Collin Gosselin details childhood experiences in new memoir
Collin Gosselin's memoir recounts his upbringing on the reality-TV series, describing isolation, alleged abuse, and his later reunion with his father.
Collin Gosselin, the eldest son of former reality-TV personalities Jon and Kate Gosselin, released a memoir titled Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood. In the book he describes living in a basement room with an air mattress after his siblings moved into separate bedrooms on the family’s estate. He says he spent most of his time locked in that space, attended school alone, and was restricted from family activities.
"It was like a slumber party every night," Collin wrote, recalling the first week in the basement, and later added that he was told by his mother he would be moving out and an air mattress was placed in the unfinished part of the basement.
Collin alleges that his mother, Kate Gosselin, imposed disciplinary measures, including confinement and physical restraint, and that he was removed from school following an injury. He also claims that the family received a $2 million offer from the network to stay together for the show, which Jon Gosselin later said he declined.
According to the memoir, Collin was placed in a behavioral health facility shortly before his 12th birthday, where he spent 21 months receiving medication and, at times, physical restraints. He says his mother visited only once during that period. After leaving the facility, he was transferred to a residential school, reconnected with his father, and eventually moved in with Jon, his sister Hannah, and Jon’s then-girlfriend Colleen Conrad.
Representatives for Kate Gosselin and the network did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Dr. Phil, whose host Phil McGraw was mentioned in the book, called the allegations “false” and said the show had no financial interest in any alleged payments. The Daily Mail previously reported Jon Gosselin’s statement that he could not live with a lie.
The memoir adds that Collin filed a court petition to modify custody after his father received a letter he wrote in crayon while in a bathroom stall at the residential facility.