COLLIN GOSSELIN: The Real Story Behind One of America’s Most-Watched Families

Jay Shetty (0:01)

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Hey, it's Jay, I don't know what your day's been like, but I was just thinking about you for a minute. And I hope you're being a little patient with yourself, because you deserve it. And yeah, I'll talk to you soon.

Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. Today's guest is Collin Gosselin. Millions of you watched him grow up on Jon & Kate Plus 8, but what the cameras didn't capture is the story he was living Bye. In the scenes, in his upcoming memoir, In the Shadow Of 8, Collin shares his account of childhood, abuse, isolation, institutionalization, and the years he spent fighting to reclaim his life. Today, for the first time, we hear his story in his own words. Collin, welcome to On Purpose.

Collin Gosselin (3:21)

Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be here.

Jay Shetty (3:23)

I'm so grateful to have you here because when I built this platform, it was really to have conversations like this, to give people like yourself an opportunity to share their story, to advocate for things that are important to them, to actually have a platform to talk about things that are meaningful. So I just want to take a moment to say when someone like you writes a book like this, writes a memoir like this, it takes so much courage, it takes so much strength. And I just wanted to know how much I deeply, deeply value that you chose to trust our platform and be here today.

Collin Gosselin (3:53)

Thank you. And I really appreciate this opportunity to be able to be here and share my voice on such a larger level. So it's super important to me.

Jay Shetty (4:02)

Collin, what's fascinating is that the world met you at three years old. And you were on the show Jon & Kate Plus 8

But for those who don't know anything about the Gosselins, how would you describe who the Gosselins were and what the show was?

Collin Gosselin (4:16)

I mean, I would start and describe it before the show.

We were, you know, a normal family, just doing our normal thing. And the only thing that was abnormal was probably the fact that there were, you know, we were a family of 10 living in a small home, in a small, you know, humble county. But to describe the Gosselins, you know, after the fame and all that, I would just say that the intentions were good at first. You know, the show was a means of income to provide for a family of that size. But, you know, it quickly spiraled. And, you know, when you're given all this money and you're given this spotlight and this fame, some people take it and they take it the wrong way. And, they, you know, let it get to their heads. And, others, you know, they appreciate it. And, they keep that humility. It quickly became a dangerous machine.