Kate Gosselin’s estranged son, Collin, addressed his nonexistent relationship with his mom for the first time.
The 18-year-old alleged in a new interview that his bond with the “Jon & Kate Plus 8” alum broke down after he was sent to an institution for behavioral issues in 2016.
“Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship, and I think that just kept tearing it even more down,” Collin told “Entertainment Tonight” on Monday, blaming the distance on “TV and what being in the public eye does to a family.”
The teen, who starred on his parents’ reality series with his siblings from 2007 to 2017, explained, “I think it tore us apart. It gave us less time to actually be together as a family [and] more time to be in the public eye.”
Collin has lived with his dad, Jon Gosselin, and sister Hannah since 2018 — but is open to a possible reconciliation with his mom.
“It would be ideal,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a relationship. I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom.”
That said, Collin clarified that he is “doing very well” without his mother in his life.
The high schooler said he chooses not to “sit around and mourn and cry about” his relationship with the “Kate Plus Date” alum.
“I came to the conclusion that everybody has their own agenda, you know?” he told the outlet. “My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was. But I was put in a tough spot, and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”
The former TLC personality noted that he didn’t let his mom’s absence from a 2018 court hearing, which resulted in Jon obtaining sole physical and legal custody, “bother” him.
“It’s on her own terms,” he explained. “If she doesn’t want to show up, she doesn’t have to show up.”
Jon, 45, and Kate, 47, are also the parents of Collin and Leah’s sextuplet siblings, Joel, Aaden, Alexis and Leah, as well as 22-year-old twins Cara and Madelyn.
The DJ alleged in May that his ex-wife, whom he divorced in 2009 after a decade of marriage, “alienated” him from their children.
“Of course I miss them,” Jon told “ET,” noting that he texts his eldest children but has not received replies.
“That’s why I post things on my Instagram, like, throwbacks, TBTs,” he continued at the time. “It’s bittersweet, but [Hannah] and Collin live with me, so I kind of just focus on them.”
