Collin Gosselin, one of the sextuplets from the reality TV show Jon & Kate Plus 8, has made startling claims about his troubled past and its impact on his future.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Gosselin, now 20, revealed that his dreams of becoming a U.S. Marine were dashed due to his past institutionalization as a pre-teen.
Gosselin, who is currently living with his father, Jon Gosselin, as he prepares to start college, shared that he was discharged from the Marine Corps earlier this year.
Despite being close to graduating from training, Gosselin’s enlistment was cut short when the Marines discovered his past institutionalization.
“I was towards the end of training, very close to graduating. The paperwork was looked into, and they found out that I was in fact in an institution at one point in my life,” Gosselin explained to Entertainment Tonight’s Rachel Smith.
This revelation brings renewed attention to Gosselin’s complex family dynamics, particularly his strained relationship with his mother, Kate Gosselin.
Collin has previously spoken out about his experience being sent to a behavioral institution when he was around 11 or 12 years old.
He has accused Kate of sending him to the facility for several years, a move that he described as frightening and confusing.
“I didn’t know what was going on, where I was going,” Gosselin recounted. “That was the most scared I’ve probably ever been in my life.”
In a 2016 interview with People, Kate Gosselin addressed Collin’s institutionalization, describing it as a necessary measure to help him cope with special needs.
“Collin has special needs,” she said at the time. “There’s a fairly fluid diagnosis of what those needs are, but he needs to learn certain strategies to help him deal with things.”
Kate also mentioned feeling isolated in her struggle to manage the situation, a sentiment she reiterated in a July 2023 Instagram statement.
The Gosselin family’s fractured relationships have been a recurring theme in the media. Collin’s father, Jon Gosselin, has publicly criticized Kate’s decision to institutionalize Collin, alleging that there was no proper diagnosis and that the decision was made unilaterally.
“Kate institutionalized him without a diagnosis and then created a diagnosis,” Jon said in a 2019 appearance on The Dr. Oz Show. He claimed that it took him over three years to locate and subsequently remove Collin from the institution.
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Collin’s relationship with his siblings is also strained. He maintains a relationship only with his sister Hannah, and he suspects that his mother’s influence has impacted how the rest of his siblings view him.
Despite these challenges, Collin remains hopeful about his future. He has expressed a continued desire to pursue a career as a Marine and has even hinted at a possible return to reality television.
“I love my siblings very, very much. I would never hurt them. I would never trash their names in the media,” Collin stated.
“But what I do believe is that my mother is behind things that they say in the media. She’s behind their opinion of me. I think if we knew each other today, we’d be good friends.”
As Collin Gosselin navigates his transition from reality TV star to college student, his past experiences and ongoing family conflicts continue to cast a shadow over his public life.
The revelation of his Marine Corps discharge and the details of his institutionalization bring renewed scrutiny to his family dynamics and the lasting impact of his childhood experiences.
