Jon & Kate Plus 8: Where Are They Now
"Jon & Kate Plus 8" was one of the most popular reality TV shows on TLC. The series followed then-married couple Jon and Kate Gosselin as they navigated life as parents to eight kids: twin daughters, born in 2000, and sextuplets, born in 2004. Viewers first got a look at the Gosselins' chaotic life with their young kids Mady, Cara, Alexis, Collin, Joel, Hannah, Leah, and Aaden after the clan was featured in two Discovery Health specials that aired in 2005 and 2006, per Us Weekly. TLC picked up a show about the family –- and the rest is reality TV history.
Fans gobbled up the series about the too-cute clan as they celebrated birthdays and went on trips to a pumpkin patch, the zoo, amusement parks, and more. As the show gained popularity, so did the Gosselins' paychecks. Viewers saw them go on lavish vacations and move into a massive home in Pennsylvania, and there was even an episode dedicated to Jon and Kate's wedding vow renewal in Hawaii, with the 2008 episode "Hawaii Here We Come," via IMDb. Unfortunately, just a few years after they opened up their lives for the world to see, Jon and Kate called it quits, and a messy divorce became the family's next chapter.
Kate Gosselin originally kept the family home and had custody of all 8 kids
Jon and Kate' Gosselin's divorce became official in 2009, but it didn't mark the end of the mom of eight's time on TV. Kate and the kids continued on with the renamed show, "Kate Plus 8," and they remained in the family's Wernersville, Pennsylvania, home.
While they no longer appeared together on TV, the former couple continued to slam each other in court and the media, with Kate telling People that Jon was "not the same person" she had married in 1999. At the time, the exes agreed to "rotate" in and out of the house, but that arrangement did not pan out and custody later became an issue.
In 2016, Kate opened up to People to explain a cover photoshoot that did not include her son Collin. She told the outlet that her sextuplet son had "special needs," and that he was sent to a live-in program to help him "learn the skills he needs to be the best him he can be." Viewers no longer saw Collin on "Kate Plus 8," and in 2019, two more Gosselins flew the coop when twins Mady and Cara both left home to start college at separate universities in New York. The final "Kate Plus 8" special aired that year and featured Mady and Cara getting ready to head to college.
Jon Gosselin now has custody of sextuplets Collin and Hannah
With the older Gosselin daughters away at school, Kate currently only has four of her children living with her. That's because sextuplet siblings Hannah and Collin are now living with their dad full-time in his Pennsylvania home. Hannah moved in with Jon and his girlfriend Colleen Conrad in 2018, and Jon won custody of Collin later that year after claiming he was wrongly institutionalized by his mother, per Hollywood Life.
On the "First Class Fatherhood" podcast in 2020, the dad of eight stated he had been battling his ex in court for 12 years and spent $1.3 million in legal fees before getting custody of two of his kids, per Entertainment Tonight. He's also been vocal about how he feels reality TV damaged his children, and in an interview with DailyMailTV, he accused his ex of continuing to film with their children against his wishes.
In 2021, Kate finally sold the family's familiar mansion for a whopping $1.1 million, according to the New York Post. There have been reports that the reality star packed up her brood and moved to North Carolina, with an insider telling In Touch Weekly the kids were not all "on board" with the move. Jon, meanwhile, remains estranged from most of his kids. In an interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz, Jon said his children are all welcome in his home any time, as reported by E! News.