Mothers know that having children is one of the most beautiful experiences of anyone's lives. And although moms know that having a child can be something rewarding, it is normal that sometimes moms feel that they do not have enough time and that their lives have become a constant challenge. Well, if moms sometimes feel that their lives revolve around one baby, try to picture what it feels like to have twins and then sextuplets. Definitely a hectic situation. This was the case for Kate and Jon Gosselin who went from having their twins in 2000 to having sextuplets in 2004, to later adding the cameras and inviting the world to know their lives.

Since 2007 we have seen the ups and downs of the family. We saw how Kate's marriage was deteriorating and went from "Jon and Kate Plus 8" to having a reality show solo with the children called "Kate Plus 8" after the divorce. It seems that Kate is not ready to give up the attention she receives and the cameras.

But even with all the things that are going on in their life, Kate has learned to handle it. Kate once said during an interview "I've learned to deal with stress. In fact, things that would make the next person go to a cliff do not even make my radar anymore". It seems that the mother of 8 kids has learned to find a balance to the drama, so today we will talk about 20 curious facts about the Gosselin family since they are under the spotlight.

20 How Kate and Jon Met?

It seems that we have been listening and reading about the dramas of this family for years, but apparently, that is what happens when people expose their lives in front of the cameras. Nevertheless, in the case of the Gosselin, almost everything we know so far is about their lives after the birth of the children but we don't know much about their past lives. But today we will clarify a common unknown: how Jon and Kate met.

According to Fame 10, the couple met during a picnic organized by their office in 1997. Both stars declared during interviews that it was a mutual attraction.

"'Jon was walking across the grass and I saw him and was instantly intrigued! Our eyes met and continued to meet from across the way to afternoon. Finally, I arranged for someone to introduce us,' said Kate."

"She was immediately attracted to him because 'he seemed very put together. And of course, he was very good looking.' In Jon's mind, he knew right away that Kate was the one for him and things would be different with her. She was not like any other woman he'd met before. 'Everything clicked. It sort of felt together like never felt before. This time was different,' he said."

19 Kate May Have Planned To Get A Reality Show

The lovebirds were married in 1999 when Kate was 24 and Jon 22. In her book, "Multiple Blessings," Kate explains that married life was all that she dreamed. "Married life was everything I had imagined and more, we were young, healthy and ambitious, and it was not long before the baby fever started."

And although the version of the events sounds touching, in 2014 came a book called "Kate Gosselin: How She Fooled the World" by Robert Hoffman, which tells a less pleasant and darker version of Kate. According to the author, Gosselin copied the hyper-fertile trajectory of another family.

Apparently, Kate was so inspired/obsessed with the headlines of Bobbi McCaughey for having had septuplets in 1997 that Kate decided that she wanted to have the same experience and popularity, no matter how.

Hoffman points out in his book some similarities between the McCaughey case and the Gosselins, whose sextuplets were born 7 years after McCaughey's multiples. According to the author, both mothers strongly opposed reducing the number of babies in their bellies and both claimed to be devout Christians, using the phrase "God gave us these children." Hoffman says that even Kate's baby names are the same. "When talking about the name of her sextuplets in her book, Kate Gosselin says that they simply chose the names at random", but the author doubts it. "Bobbi McCaughey's first daughter was named Alexis, and her last child, the septuplet, was called Joel, and Kate Gosselin 'randomly' named her first sextuplet daughter, Alexis, and her last child, sextuplet Joel."

18 Jon Worked As A Waiter After Hitting Bottom In 2013

Although the reality show has generated great income for the Gosselin family, not everything has been perfect. After Jon quit his job as I.T. Analys to be able to help his wife with their children, while she was on tour promoting her book, but after that, the relationship of the couple was not the same and they divorced. But in addition, it seems that Jon doesn't intend to return to his old routine of work after the divorce and fame.

In 2013 Jon seemed to have hit rock bottom, after being one of the best-known reality show celebrities Jon ended up working as a waiter for a while. Apparently, the finances were not going as expected because he did not have the money to pay the rent and eat.

