reality tv

Jon and Kate Plus 8: After 11 seasons, where are they all now?

 

We first met soccer-team sized US family The Gosselins in 2007 on TLC’S Jon and Kate Plus 8, the wildly popular reality show which followed a family of epic proportions through their daily dramas.

Not quite as glamorous as Keeping up with the Kardashians but with eight times the real-life juiciness, the world was hooked on the journey which followed husband and wife Jon and Kate, their twins Mady and Cara, who were four when the show started, and sextuplets Aaden, Alexis, Collin, Hannah, Joel and Leah who were just one when the first season aired.

The show was an immediate hit in the US and beyond, and while it wasn’t the first reality show centred around the basic premise of an ordinary family just doing their thing, it is certainly one of the most noteworthy for its no filter glimpse into what really happens inside a family of 10.

Two years into the program’s whopping 11-season run, the world’s obsession with the family was fuelled by revelations that Jon had cheated on Kate.

Jon and Kate’s 10-year marriage ended that very year, and the show continued in 2009 as Kate Plus 8, following the no-nonsense mother going it alone.

While it was announced that Kate Plus 8 would be cancelled in 2011, it returned to TLC in 2015 with four more seasons, rounding out in July last year.

It’s been a year the Gosselins appeared on our screens, so what we really want to know is what have they been doing?

Kate Gosselin

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Kate’s been busy.

Having pretty much secured herself as a stalwart US reality TV personality from the minute the show began thanks to her no-bullshit approach to parenting, she’s frequently dabbled in the reality entertainment world outside Kate Plus 8.

Her TV stints include an appearance on the 2010 season of the US Dancing With The Stars (which she was eliminated from in the fourth week), co-hosting The View on a few occasions, and an appearance on an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap in 2013. She was also a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice in 2015.

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So, what’s next for Kate?

I’m glad you asked.

In April this year, People revealed that Kate is taking another dive into the reality world in a new TLC program, Kate plus Date. (We see what you did there).

The show, which kicks off in the US late next month, will document the reality star on her search for love.

We don’t know whether it will be available for viewing in Australia at this stage.

Jon Gosselin

Happy 4th of July!!! ????????

A post shared by Jon Gosselin (@jongosselin1) on

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These days, Jon’s Instagram account sees him focused heavily on his DJ career in Pennsylvania while the on-going custody battle for his eight kids continues.

In the years that followed his two-year stint on Jon and Kate Plus 8, he worked at restaurant chain TGI Fridays between DJing, and in 2017 he made headlines with a one-off appearance at an Atlantic City nightclub as part of a male strip show.

According to E! news, he did not actually strip during the performance – it was merely some clothes-on lap dance action.

Still, it’s a no from us.

Cara-Nicole and Madelyn ‘Mady’ Kate

The eldest children, twins Cara and Mady, turn 18 in October and have just begun their final year of high school.

They’ll be heading off for university next year, leaving Kate at home with four of the six sextuplets…but we’ll get to that in a sec.

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Hannah Joy

Jon claimed in an Instagram story earlier this month that Hannah, one of the 14-year-old sextuplets, is now living with him full-time.

He recently posted this photo on Instagram of Hannah heading off to school.

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Hannah is pictured without a uniform, unlike in Kate’s “back to school” Insta post below, which suggests she is even attending a different school than her siblings.

#truedetective

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Collin Thomas

NOTE the above picture showing only SIX Gosselin children.

We know where Hannah is, but the second missing child is Collin Thomas.

Collin’s absence from the 2015 re-boot of the show was shrouded in mystery and speculation by fans, with the 14-year-old sextuplet only appearing on screen once last year.

In 2016, Kate revealed to People magazine that Collin had been diagnosed with learning difficulties, and on the advice of doctors, was enrolled at a school away from their Pennsylvania home that could better address his educational and social needs.

It is unknown where Collin is living nowadays, but Jon posted this picture on his 14th birthday:

Glad I could celebrate my son Collin’s 14th birthday with him and his sister!

A post shared by Jon Gosselin (@jongosselin1) on

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Aaden Jonathan, Joel Kevin, Alexis Faith and Leah Hope

Merry???? Christmas! A day full of great memories! #LoveMyKids❤️

A post shared by Kate Gosselin (@kateplusmy8) on

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Aedan and Joel, two of the three male sextuplets, are living with Kate in Pennsylvania and attending high school along with Alexis (far left) and Leah (far right), the remaining sextuplets pictured below on Instagram with Hannah (centre).