14 DAY TRIAL // “Jon & Kate Plus 8” would be returning on the small screens this Monday, as TLC, the network carrying it, announced yesterday. Given that many things have changed over the past months, it’s a safe bet to say that the many aspects of the reality show are surrounded in controversy, which also applies to whether Jon Gosselin is a good father or not. According to Jon himself, he is the best father around and he is not exploiting his children in any way, as Radar Online has learned.
After the announcement coming from TLC, aunt Jodi Kreider went to the media to say that Jon was anything but the kind of father audiences should watch on TV, since he was only doing the show for his own profit, exploiting his children in the process. Radar caught up with Gosselin and the above-mentioned claims inevitably came up, with Jon saying that they were not only “ridiculous,” but also intentionally misleading, since Kreider was not as close to the family as she made it sound.
Moreover, Gosselin explains, if he’s doing the reality show, it’s because he’s thinking only of the best interest of the eight children he has with Kate, so talk of them being exploited is absurd. “My kids probably film an hour and half to two hours a day and we only film three days a week. For Kevin and Jodi [Kreider] to go out there and say were [sic.] filming eight hours a day and it’s hard core, that’s ridiculous.” Gosselin tells Radar.
Since the cameras hardly represent an intrusion in the children’s lives, there can be no such talk of exploitation, the father of eight further explains. They have even grown accustomed to having the cameras and cameramen around them at times, so much so that they even make up nicknames for them and treat them like part of the family. The Kreiders are just looking to cash in by stirring up some controversy, Gosselin believes.
“They make nicknames for them [the cameramen]. We all get along and play together. It’s comfortable for the kids to film. They look at this [filming] as life. No one has ever forced them to do anything. I’ve never forced them to film. We don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do. They’re not actors and actresses. They just do their normal things. The whole premise of the show was to save money for the kids. Kate and I's [sic.] number one priority are our kids.” Jon Gosselin concludes by saying.