Kate Gosslin’s Son Collin Claims His Mother Tied Him Up in the Basement

Collin Gosselin from “Jon & Kate Plus 8” He says his mother, Kate Gosselin, abused him as a child, binding his hands and feet with plastic ties and keeping him locked in a basement.

“It was a very, very emotionally abusive relationship,” Collin, 20, told the US Sun in a video interview. “When my mother put me in that room on multiple occasions, she had me tied hands and feet together, locked the door, turned off the lights and had cameras installed to monitor me.”

Collin told The Sun the room was an “unfinished section of the storage basement” that contained a mattress on the floor.

“And I was there, you know, most of the day because I didn’t go to school after a while,” Collin told the US Sun, adding: “So most of the day I was in this room and I was away from my siblings and I never really went out.”

TODAY.com reached out to Kate Gosselin for comment and did not hear back. In 2023, after Collin criticized her childcare and said she would “take her anger and frustration out on him,” Kate wrote on Instagram: “Any measures that have been taken in our home have been at the explicit recommendation of his pediatric psychiatrist and/or his team of specialists and have been put in place to protect each member of our family, friends, and pets. Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a great deal of help. His siblings and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of erratic behavior and violent tendencies toward us.”

From 2007 to 2009, Kate and Jon Gosselin appeared on the TLC series “Jon & Kate Plus 8”, about their lives as Pennsylvania parents of eight children: twins Cara and Mady, born in 2000, and sextuplets Collin, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah and Joel, born in 2004. From 2010 to 2017, the show was renamed “Kate Plus 8” after Jon and Kate divorced and Kate was granted full custody of their children.

Jon Gosselin told the US Sun that the basement room still exists, adding: “My friends’ in-laws bought our house and one time they asked me, ‘Why is there a room in the basement with a bed and a lock on the outside?’

“It must have been terrifying for him,” Jon said. According to Jon, his daughter Hannah told him about the alleged abuse when she came to live with him.

Collin’s relationship with his mother is strained.

In 2016, Kate sent Collin to a program for what she called his “special needs,” telling People, “[There’s]a pretty fluid diagnosis of what those needs are, but he has to learn certain strategies to help him cope. It’s a battle we’ve had for a very long time, and it’s a battle I’ve had to go through on my own.”

According to The US Sun, Collin shared medical records with the outlet that indicated he suffered from multiple mental health issues. Collin told the outlet that he believed he was misdiagnosed and that he did not have mental health issues.

Collin shared with the US Sun a letter he says he wrote in June 2017 from the mental health facility to his father Jon.

“Dear Dad, I’m not trying to cheat on you, but I love you anyway,” Collin read, fighting back tears. “I told Mom I wanted to live with you and she said no…she can’t choose for me and I’m old enough now. I’m your son, not hers. She was violent towards me after I left your house and I’m sorry. Take this to court…you’re my father, you’re my savior, please help me…I’m counting on you to get me out of here.”

Collin told the outlet that his upbringing with Kate was “difficult.”

“I went through a lot as a kid, on my mom’s side. So it was tough,” Collin said, adding, “I just remember being isolated from my siblings and constantly taking the blame for her emotions or the hard things that were going on in her life. I just remember being the scapegoat and always making the harshest decision.”

Collin said Kate picked him out when he was a child.

“I’ve been isolated, I’ve been away from them and I haven’t had dinner with my family,” Collin told the US Sun.

Collin added: “I didn’t get to play or spend time with my siblings. I didn’t have a childhood with them and I never really had a relationship with them growing up.”

TODAY.com reached out to Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin through their spokespeople, as well as Kate’s attorney; neither immediately responded.

Kate’s lawyer, Richard Puleo, told the US Sun he did not believe Kate intended to hurt her son.

“There are always two sides to every story and when things happen in the past, it’s hard to tell because people have different memories and perspectives,” Puelo told The Sun, adding: “I don’t believe Kate ever did anything intentionally to harm Collin. I think she did everything she did to protect herself and her family from some of his troubled behavior when he was a child.”

Puelo continued: “That doesn’t mean he’s suffering from a psychological disorder, I’m not a psychiatrist. However, I think that if Kate had done the things Collin is accusing her of, she would have been investigated by the authorities and prosecuted.”

Puelo told The Sun: “Kate has no desire to say anything, which she has done in the past.”

In 2023, Collin told ET that he was estranged from most of his family, except for his father Jon and sister Hannah.

“I haven’t spoken to my siblings in five or six years now,” Collin told the outlet. “It’s hard.”

Collin added: “I love them very much and I really hope that one day when I have children they will know their aunts and uncles.”