Jon expressed during an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" that finding work today was an almost an impossible task.

"At first I was nervous because I was like, 'How are people going to react?'" he confessed. "But then I'm thinking, 'Well, it's fun and I get to talk to people.' And they technically already know me … they're like 'Are you the guy?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm the guy.'" He also added "I don't regret anything. You learn from your mistakes. That's what builds you to who you are today"

17 The Twins Are Not In Touch With Their Dad

Gosselin children have grown up in the midst of a media drama, especially after their parents divorced and have had various public discussions about them, so it is normal that some kind of distrust or rejection of one of the parents occurs.

In this case, the older daughters of the Gosselins, the twins Mady and Cara, in 2016 explained during an interview that they do not have any kind of affectionate relationship with their father Jon, in fact, they do not even talk to each other.

During an interview for People Magazine, when the journalist asked about the status of their relationship with their dad, Mady said: 'This year I'm going to turn 16. I'm going to be learning to drive, taking the PSATs, thinking about college...so much is going on in my life. And the last thing I have time for is a toxic relationship.' And then, Cara added Cara 'I wouldn't even know what to say about him.'

Soon after that interview, Jon told Entertainment Tonight he was upset. 'I love my children very much. I've always been there for them and I always will be. It's shocking,' said the father of 8, even though he was notified in advance by People that the story was coming out, but back then he was asked to comment but he refused.

16 Currently, Jon Is Working As A DJ

Apparently, the reason for Jon's financial problems was due to Jon's arduous and costly legal battle against his ex-wife regarding the custody of their children.

In fact, a former girlfriend came to create a GoFundMe page to try to help to Jon with the expenses of the lawyers etc. On the page, we could read the following "Fame and fortune do not always go together, and Jon is the perfect example of that reality. Things are not always as they are portrayed." They added "John does not have a network-funded public relations machine behind to spin the facts. I have a steady job and earns extra money on the side as a disc jockey. Now he is forced into an expensive unjust battle for custody, one that drains his time, energy, and finances. It is a fight he did not seek; it is a fight he does not want. He remains focused on the welfare of his children. He wants to make sure that every decision made on his behalf is made in his best interest ... He raised his rightful place in the lives of his family. "

And although Jon went through many financial problems and was working as a waiter for a while, he now seems to be in a better place in his life. Jon is working as a DJ, something he had been passionate about for a long time and to which he had not been able to devote time.

15 Jon And Kate Plus 8

Due to the news that Kate was pregnant with sextuplets, the press became interested in her case and the family became a local celebrity, but with the arrival of Discovery Health Channel to their lives, Kate achieved the fame she wanted. The television channel contacted the family and offered to film a two one-hour specials entitled "Surviving Sextuplets and Twins", and due to the success of the specials the family got an offer for a reality show with the channel, later they got a contract with The Learning Channel (TLC) where they positioned themselves as one of the most watched programs. At the premiere of their fifth season, they achieved a record of 9.8 million viewers.

The program itself is based on following the lives of both parents and how they manage to obtain a balance between their lives and the needs of their children. But of course, viewers were interested in the internal family dramas and how some routines that may seem simple for parents with an only one child were a challenge for them, things like going out, getting the kids ready for school, or cooking breakfast.

Hoffman in his book "Kate Gosselin: How She Fooled the World" explains that Kate's plan was always to reach television. From an early age, her ambition was to marry a rich man and have a life full luxuries without worries.

In fact, Hoffman assures that Kate had previously tried to convert her twins into family stars and breadwinners, constantly taking them to castings because she wanted to get his daughters to become in the next Olsen twins. "[Kate] tried to market the girls from the time they were born," says Hoffman.

14 Cheating Scandal

The pressure of being constantly in front of the cameras and dealing with the public scrutiny is not easy, especially for couples, and this can trigger situations that are not positive at all. According to the Fame 10 website, there was always speculation about whether Jon agreed with the lifestyle they had, with cameras that followed them constantly. And Jon declared the following in a moment: "Every time a season renewal comes up, we have a family discussion. Our kids are 80 percent of the family. If they don’t want to film, we’re not filming. We’re outnumbered,” said Jon trying to prove that he agreed with the show.

