Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin is opening up about what his life’s like now as he angles to get back on reality TV.
In June 2009, Jon walked away from the show, and his unhappy marriage to Kate Gosselin, and ended up getting sued by TLC in the process. Now that Jon, who currently makes a living as a DJ, is out from underneath the settlement, he’s speaking his mind about his co-parenting relationship with Kate.
Here’s some highlights from a lengthy piece via Yahoo Celebrity…
On the custody arrangement in which Kate chooses which 4 of his 8 children come visit him:
“I can’t do anything. It’s unfair of her to do that, considering she claims that she does her best for all my kids. Dah, dah, dah, drama. ‘I’m perfect.’ No one’s perfect, honey. Trust me. Now all the secrets are coming out because I’m not afraid to say anything. ‘How come you only get four kids?’ Because who I get is who I get. Whoever comes through that gate or gets off that [school] bus is who I get. And Collin is homeschooled, so he doesn’t get off a bus… If the kids want to come, they come. I love them all, but I am going to focus on the ones that want to come. My hands are tied.”
Jon explained that, due to this particular arrangement, he hasn’t seen Collin in a year and a half.
On the “bad situation” in regards to his relationship with Kate, and how it’s difficult to fight things out in court:
“People are always like, ‘Oh, I would fight so hard [for a better custody arrangement].’ I’m like, ‘Honey, you don’t have the money to fight that hard. Do you know how expensive court is? You have no idea.’ All the filings — and I do my own filings, then submit them to a law firm for stamp of approval — I have to pay for that. And pay all the court fees in the hopes that you’ll get something out of it. I’ve been going to court for seven years now. Unless you can arbitrate out of it and have a working relationship with the other parent, you’re going to spend a lot of money.”
(Jon added that Kate says unflattering things about him to his children. He also said he’s never provided any details about the filming of Kate Plus 8, and has to find out about the whereabouts of his kids when the show’s being shot by searching Twitter for #kategosselinsighting.)
On rumors that he never paid child support…
“My first child support payments were $22,000 a month. I paid out $175,000 [in one year]. Go ask anyone how much they’ve paid out in child support ever. I guarantee it’s not $175,000 in one year.”
Jon is grateful that being on TV has provided for his children financially:
“The best thing that ever came out of this is that they’re financially taken care of. As for me, I’m just building upon something, but I don’t use them to make money — ever. They say, ‘Oh, you did in the beginning.’ Yeah, I was married, bro. What the f***?”
On TLC playing favorites:
“TLC backed her lawyers. I was really naïve to think they gave a s**t about me, and they didn’t. They just had to back someone, and they backed her. And good luck with those ratings for Kate Plus 8 — those .3 ratings. Good luck.”
Jon is aiming to film a music related docu-series in the near future. “The platform might start off on YouTube, and we’ll see what happens, but I’m sure somebody is going to pick it up as soon as they see my face. Unfortunately, that’s how it works,” he said.
