Collin Gosselin claims that his estranged mother’s choice to institutionalize him at age 12 caused severe “harm” and landed him in a “dark place.”
In a rare television interview, the 18-year-old described his experience in two “scary” facilities, revealing that he “learned a lot” about himself after Kate Gosselin took him away.
Collin told “Entertainment Tonight” on Monday, “I was in a horrible place psychologically.”
“I believe that being in that environment does more harm than good.
“There I celebrated my thirteenth and fourteenth birthdays, so I was young,” he said. “I lacked a great deal of life skills. I had no idea what to anticipate or what to think about being there at the moment, so I was despondent.
In a recent interview, Collin Gosselin spoke openly about his relationship with his parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin.
The talk show presenter frequently posts shirtless photographs of herself…
Collin’s “special needs” and behavioral concerns prompted Kate, age 47, to enroll him in a program away from home in 2016.
Collin now notes, however, that his institutionalization prevented him from sharing his side of the tale.
Collin reported feeling “hopeless” at two “terrifying” facilities.
“I want time alone, and I was unable to provide accurate responses. I mean, there were simply stuff out there, you know, that weren’t my words — they were other people’s,” he remarked in the interview. “It was difficult, but it feels amazing to finally be allowed to speak my mind.”
The adolescent revealed that writing a letter to his father, Jon Gosselin, was “the one thing” that helped him “figure out psychologically that there was a route out of there.”
Due to his “special needs” and behavioral problems, Kate expelled the now-18-year-old.
Collin has not yet repaired his relationship with his mother, despite being willing to discuss his “difficult” childhood.
“Even before [being] there, I don’t believe we had much of a relationship, and I believe being in the public view “torn” them apart,” he told “ET.”
Collin, who participated on his parents’ TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” from 2007 to 2017, has not given up on the chance of reconciliation, but he does not “sit around and weep and cry over” it.
“It would be fantastic,” he stated of reuniting with his mother. “It is regrettable that we had no relationship. I believe that every son desires a relationship with his mother.
The adolescent stated that repairing his relationship with his mother would be “perfect.”
Everett Collection, Courtesy of TLC’
“My mother had her own objective, but I do not know what it was. However, I was placed in a difficult situation, and my objective was to prevail.”
Since 2018, Collin has lived with his father and sister Hannah. Jon, 45, and Kate, who divorced in 2009, also share Collin and Hannah’s sextuplet siblings, Joel, Aaden, Alexis, and Leah, as well as Cara and Madelyn, who are 22 years old.
»Collin Gosselin: Being institutionalized by Mom Kate left me “hopeless” and in a “sad place.”«