But the problems started in 2008 when Jon resigned his position as I.T. Analyst and became a full-time father, while his wife was on tour promoting her book. In 2009 several tabloids began to link Jon with different women but in May of that year, it was said that Kate had a relationship with her bodyguard.

Jon during an interview for Good Morning America stated the following: “I speculate, but I don’t know. When they are traveling together, I felt jealous. Here I’m Mr. Mom. And then there’s some other guy traveling with my wife.”

13 TLC Made Them Pretend Nothing Was Wrong With Their Marriage

Although the family was subjected to public scrutiny and different tabloids had mentioned possible infidelities by Jon against his wife Kate, the couple decided to perform a special episode where they renewed their wedding vows in August 2008.

The entire family traveled to Hawaii to celebrate that event and in part of the vows Jon expressed the following, “Our marriage has been a wonderful and adventurous nine years.” In a later interview with Good Housekeeping, Kate said, “Listening to Jon’s touching vows, I was absorbed in the moment – but at the same time, trying to keep an eye on all the kids.”

The ceremony was broadcast on their show and was one of the most watched episodes of "Kate and Jon Plus 8". But less than a year after the ceremony, they announced their divorce.

During an interview with Steve Harvey in 2016, Jon expressed that TLC tried to mediate with the couple and asked them to stay together and try to solve their marital conflicts to maintain the show.

"We knew we were going to get divorced and then the network tried to keep us together for the benefit of the show. So I quit. I said, 'I'm not having my divorce filmed. I'm not having it aired out for the public's consumption. And I'm not having reruns so my children can keep on watching the demise of their parents.'" He added, "I just took a moral stance versus a business stance. I lost everything. I lost all my money. I lost everything. The network sided with my ex-wife."

12 Kate Had 40 Nannies In 3 Months

Having a large family, taking care of the home and being the breadwinner of the house is not an easy task, but Kate has taken everything to the next level, and maybe she has exaggerated a bit.

Apparently, Kate has a manual that her nannies must follow strictly to be able to perform all household chores. Kate has reached a point of demand with her nannies that if they are not perfect according to her standards, she dismisses them.

In fact, a former Gosselin employee sold a copy of Kate's standards manual to the Radar Online website, also explained some of Kate's crazy demands, explaining that she once fired one of the nannies just because she washed her hands in the kitchen and not in the bathroom.

Some of the guidelines in Kate's manual included "cooking, laundry, landscaping, pool maintenance, trash duty, and even caring for her flock of chickens." Yeesh. There was even a section on "Pet Peeves," threatening meltdowns if Kate's instructions were ignored. "The kitchen is my baby." Kate wrote at one point. "I have an exact way of caring for it. There is definitely a right and wrong in the kitchen. Knives are very expensive and only get washed by hand…I have meltdowns about my knives and improper use regularly, FYI!". Kate is so demanding with the nannies that she apparently had 40 different employees in 3 months.

11 The Negative Impact On The Kids

Let's be honest, growing up in front of the cameras and inviting the world to know our life is not an easy task and can sometimes generate negative results in people, especially when we talk about children.

In 2013, during an interview with Oprah, Jon said that he suspected that his children had developed certain issues after being in the reality show."Yes, they got to travel the world, and yes, they got these fabulous things, and yes, they have trust funds, and they're taken care of educationally. Great," he said. "But developmentally, they have problems with their peers, and they have problems with talking to other people, and they have problems with wants and needs and manners and morals and what's right and what's wrong. I think more so than someone who grows up off TV."

And although Kate denied her ex-husband's allegations, it was known sometime later that two of the couple's children, Collin and Alexis, were having behavioral problems at school and had been expelled, but Kate explained that the school “did not feel like they could meet their needs any more” and that the children were suffering from “post-divorce anger.”

