Kate Gosselin has finally responded to her estranged son's explosive tell-all memoir, and she did it in the comment section of a TikTok video about dog training. On Saturday, Oct. 10, the former reality star replied to a fan defending her against the abuse allegations in Collin Gosselin's new book, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, which hit shelves Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Her message was short and pointed. “I know rational logical ppl or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what's going on here,” Kate wrote, according to Yahoo.
What Kate Gosselin Said About Collin's Book
The exchange started when a supporter complained that her TikTok feed was “being flooded with such terrible lies” about the mother of eight. The fan wrote that it “should be illegal to defame someone that way.”
Kate thanked her and doubled down on her long-running claim that Collin suffers from psychiatric problems. In the same thread, she liked a comment saying Collin would “regret all of this someday” and had been “encouraged and enabled by other dysfunctional and mentally ill people.”
“Exactly! I had nothing to do with it, except for consent because it was medically necessary.”
That was Kate's answer to the fan, referring to the decision to enroll Collin in a treatment program. She has said for years that he has “multiple psychiatric diagnoses,” and in 2016 she placed him in a facility when he was 11 years old.
Collin Gosselin's Side of the Story
Collin, now 22, tells a very different story. In his memoir, he claims his mother was physically abusive and that his childhood on reality TV was something closer to forced labor than a family adventure.
“I was being forced to perform,” Collin told NPR on Tuesday. “When I spoke up against that, I was punished. And my mom retaliated because I did not want to be a part of her program.”
His allegations are specific and disturbing. He described being hit, slapped, and dragged, and said that at one point his wrists and ankles were zip-tied and he was locked in his room.
“There was just years and years of mental and emotional abuse,” Collin said in the same interview.
Did Collin Gosselin Have a Mental Illness Diagnosis?
This is where the story gets contested. Collin writes in his book that he underwent an independent psychological evaluation in 2023, and that the evaluation turned up no mental health diagnoses at the time.
“I knew I'd go through life every day as a functioning member of society. It's just that I needed it on paper.”
That's how Collin explained the evaluation to ABC News on Monday. His father, Jon Gosselin, who won custody of Collin and his sister Hannah after the 2009 divorce, backed that account in a 2023 episode of Vice TV's Dark Side of the 2000s. Jon said a doctor told him there was “no diagnosis yet” and that they would “figure that out.” He also claimed he spent $1 million getting Collin out of treatment.
Kate, for her part, is not backing down. In a June TikTok comment she wrote that “only parents who have a mentally ill child understand” and that people have “NO ability to understand unless they've been through it themselves.”
A Family Built on Reality TV, Torn Apart by It
The Gosselin family became a household name in 2007 when Jon and Kate Plus 8 debuted on TLC. The show ran five seasons until the couple's divorce, then continued as Kate Plus 8 for six more seasons, ending in 2017. The couple shares 22-year-old twins Mady and Cara, and the sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Alexis, Aaden, Leah, and Joel.
Collin's book argues the whole operation came at his expense, and that speaking up about it cost him his relationship with his mother and several siblings. In a statement included in his memoir, Kate wrote that all measures taken in the home were “at the explicit recommendation of his pediatric psychiatrist” and that Collin “remains a very troubled young man” with a “history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies.”
Entertainment Weekly reports that it has reached out to Collin, Kate's legal team, and her representative for comment on the allegations and the book. Kate has previously denied all allegations of abuse.
Why This Story Matters Beyond the Gosselins
Strip away the celebrity names and this is a story about a kid who says the adults around him put a TV show ahead of his welfare, and a system that let it happen for a decade. It is also a story about a young man who refused to stay silent, got an independent evaluation to prove his case, and put his name on every page of his account.
That is the American instinct to stand up and speak the truth, even when the person you are standing up to is your own mother and the whole world watched you grow up on camera. Whatever a court or a doctor ultimately says about the competing claims in this family, Collin Gosselin earned the right to tell his story in his own words.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential, and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Kate Gosselin say about Collin's book?
In an Oct. 10 TikTok comment, Kate wrote that “rational logical ppl or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what's going on here,” and said her consent to his treatment was “medically necessary.”
What does Collin Gosselin allege in his memoir?
Collin alleges his mother physically abused him, including hitting him and at one point zip-tying his wrists and ankles, and that she retaliated when he resisted appearing on the family's reality shows.
When was Collin Gosselin's book published?
In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood was published on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026.
Has Collin Gosselin been diagnosed with a mental illness?
Collin writes that an independent psychological evaluation in 2023 found no mental health diagnoses. Kate maintains he has “multiple psychiatric diagnoses.”