“Jon & Kate Plus 8” star Collin Gosselin has claimed that his mother abused him as a child, binding his hands and feet before locking him in the basement of their home.
The family appeared on the hit reality TV show in the 2000s, but Collin claimed in interviews that Kate targeted and abused him when the cameras weren't rolling. Rice San Published on September 9. Collin reportedly claimed the abuse escalated when she was eight or nine years old.
“My mother had set up a room in the unfinished basement of the warehouse,” he told the US Sun, “and the many times she would let me in, she would zip-tie my hands and feet, bolt the door, turn off the lights and put a camera in there to watch me.”
Collin Gosselin is speaking out about the events that led to his estrangement from his mother, Kate Gosselin. pic.twitter.com/F1DwebSFXG
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Collin spoke to the US Sun about the conditions he was forced to endure.
“Her room had cameras installed, a small window in the corner and was bolted from the outside,” he told reporters.
“It was literally like a holding cell, with mattresses on the floor, and I was living there,” he claimed in the interview.
He reportedly claimed he “never had a childhood” and was isolated from his siblings. He told the US Sun that when he began speaking to a counsellor about the abuse, Kate pulled him out of school.
“Then at a certain point I stopped going to school so I was there pretty much all day,” he was quoted as saying.
Jon and Kate divorced and fought over custody of their children, but the US Sun reported that medical records submitted at the time showed that Collin had reported the abuse to a counselor.
NEW YORK – APRIL 23: Kate Gosselin from “Jon + Kate Plus 8” and her children attend the Discovery Upfront event at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images Discovery)
According to The Sun, Kate allegedly forcibly committed Collin to a psychiatric hospital when he was 11, claiming he had several behavioral and mental illnesses that she believed he didn't actually have.
Collin provided the magazine with his personal medical records to prove he has no behavioral or mental disorders, and he was retested in 2023 when the Marine Corps ordered a psychiatric evaluation.
“Collin Gosselin does not meet the criteria for any of the diagnoses of concern in your evaluation request, nor is there evidence of any other psychiatric diagnoses or behavioral disorders in his current functioning,” the report said, according to the outlet.
The physician named in the report, Dr. Paul E. Delfin, declined to comment to the outlet. He reportedly retired from the Marines in August 2023.
Her father, John, and her siblings have corroborated the abuse allegations, according to the US Sun, who told the paper that the abuse happened after he and Kate divorced and that he did not have custody.
“The basement where she kept Collin is still there,” John told the US Sun.
“My friend's in-laws bought our house and at one point they asked me, 'Why do you have a room with a bed in the basement and a lock on the outside?'” he was quoted as saying.
“It must have been terrifying for him,” John told the US Sun. (RELATED: Judge issues restraining order after Kehlani claims her children are in danger: Report)
Her sister did not respond to requests for comment, and the outlet said Kate has not responded to the allegations.