Moreover, in 2016 during an interview with People, Kate explained that her son Collin has special needs."[There's] a fairly fluid diagnosis of what those needs are, but he needs to learn certain strategies to help him deal with things. This has been a struggle we've had for a very long time, and it's one I've dealt with on my own. I've felt very alone in this. By the same token, it's not something that has only impacted me or him – our entire family has been impacted."

10 Their Therapist Sued Them For A $10K Bill

Among all the pressure they were under with respect to children, work and tabloids, the couple was attending marriage counseling in search of professional help to try to solve their problems as a couple and save their marriage. But things did not turn out as the couple expected with respect to their therapist.

After attending several therapy sessions together with Sylvia Lafair, the couple at one point in their lives requested an emergency therapy. But instead of paying for the special consultation the Gosselin decided to simply disappear and not pay Dr. Lafair, owner of The Country Place Retreat in White Haven, Pennsylvania.

Lafair explains that she had been working with Kate for some time, but Kate asked her to fly to the west coast for some sessions at home because her tight schedule did not allow her to move to where the doctor was. After the "emergency" sessions, Dr. Lafair explains that she was never paid for the work or the costs of her trip after moving to Los Angeles to advise the couple, although it was part of their agreement.

“I did this because I believe people need to be held accountable,” Dr. Lafair tells us. “We all need to be held accountable for agreements that we make and that’s why this was filed … it’s for services rendered that were never handled. Jon is handling his part.” Dr. Lafair wouldn’t comment on any of the specifics. The complaint has been filed by Creative Energy Options, a Pennsylvania-based mediation group in the amount of $10,476.

A week before their tenth wedding anniversary, they confirmed what the tabloids had been predicting in recent years regarding the status of the couple. They were separating.

Back then, Kate was seen on a family vacation without Jon. She took the kids to the beach in North Carolina. "I do not know if we're already in the same place. [Or] we want the same thing," Kate said in one episode of the show. In June 2009 a one-hour long episode was issued and Jon and Kate announced that they were separating. However, the couple at that time did not talk about divorce. They made it seem as if they were taking a break, or at least tried to transmit to the press and the audience, but it is known that after that special episode of an hour the couple met with their respective lawyers to finalize the divorce plans. Both agreed that the children would stay at their Pennsylvania mansion and Kate was granted primary custody while Jon had to move out of the house, and the children could spend time with both parents in their respective new homes.

And although at the beginning, the couple seemed to try a civilized divorce without dramas, as time went on the circumstances changed. They ended up giving insulting statements about the other in interviews to demands.

In 2016, In Touch Weekly had access to some official documents where Kate told the authorities that Jon had "kidnapped" one of their daughters from school without her authorization and that she was worried about the welfare of her children because she had noticed strange behaviors in her ex-husband. 

“Complainant told PD her ex-husband is a [dealer], who uses his disc jockey employment as a front to sell,” officers claimed. “She also stated he frequently drinks alcohol around the children."

8 Kate Plus 8

Despite her divorce and all the scandals related to her ex-husband. Kate signed up for a new season of the show, but this time they decided to call it "Kate Plus 8" which was strongly criticized by the audience who considered that being in the midst of so much drama it was best to move away from the cameras and give their children a break and a normal life.

In January of 2015, Kate was back on the screens with a new season of the program, showing how her routine had changed and what ways she had found to make sure her children were not affected by their parents' divorce.

However, Jon and Kate continued to have strong discussions about how they should raise their children. The problem? they were doing those accusations in several interviews instead of doing it in a private way.

In fact, in the same police report of 2015 where Kate reported that Jon had taken one of her daughters from school without asking her, the mother of 8 assured that her ex-husband had strange behaviors with her 10-year-old daughter Hanna. A source close to Jon spoke with Radar Online and told them “Jon can’t believe Kate is talking about this for the cover of a magazine,” a source told Radar. “the source also added 'He believes Kate will stop at nothing to get what she wants— even if it means lying to police,'" the investigation against Jon did not prosper due to the lack of evidence regarding Kate's accusations.

