Kate Gosselin Breaks Silence on Rumors About Estranged Son Collin

Once upon a time, at the height of the reality television craze of the early '00s, there was one family on top of the shock-drama/documentary world: the Gosselin family.

The family was made up of husband and wife, Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin, and their eight children: Mady, Cara, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel.

But it wasn't long before the marriage splintered and Jon and Kate messily divorced in the public eye. Jon & Kate Plus 8 became Kate Plus 8, before the Gosselins retreated from the public eye for the most part.

However, one decision having to do with their son Collin left people baffled and full of criticism for Kate, who had the kids after the split. Now, Kate responds to rumors and questions about her relationship with her estranged son on a TikTok video.

Here's what she had to say.

In a video discussing her daily life and the long hours she works both away from home and at home, Kate started inviting people back into her day-to-day life as a mom of eight kids, all of whom are adults now.

But as she talked about life with her kids, who still can't load the dishwasher apparently, many people wondered what was happening with the one child she doesn't talk to these days: Collin.

Several people speculated what had happened, pointing to rumors that Collin had been "violent" and "dangerous." Others blasted Kate, saying she should have figured out how to cope without kicking him out of the home.

When a follower shared a screenshot of Collin's recent post, where he said his siblings were "forced apart," Kate responded, "He knows why..." with a sad emoji, likely suggesting that Collin knows very well why things happened the way they did.

As others continued to speculate about why Collin was sent away and continues to be estranged, Kate commented seemingly in response to a string of comments where one person said that Kate should explain things to Collin and wondered how he could understand what he did wrong without contact with the family.

One person asked how they were so sure Kate hadn't explained things to him, to which Kate seemingly responded, "Bingo."

Since Kate's comments really didn't clear much up, what exactly do we know about why Collin was sent away?

The surprise move was made in 2016, and Kate spoke with People magazine at the time.

She told the outlet, "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."

She likened the decision to send him away to the pain of sending a kid to college, adding that Collin was, “enrolled in a program that is helping him learn the skills he needs to be the best him he can be. We miss him so much, so it’s been hard because there is a huge hole in our family without him here. But it comforts us to know he’s where he needs to be right now, and I can feel good about that.”

Unfortunately, months turned to years, and Collin remains estranged from his family.

The move drew stark criticism from fans who have the parasocial belief that they knew the family behind closed doors and were poised to judge what must have been a difficult decision.

However, Collin's estrangement from his mom and the other siblings opened up an opportunity for him to get close to his father.

On social media, Collin posted a video of himself and his siblings when they were younger, with the caption, "Forced to do it alone, and wonder every day what our lives could've looked like."

Jon, who became Collin's support after his estrangement from the rest of the family, responded to the video with the comment, "Maybe someday we can all be together again, Love ya." To which Collin responded, "I hope so, I really do. Love ya too."

While it must be an incredibly painful and difficult situation for all involved, Kate maintains that Collin's removal from the family was an absolute "must," and neither Collin nor Jon has ever produced much evidence to the contrary, despite their evident pain at the decision.