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Collin Gosselin is focused on the future after opening up about the abuse he says he experienced at the hands of his mom, reality TV star Kate Gosselin

Jon Gosselin shares an update about his son, Collin Gosselin 

Jon Gosselin at an event in Beverly Hills
Jon Gosselin | Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

TMZ recently caught up with Collin’s dad, Jon Gosselin in New York City. The former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star said his son was focused on the next chapter of his life following his disappointing discharge from the Marines.  

“I just saw him the other day. He’s at college. He’s doing really well. He’s just moving forward past everything that happened to him,” Jon said. 

After graduating from high school, Collin enlisted in the Marines. But he says he was kicked out of the military after it was discovered that he’d been institutionalized as a child by his mother. 

“I was discharged,” he told Entertainment Tonight (via YouTube) in August. “I was towards the end of training, very close to graduating. The paperwork was looked into, and they found out that I was, in fact, in an institution at one point in my life.”

The unexpected discharge was a blow, but Collin is focusing on his next step in life. 

“He decided to go to college. He’s a freshman at Penn State,” his dad shared. 

Jon doubts that his son will reconcile with his mother 

Kate Gosselin on the Today show
Kate Gosselin in 2009 | Lisa Berg/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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The bombshell interview with The Sun offered some “closure” for Collin, Jon said. During his conversation with the tabloid, Collin accused his mother of locking him in a basement “containment room” and restraining him with zip ties. He also says she moved him to a mental health facility after he was diagnosed with various mental and behavioral health conditions. (Collin says he was incorrectly diagnosed.)

“My mother at many, many times, and most of the time became physically aggressive, verbally, very abusive with the things she would say,” Collin said.

“And obviously that carries over to the emotional side of things where a young child doesn’t know any better, so it was a very, very emotionally abusive relationship,” he added.

Kate did not directly respond to Collin’s latest accusations. However, her lawyer disputed his version of events. In a statement shared on Instagram in July 2023, Kate said her son was “a very troubled young man” who had a “distorted perception of reality” and displayed “unpredictable and violent behaviors.”

Unsurprisingly, Jon doesn’t think that there is much of a change of a reconciliation between Collin and his mother. 

“Just because there’s so much animosity,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Jon is also focused on his future. He said he’s considering starting a podcast, saying that he wanted to speak out about his experiences after “being gagged for so long.”

“There’s missing pieces to my story,” he said. 

How to get help: The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website can help you connect with mental health resources near you.

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