7 Kate Wanted To Move Forward With Her Career

In 2009, in the midst of the chaos of her divorce Kate was eager to start a new chapter in her life and move forward with her career so she filmed a pilot for a talk show together with the famous Chef Paula Deen, but the show never came out, apparently because the executives thought that Kate was at a point where her image was too controversial for the show and was not adequate.

Ironically, Paula Deen would later be involved in a discrimination-based drama. Paula is a well-known American television chef and celebrity known for her cooking shows and books. In 2013 Deen faced a lawsuit after using certain slurs against a former employee, which caused Food Network not to renew her contract.

Although the idea of Kate's program was rejected that did not prevent him from insisting on participating in other programs. In fact, in 2012 she was part of the group of contestants on Dancing With The Stars, until she was eliminated in the fifth week.

But even in the dance program, Kate was involved in dramas. Kate and her dance partner had no chemistry and the working relationship was quite conflicted. Kate even had problems with the makeup team.

According to nydailynews.com a source said "The staff has warned her and lectured her about being late, but Kate just gets angry and blows them off," and the person also added, "No one wants to deal with her."

6 Kate's New Look

Something that the viewers began to notice was the changing looks of Kate throughout the seasons, who went from having a regular American mom look to a Hollywood diva style.

But every time the subject came up, Kate seemed to get upset and deny the accusations and claiming that she had not undergone any type of plastic surgery.

The most noticeable change with respect to the new Kate was reflected when she participated in the program "Dancing with the Stars", where Kate was shown with long hair thanks to extensions, a new hair color, and a completely different look. But Kate insisted that after her divorce, she was focused on having a healthier life and taking care of herself, in fact in the blog platform she shared with Coupon Cabin, Kate expressed the following "I will confirm I have not had one [procedure] (I am only 36!!!). But I will take all of the talk about how rested and young I look as a compliment!". But, curiously CouponCabin severed its ties with Gosselin and publicly claimed that she was not a good fit to represent the brand. In their statement they said "A series of recent events have made it clear to me that [Gosselin] and her contributions do not align with the authenticity which we set out to build almost a decade ago, and that Ms. Gosselin is simply not a good fit with the wonderful team and culture at CouponCabin." They also explained that "It's with this, that I am writing to inform you of our decision to discontinue Ms. Gosselin's feature blog on CouponCabin.com."

5 Jon “Hired” A Fake Girlfriend For A Reality Show

Yes, this family seems to jump from one drama to another, and as absurd as it sounds, it seems that Jon hired a fake girlfriend to participate in another reality show: "Couples Therapy" on the VH1 channel. The program is based on the idea that with the help of Dr. Jenn Mann, couples can evaluate their weak and high points, and with the help of a special program, the experts determine whether the couple is compatible or not.

According to Radar Online, Jon wanted to participate in the reality show and asked his girlfriend Hailey Glassman, who rejected the proposal because she did not want to expose herself to the scrutiny of the cameras. It was then when Jon looked for Liz Jannetta and asked him to participate in the reality show as a couple. And both were the most controversial celebrities of that season.

Jon actually got upset when the doctor said they were not a good couple. Jon and Liz were judged to be “incompatible and unlikely to form a successful relationship.”

Jon, upset, said “I’m like, ‘Who [are] you?'” Jon explained in the confessional. “I don’t need a computer to tell me what I know about Liz. I’m pretty upset about the Plenty of Fish results because I don’t think it has anything to do with us".

4 Kate Was Accused Of Manipulating Her Children

Kate, during all these years in the reality show world, has shown us that she has a strong personality and that sometimes she can become bossy, although sometimes it's not her intention. Sometimes in front of the cameras it seems that she is too demanding with her children, that's why some people have accused her of being manipulative.

In 2014 Kate was interviewed with her twins in an episode of Today Show that was quite uncomfortable and Kate ended up answering almost all the questions for her daughters.

The whole interview was awkward because the girls were not answering questions posed by TODAY's Savannah Guthrie and instead they just looked at their mother and each other. In one point if the interview Kate said "It's your chance, spit it out." But both girls stayed quiet, so Kate said. "I don't want to speak for them but, Mady, go ahead. Sort of the things that you said in (People) magazine, that years later they're good, they're fine. Go for it, it's your chance." "No," Mady replied, smiling. "You just said it."

