growing up in a very busy household with lots of kids. And there's not really a one-on-one relationship, for attention, that you have with your parent. I felt like my dad gave me that attention." Hannah did mention that she still stays in touch with Kate through texts.
She now has a net worth of $500,000
Reality TV stardom is considered one of the quickest ways to earn a lot of money in a short period of time. For example, Kim Kardashian is a bona fide billionaire after years of sharing personal details about her life in front of cameras for her family's hit show. For this reason, a lot of people might assume Kate has a hefty net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, though, it currently stands at only $500,000. She earned the bulk of her money from her reality TV career starting on NBC, moving to Discovery Health, and eventually ending up on TLC.
According to Good Housekeeping, Kate's net worth is much lower than other reality TV stars who have a comparable level of notoriety. Her long divorce battle with Jon might have something to do with where her finances stand. At the height of "Jon & Kate Plus Eight's" popularity, the family was earning $22,500 per episode. Keep in mind that each episode only lasted for about 30 minutes, which means they were earning quite a bit of money for fairly short, edited segments of their lives.
As the show continued to grow more popular, Jon and Kate began receiving other opportunities for financial gain. They were invited to tour the country to appear at speaking engagements at churches or other venues, taking home between $25,000 and $40,000. However, all of the income came to a halt when Jon and Kate's marriage fell apart.
Kate Gosselin currently lives in North Carolina
North Carolina is the state Kate calls home as of this writing. According to The Sun, she resides in a lakefront estate that's worth $750,000. The gorgeous home has a pool, a private pier, and other enticing amenities. Kate first purchased the 3,562-square-foot home in 2018. The one-story home has five bathrooms and four bedrooms.
In Touch Weekly explains that Kate lives in the home with four of her children: Alexis, Joe, Aadan, and Leah. Collin and Hannah are both living with Jon. Kate's two oldest kids, Mady and Cara, are away at college as students at Syracuse University and Fordham University.
Before relocating to North Carolina, Kate was living in Pennsylvania with Jon and all of their children. They had purchased a $1.1 million mansion in 2008 that covered 23 acres of private land. It had seven bathrooms, six bedrooms, a pool, and multiple kitchen essentials. When Kate was ready to sell her Pennsylvania home, she listed it in October 2020, but it didn't actually sell until January 2021. Now, she appears to be settled into her new life in North Carolina.
She's hasn't been active on social media for years
Kate doesn't seem to have any interest in posting updates about her current life on social media. On Instagram, her most recent post was uploaded on July 13, 2020, when she shared a picture of a cake she baked to celebrate her son Aaden getting his braces removed. The cake is covered in a smiling face design with teeth made out of white pieces of gum. She added a caption that said, "Braces are a thing of the past in this house! FINALLY! Yay us! #LastBracesOffParty #AadenIsBracesFree." The post pulled in over 36,000 likes and hundreds of comments. Kate hasn't updated her page since then with any new content on her feed or her story.
The same can be said about her Twitter page, which hasn't been updated since July 26, 2017, when Kate was last seen re-tweeting a handful of tweets from fans who were enjoying episodes of her reality TV shows at the time. On Instagram, she still has over 441,000 followers, and on Twitter, she still has over 213,800 followers. While her followers may be sticking around hoping for more social media updates in the future, it seems Kate prefers to keep things a little more private following her reality TV fame.
TLC permanently cut ties with Kate Gosselin
If Kate assumed she could return to the TLC network in the future, she wasn't exactly correct about that. According to Radar Online, she told a judge that TLC terminated their relationship. The judge had told her she wasn't allowed to film any reality TV episodes with her eight children unless she had proper work permits in place. Kate seemingly defied the judge's wishes, landing her in hot water.
Soap Dirt reported that without Jon's approval, the kids weren't allowed to appear on television. She decided to continue filming anyway, and the judge ultimately banned her from taping new episodes. The drama between Kate and Jon poured into their professional careers, as TLC decided they wanted nothing to do with Kate amid the legal issues.
Kate was never able to get approval from Jon because he wasn't willing to cooperate with her. Because she wasn't allowed to film episodes with her children anymore, she attempted her solo spinoff "Kate Plus Date," which ended up receiving low ratings. Kate's connection to TLC is a thing of the past.
Paula Deen possibly blocked her from a talk show opportunity
When Kate was ready to move on with her reality TV career with a new talk show on the Food Network, she allegedly ended up getting blocked from moving forward. According to Parade, producers thought she was too controversial a figure to work alongside an icon like Paula Deen. Paula is known to be a beloved chef, TV personality, and cookbook author from Georgia. She owns and operates multiple restaurants in different states throughout the country and has published 15 cookbooks.
According to E! News, Kate was never actually considered to become a permanent panelist on a talk show with Paula. Since Kate never personally spoke up about what happened with the alleged talk show, it's unclear whether she was given the boot due to her controversial nature or if it was never going to happen in the first place.
Kate returned to her nursing career after reality TV
Before "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" was on television, Kate worked as a nurse. According to In Touch Weekly, she returned to her nursing career in North Carolina. On June 30, 2021, she earned a "multi-state" license from the board of nursing that won't expire until March 31, 2023. The source explained that the transition from reality television back to nursing has posed a "major challenge" for Kate, and that "she has to do what she has to do."
According to The Sun, Kate is able to use her previous experience as a nurse in Pennsylvania to her advantage as she works as a nurse in North Carolina. Starring in reality TV episodes of "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" on TLC was obviously an incredibly different experience for Kate than working in the healthcare industry. Still, the medical field is a great route for people looking for stable incomes. According to Salary.com, registered nurses in North Carolina earn between $51,000 and $81,000 per year.
She's always been very vocal about the struggles of motherhood
Many women with kids openly attest to the fact that motherhood isn't easy, and Kate is no exception. She's been very vocal about her struggles as a mom in the past. According to the Daily Mail, becoming a single mom was more difficult for Kate. Despite the hardships, she added, "My kids, they've generally accepted that things are going to be okay, and that they're okay the way they are right now. Our lives have been such a roller coaster. They've seen that through it all, we've dealt with it, survived it, and we keep on going."
During an interview with Jenny McCarthy, Kate described her distaste when it comes to being accused of being a bad mother. She said, "Am I a mom with high expectations? Absolutely. Am I a mom who wants the absolute best for my kids at all costs? Absolutely. Do I drive a hard bargain? Sure. But, the truth is that, within that, my kids know that it's out of love. Literally, from day one, wanting the best for them and I don't apologize for it. My life is for my kids and I really want the best for them."