Kate Gosselin has had a long and lonely road since her divorce from Jon Gosselin 10 years ago. Now, the TLC reality star is documenting her long overdue dating life in the new series Kate Plus Date .
On the premiere episode of the spinoff reality show, Kate Gosselin reflected on her tumultuous marriage to the father of her eight kids as well as her tabloid-worthy divorce drama. Gosselin admitted that being a young mom to eight kids in three years came with “immense, ridiculous stress.”
“Being 29-years-old, having been married for a couple of years… you really have to grow up fast,” Kate said, per Pop Culture .
Gosselin also addressed the way she treated her ex-husband Jon during their marriage. Fans of the family’s original reality show, Jon and Kate Plus 8, saw Kate frequently berate her husband and put him down.
“I was very harsh, maybe non-empathetic. I had to be the person in charge, and probably most of the time, I didn’t want to be that person. I had a lot of anger.”
Kate also admitted that while her divorce was stressful, she knows that Jon Gosselin was not meant to be her soul mate, which ties into her behavior toward him. Kate explained that she didn’t feel like the “best version” of herself was brought out when she was with her now-estranged ex.
Life has changed a lot for the Gosselin family since 2007, when they landed their own reality television show, Jon & Kate Plus 8. https://t.co/VNp7dDHRJf
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) June 2, 2019
Jan and Kate Gosselin divorced in December 2009 after 10 years of marriage. The exes are not on speaking terms and have long had a complicated custody and visitation arrangement for their eight kids: Now-adult twin daughters Mady and Cara and 15-year-old sextuplets Aaden, Joel, Alexis, Hannah, and Collin.
While Jon Gosselin has been vocal about his estrangement from his ex-wife and most of their kids, Kate Gosselin has remained more private about it. But early on Kate noted that the divorce rate for parents of multiples is sky high. Still, in 2016, Kate Gosselin told People that she would have thought that Jon would have been with her “for the long haul.”
“The weirdest thing is that overnight he became a different person,” Kate said of her ex.
According to the Kate Plus Date star, Jon began spending money on big purchases like motorcycles and cars and started staying out late at night, leaving her at home to take care of their eight kids alone. Indeed, Jon was photographed partying on yachts, living it up as his marriage fell apart. The onetime computer tech became an Ed Hardy-wearing jet setter during the final months of his marriage.
Kate revealed that even her closest friends thought she was making it up until they saw Jon’s behavior for themselves. The Gosselin mom said supportive fans reached out to her to say they’ve “been there” too.
You can see Kate Gosselin on Kate Plus Date below.
Kate Plus Date airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on TLC.