After the awkward interview many users in the social network Twitter expressed their opinion about what happened "Sad that you're in damage control already." And another commenter wrote Gosselin: "You could tell they were scared of saying the wrong thing, that's why they kept looking at you!".

3 Kate’s New Man

After her scandalous divorce with Jon, Kate was linked with her bodyguard in a romantic way, after she went to promote her book in different states, but this romance was never confirmed. However, in 2015 Kate's luck seemed to change, when she started dating entrepreneur Jeff Prescott the COO and co-founder of Dreamstime, a stock photography agency.

Everything seemed to go well between the couple, Jeff was also divorced and had 3 children, so they seemed to have things in common. In fact, the couple was caught by the cameras of the paparazzi several times. But unfortunately after 8 months of dating they decided to split.

According to ET, the couple broke up after an argument over Labor Day weekend, when Prescott allegedly withdrew from the filming of Gosselin's reality show, Kate Plus 8.

Subsequently, the businessman and divorced father of three, met his new girlfriend, a 26-year-old with a business specialization who speak five languages and develops her own cosmetics lines. After the break-up, some sources close to the mother of 8 told ET that Kate was devastated and that she did not expect it, but unfortunately, it seems that Kate has not been fortunate at the moment in love, that is why she decided to focus on her children and different work projects while she find the right person.

2 Kate Will Have A New Reality Show About Her Dating Life

Kate Gosselin, after so many dramas, divorce, having a supposed relationship with her bodyguard (a relationship that was never confirmed) and going through a painful break up with the businessman, Jeff Prescott, it seems that Kate has been in talks to have her own reality show about dating and try to find love. After all, the mother of 8 has not been so lucky in that field.

Kate recently confirmed to People Magazine that she will have her own series on dating on the TLC channel, which will be called "Kate Plus Dating"

“I’m nervous, I’m excited, and I’m forcing myself to do this,” Gosselin, who was married to ex-husband Jon for 10 years, tells PEOPLE about the upcoming docu-series. Then she explained that “As we’re talking about Mady and Cara going off to college which is becoming more and more of a reality, it’s gonna happen, it almost became like a worry for them, too, like ‘Mommy, you’re gonna be all alone soon,’ ” shares Gosselin. “But it was very apparent, now that they’re older and talking about dating and how they’re all gonna get married someday … it became apparent: they want someone for me. They want me to have somebody in my life.”

1 Jon Gosselin, Apparently Has Custody Of His Daughter Hannah

Although Jon does not have a good relationship with his older daughters, Mady and Cara, it seems that with one of the sextuplets he does. 

His daughter Hannah seems to be quite close to her father, and recently the father of 8 shared some videos on his Instagram account sharing quality time father and daughter with Hannah. In fact, due to one of Jon's videos, that seemed to have cryptic messages, it gives the impression that he suggests that he got the custody of his daughter, Hannah.

The website In Touch Weekly, explains the following "Many fans speculated in the comments that Jon had been awarded custody of his daughter Hannah and thought it's unclear if Hannah is living with her dad full time now or if she's just visiting with him for the summer , it seems like Hannah and her brother Collin are the only ones out of their siblings who wants to spend time with their dad."

But apparently, it's just a father-and-daughter trip. Jon then stated the following “Thank you to everyone for all the love and support this week!!! Hannah and I forgot to take a pic. She is doing her in video @itsmehjg check it out!!! Have awesome Holiday, Happy Memorial Day and let’s get summer started!!!! Thanks again!. Then he added " I’d like to thank everyone for their love and support during this week. Obviously, you know the situation. If you don’t know the situation you should get together with a friend or anyone who understands the situation. But I want to say Happy Memorial Day, good luck to everyone and have a safe and happy weekend. ”

References: Newravel.com, intouchweekly.com, eonline.com, fame10.com, nickiswift.com, hollywoodlife.com, radaronline.com, today.com, usmagazine.com, etonline.com, dailymail.co.uk, people.com