14 DAY TRIAL // There was a time when Kate Gosselin was bigger star than Kim Kardashian today, as she and now-ex-husband Jon and their 8 kids charmed their way into the hearts of millions with their TLC reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8. These days, the children are taking a stand in their parents’ constant war of words in the media.
Since the divorce and Jon’s unwilling exit from the show (which became Kate Plus 8 and faded in the ratings until it was pulled altogether from the programming list), he’s been saying that Kate used the children to achieve fame and make money so she could sustain an ideal lifestyle for her.
He’s been more vocal in recent weeks on that topic, basically painting Kate as a slaver / child exploiter who would scoop to anything for an extra buck, and not once think of the kids’ best interest.
Kate’s response comes in this week’s issue of People magazine, whose cover you can also see attached to this article. Pictured with twins Cara and Mady, both 13, Kate lets the girls do all the talking in her favor, at least in the excerpts released so far in the online preview.
And they do an amazing job: the girls swear they’re not damaged or messed up in any way, and insist that Kate is the best mother, except for those times when she’s utterly annoying.
“People expect us to be damaged,” Cara says. “They think we're supposed to be so messed up, like, ‘Ooh, the poor Gosselin kids, they're going to be scarred for life, waaaaaaah’,” Mady chimes in.
“It’s so false, we're fine. We're better than ever, actually,” Cara continues.
The girls also say that their mother is annoying, but they concede it’s “with a purpose,” a feeling to which many girls and boys their age probably relate. However, they don’t have the same understanding attitude towards their dad.
“I don't remember any of it. At all,” Mady says of her parents’ divorce. On second thought, she does remember things… and they’re not at all favorable to Jon.
“Actually, the stuff I remember now is stuff that I didn't really see anything wrong with at the time... but now that I look back I can see, ‘Oh that wasn't a really good thing.’ Like girlfriends. Lots of girlfriends. Like maybe that wasn't normal to have someone new, like, every week,” she says.
“Every day, every minute, every second,” Cara joins in.
If we didn’t know any better, we’d say Kate Gosselin is out to ruin her ex completely in the press – and she’ll not be taking any prisoners. Which, of course, isn’t to say that the girls aren’t right: Jon did get around a lot back in the day.