When Kate and Jon Gosselin first appeared in a TLC special, fans were charmed by their adorable family. With twins and sextuplets, the couple had their hands full, and at first, it was fun watching the children grow up on screen. But as the kids got older, Jon and Kate began feuding, and their spats only got worse despite TLC's crews being around—and their show growing in popularity. Eventually, the two divorced, which led to arguments over money, troubling custody issues, and plenty of speculation.
Looking back, it seems that the couple's rise to fame on reality TV may have caused many of their problems. And an "insider" now claims that Kate had certain ideas about appearing on TLC that might have colored her experience and hastened the demise of her marriage.
Kate Quickly Became The Villain On Jon & Kate Plus 8
Anyone who watched the show Kate Plus 8 probably remembers the haircut of Kate Gosselin, which later became synonymous with the term "Karen," to describe the "get me your manager" personality type.
In short, though Kate Gosselin had many supporters, there were just as many (if not more) critics of her parenting, the way she treated her husband, and her overall personality while she was on TLC.
After Jon and Kate's marriage imploded, the two fought over just about everything, later splitting up the sextuplets two to four, around the time that the twins went away to college.
Kate did fade out of the spotlight eventually, but as her children are becoming adults themselves, the drama may be brewing again as they speak out.
A Kate Gosselin Biography Claims To Reveal All Of Her Secrets
A 2014 book about Kate Gosselin suggests that the trouble started long before Kate and Jon began feuding. The book, titled KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN, describes what it calls a "house of horrors."
The description advertises the book with, "Conspiracy. Massive Coverup. Lawsuits and Legal Threats. Exploitation. Fraud. Abuse. Animal Cruelty. Lies. Read The Book that two of the most powerful law firms in the country have tried to stop from being published."
The author, Robert Hoffman, writes that he is "not a professional writer" but that his connection to the Gosselins "happened by chance, and perhaps by fate," and that he wants to "help" the Gosselin kids with his book.
Robert was, he noted, a "tabloid reporter" paid to be at the Gosselin house every day, taking notes on everything for a potential story. He also stated he was friends with Jon and that the two hung out, both while the journalist was working at the Gosselin home and afterward.
And in the pages of the book, Hoffman alleges that Kate "abused" her children and used them for fame. He even quotes Kate's personal diaries, which he says he found in the trash, where she wrote prayers that she could be a patient mother to her children.
Hoffman suggests that Kate used her children for monetary gain, something that has always been assumed by critics of any reality TV family. But in this case, viewers think, it seems to add up.
The Book About Kate Says She Was Jealous Of The Duggars
One Redditor who admitted to "reading a book about the terrible Kate Gosselin" screenshotted a page of Hoffman's tome that states Gosselin "seemed to be very jealous of the Duggars and threatened by their wholesomeness."
This was after he wrote that Kate was "rude," and elaborated that he had read her diaries to find her concerns about the Duggars. People who watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 weren't surprised.
One wrote, "I have this book and lots of bombshells were dropped. I wasn't surprised to read about Katie Irene's jealousy of the Duggars. She had a fair amount of jealousy for a lot of big families."
Another suggested Kate had been in "competition" with another mom (ostensibly a reality TV one) who had septuplets.
Though Redditors speculated about what ways Kate might have been jealous of Michelle Duggar and her large family, they also realized she had some similar values to the Duggars, overall.
The author of the tell-all book did quote many prayers from Kate, and a lot of discussion of the part God played in her life, which does relate to the Duggars somewhat.
As one commenter noted, Kate had rigid ideas about gender roles, kept post-it notes around the house of "bible quotes that favored her nastiness," and made one of her sick children sleep on the floor in the laundry room on only a blanket.
Most commenters fully believed Hoffman's statements in the book, with one writing sadly, "I just figured they were constantly arguing bc having that many kids is a bad idea. Looking back at it now I'm horrified by all of it, and feel bad for all those kids."
In the end, the book didn't help the kids at all, though Hoffman said that was his aim. And ironically, the family that Kate was apparently threatened by wound up falling from their pedestal, too.
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