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Jon Gosselin Reflects on Custody Battle End With Ex Kate Over Kids: ‘This Is A New Life for Everybody’
A new beginning. Jon Gosselin reflected on the end of his custody battle over his eight kids with ex-wife, Kate Gosselin, while exclusively speaking to In Touch.
“The fact [that] we are no longer in court, is just one less thing on our plates,” Jon, 46, says. “The Pennsylvania court system and my ex-wife now have nothing to do with my children successfully accomplishing their goals and moving past 14 years of erroneous bickering in court.”
The Jon and Kate Plus 8 alum adds, “This is a new life for everybody, and it feels great.”
Jon and Kate, 48, share twin daughters, Mady and Cara, as well as sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Aaden, Joel, Leah and Alexis.
After the former couple split in 2009, Kate lost custody of Collin to Jon in December 2018 after she didn’t show up to a court hearing regarding the matter. Kate requested the court date to be postponed prior to the meeting. However, the request was denied, and Jon was granted custody of Collin. Collin moved in with Jon that same month after he was released from the Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute. Hannah had already been living with Jon at that time after previously moving in with her dad in May 2018.
The rest of their children lived with Kate until they became legal adults. Mady and Cara turned 18 in October 2018, while the sextuplets celebrated their 18th birthdays in May 2022.
Collin addressed the ups and downs within his relationship with Kate in November 2022. “I came to the conclusion that everybody has their own agenda, you know?” he told Entertainment Tonight in a rare interview at the time. “My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was. But I was put in a tough spot and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”
The father-son duo has appeared to move on, however. While speaking to In Touch, Jon also shares his exciting plans for his career as a DJ in the upcoming months.
“I feel extremely honored and blessed to have a packed schedule for Djing this summer!” he says, adding that he’s “looking forward to playing for Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City, NJ at two of their venues – The Yard and Bally’s Beach Bar.”
Jon gives a “shoutout to Near Dark Entertainment for the bookings” before continuing to discuss his career.
“I feel that I have worked really hard and put the time in with my music to allow myself the opportunities that are occurring now for my DJ career,” the former TLC star says. “And let the past be past and look forward to a DJ career that I now can focus on, because my heart is in the right place, and I finally have a wonderful support system with friends and family in my corner supporting my music career.”
The recent interview is not the first time Jon has opened up about parenting as his kids have gotten older. In February, he exclusively spoke to In Touch about watching Hannah and Collin grow up and start dating.
He explained that it’s “different” to see Hannah with her boyfriend, Lennon, because “she didn’t date a lot in high school.”
Meanwhile, Jon added he’s met “a couple” of Collin’s “acquaintances” but doesn’t know much about his son’s dating life because the teen is “not very open like that.”
“He keeps to himself,” the Gosselin patriarch said before adding, “Hannah’s very open and we talk through things.”
