What Kate Gosselin's Life is like Today

TLC's Jon and Kate Plus 8 once pulled in record ratings. But following Jon and Kate Gosselin's messy divorce, Kate was forced to go solo with the spinoff Kate Plus 8. That was nearly a decade ago, but you may be surprised to learn the series is still on the air. So what is Kate Gosselin's life like today? Seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. "Mommy's so over-dramatic." "No! I'm not doing this!” Camera ready With new episodes of Kate Plus 8 airing in 2017, Kate and her kids have been on TV for more than a decade. Since the divorce, the fate of the show has constantly been in question, in part due to Jon's alleged concerns about his children being "used as props" for good TV. But Kate's been upfront about her motivation for doing the show. In her 2010 book, I Just Want You to Know, she openly apologizes to her children for their "unconventional" upbringing, acknowledging that the family needed the money, having previously survived on donations from a local church, barely making ends meet. Divorce drama Ever since they separated in 2009, Kate's relationship with Jon has been tabloid fodder. While he's made headlines of his own, Jon's biggest weapon against Kate is raising concerns about her parenting and the way reality TV is impacting their kids. As for Kate, she's generally issued measured responses when Jon pops up in the tabloids: "I'm really focused less on what Jon has to say." But behind the scenes, their dynamic has reportedly grown heated. In 2016, she filed a police report accusing Jon of kidnapping their daughter, Hannah. Kate also alleged Jon was dealing drugs and using his DJ gigs as a front. Though her allegations were nasty, Jon was cleared by a judge. As of 2017, Kate retains primary custody of the kids, but Jon gets to see them "once a week for dinner and every other weekend," with the notable exception of twins Mady and Cara, who refuse to see their dad. Love life Kate reportedly began dating millionaire Jeff Prescott in January 2015. But when Prescott pulled the plug two days before he was scheduled to appear on Kate Plus 8, Kate took to Twitter to deny the two were ever together, tweeting, "Sorry guys. You've been 'duped' by the tabloids again! There was no breakup recently at all. Gotta be in a relationship in order to 'break up'!" But Prescott maintains the two were in a relationship. In a 2016 interview with Radar, he claimed he broke up with Kate because she was already planning a spin-off show focused on their relationship, and he didn't feel like that was a good idea for his children from a previous marriage. That, and the 53-year-old Prescott allegedly fell for a 27-year-old business grad shortly before dumping Kate. “Oh, whatever, I'm not dating him. He's business guy, we're working on a business deal. He’s a great guy." Despite the relationship's questionable authenticity, it was apparently the only time since her divorce that Kate has actively pursued a romantic interest. Cutting ties Before her marriage fell apart, Kate and her family booked lucrative speaking tours at churches, and she published two bestsellers with Christian publisher, Zondervan. Christianity Today reported, "Of all the viewers who followed the Gosselins, evangelicals were among the most faithful," until it became clear that the Gosselins' marriage wasn't as wholesome as it appeared on TV. But Kate was distancing herself from loved ones, too. In 2014, Kate's sister, Kendra Wilber, and an anonymous friend, told the Daily Mail that Kate had essentially cut herself off from the family and church members who'd chipped in to help the family make ends meet before hitting it big on TLC. The friend said, "There's a trail of a lot of hurt people in her wake. I don't know if Kate even cares about that. There were older women in the community who were at her house for three, four, five hours every day for two years. Their lives revolved around the children and now they have no contact with them." But Kate may have good reason to keep her distance from her family. Her brother, Kevin Kreider, and his wife Jodi, who often appeared on episodes of the show, testified against Kate during a state investigation to determine if Jon and Kate Plus 8 violated child labor laws, which it did not, according to Us Weekly. Tabloid toll While appearing on The Dr. Oz Show in late 2016, Kate opened up about her struggle to deal with negative tabloid stories. "This stuff just eats—it drags you down. It eats away at you. It drains your physical energy. And it's probably the most difficult part." Kate became particularly incensed when she talked about how the bad press affects her children. "There's still going to be a percentage of people that still can't tell the true me from the tabloid picture they've created… and it angers me even more when it affects my children.” Tough choices In August 20 16, Kate told People that she'd made the difficult decision to enroll her son Collin in a program away from home. She said, "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...Our entire family has been impacted." Things got ugly when Life & Style ran a report claiming Kate had been investigated for child abuse after Collin spoke to staffers at his treatment facility. In an interview with Good Morning America, she called the claims untrue. "I'm in the public eye. I've been investigated many times. It's always unfounded, obviously." "So they're all unfounded?” "Yes. Absolutely.” Kate has never been charged with any form of child abuse, and her custody agreement with Jon has never changed, despite his threats to take her to court over issues with Collin. Doing her best Kate will be the first to tell you that she's not perfect and has definitely made mistakes while raising her eight children in front of the cameras. But at the end of the day, she believes she has provided a future for her kids that she wouldn't have been able to afford without their reality fame. Whether or not it was worth the price is too early to tell, but like any mom or dad, Kate is doing the best she can. Has it gotten messy along the way? Absolutely. But, hey, that's parenting. Thanks for watching! Click the Nicki Swift icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!