Kate Gosselin was forced to return to her nursing career with grueling 12-hour shifts after a “sickening” financial downfall.
The former reality star took to TikTok on Monday to share her “long day” as a home health care nurse with her fans and one of them questioned why she returned to the challenging full-time job in the comments.
“Honestly? Providing for 8 kids,” the mother of eight responded to the fan. “College funds which I am proud to say covered all of their college and more and LAWYERS.”
“Sickening but I was drug [sic] into court constantly and that costs A TON,” she continued. “Sad bc my kids could have a lot more saved and I could have a retirement saved if it weren’t for lawyers :(“
“It’s okay. I’m helping other families and I feel needed and I enjoy helping,” Gosselin concluded.
Another fan questioned why she would have to work after spending years on the small-screen, but Gosselin explained that “reality TV doesn’t pay as well as it should when you have to provide for 8 kids on your own.”
Gosselin has been very active on TikTok recently, often showing her followers how she preps for her work days. Her daughter, Alexis, made a rare appearance in her one of her mom’s videos last week where she was packing her lunch.
Her last appearance on reality TV was in 2023 on the first season of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” but she left the show early in the first episode due to a physical injury. Prior to that, she had her own spin-off show “Kate Plus Date” that aired for one season in 2019.
Many of the users in the comments applauded the “Jon & Kate Plus 8” alum for her hard work and apologized for thinking she was the “villain” during her reality TV days.
“I love this Kate. As we’ve all grown older, we now recognize how misunderstood you truly were. We hear you now 🙌👏” one user wrote, with Gosselin thanking them.
“Looking back now, I can see how you were portrayed as the villain and you weren’t. I apologize for ever thinking that,” another added.
She and her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, rose to fame on their reality TLC show, “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which aired from 2007 to 2009 and documented their family’s chaotic life.
After Jon and Kate split in December 2009, the show was rebooted to “Kate Plus 8,” which aired from 2015 to 2017.
The exes share twins Cara and Mady, 24, and 21-year-old sextuplets: Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel.
Kate has not been in communication with Collin or Hannah since Jon was granted full custody of them in 2016, which resulted in a nasty family feud.
One user commented on Kate’s TikTok video with a screenshot of Collin’s recent TikTok where he claimed that him and his siblings were “forced apart” by her.
“He knows why..😢” she wrote back, seemingly denying the accusation that the estrangement was her fault.
Kate has maintained that Collin is “troubled” and “violent” and attributes that to the reason why she institutionalized him in 2016.
Collin, on the other hand, has been extremely outspoken about the alleged mistreatment he faced from his mom while under her care and has accused her of horrific abuse.
“My mother had a room built in our unfinished section of the storage basement,” he claimed to the US Sun in September 2024. “She had a room put up with cameras in it, a tiny window in the corner and it was bolt-locked from the outside.”
“When my mother would put me in that room multiple times, she had zip-tied my hands and feet together and bolt-locked the door, turned the lights off and had cameras there just watching me,” Collin claimed.
In his recent TikTok, Collin expressed that he “will always love [his siblings] more than anything,” despite them siding with his mom, and is open to a reconciliation.
“The tears I shed behind closed doors, thinking about the memories we could’ve shared. I love you guys,” he completed his heartbreaking post before adding a red heart emoji.