Collin Gosselin Says Being Institutionalized By Mom Kate Left Him ‘Hopeless’ And In A ‘Dark Place’

Collin Gosselin Says Being Institutionalized By Mom Kate Left Him ‘Hopeless’ And In A ‘Dark Place’

Collin Gosselin, one of Kate and Jon Gosselin’s sextuplets, opened up about how growing up in the limelight affected him as a child and affected his relationship with his mom.

In an exclusive one-on-one with Entertainment Tonight, Collin revealed that he and his mom are still estranged years after she had him institutionalized for alleged behavioral issues in 2016.

“Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship and I think that just kept tearing it even more down,” he told ET’s Kevin Frazier. 

The 18-year-old detailed his experience at two “scary” facilities, saying that he “learned a lot” about himself after mom Kate sent him off. 

“I was in a dark place mentally,” Collin said. “I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you.“

“I spent my 13th and 14th birthday there, so I was young,” he continued. “I didn’t have a lot of life skills. I didn’t really know even what to expect, what to think of being there at the time, so I was hopeless.”

In 2016, Kate revealed that she sent Collin away due to his “special needs” and behavioral issues. Collin explains that being institutionalized kept him from telling his story.  

“I wanted to take time for myself, and I wasn’t able to give the truthful answers. I mean, there were just things out there, you know, not my words — other people’s words,” he explained. “It was tough, but, you know, it’s good now to be able to put my own word out there.”

Collin credit his dad, Jon, for being the “one thing” that helped him “mentally figure out that there was a way out of there.”

In 2018, Jon was granted full custody of Collin and his sister, Hannah. Since then, the twins, Mady and Canes, have gone to college, and Kate relocated from Pennsylvania to Troutman, North Carolina, with Aaden, Alexis, Joel, and Leah.

The Gosselin clan became wildly popular due to their special appearances before landing their own reality TV show, Jon & Kate Plus 8.

“I think it tore us apart,” Collin said about having a reality show. “It gave us less time to actually be together as a family, [and] more time to be in the public eye.”

Collin noted that his relationship with his mom “was worse than what you would say the average teenage kid goes through with their parent.”

“I came to the conclusion that everybody has their own agenda, you know?” Collin said. “My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was. But I was put in a tough spot and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”

Collin added that reconciling with his mom would be ideal. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a relationship. I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom.”

 

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