The brutal 4 words Kate Gosselin told estranged son Collin in her only visit to mental institution

Collin Gosselin claims estranged mom Kate Gosselin told him, “You broke our family,” when he was in a mental institution at age 12.

In his new book, “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,” Collin, 22, remembers the tense interaction he had with his mother during the only time she came to see him at the facility.

Collin says Kate, 51, appeared “disappointed” when they were face-to-face, surmising that she was “horrified” by the weight he had gained.

Collin Gosselin claims in his new memoir that mom Kate Gosselin told him, “You broke our family,” the only time she visited him at the mental institution when he was 12. Getty Images
Collin says Kate (seen here) gave him a “stuff” hug and ignored him when he said she “missed her”. Getty Images for Discovery
Collin says the doctor told Kate he “lashed out a couple times” in the facility, but Collin writes that was because he wanted to go home so badly. Grand Central Publishing

“She warned us about eating healthy and what would happen if we didn’t,” says Collin, one of Kate’s eight children she shares with ex Jon Gosselin. “But I didn’t really have a choice here. I ate what they gave me. And now, well, I was fat.”

Collin recalls that the mother-son duo shared a “stiff” hug and he told her he “missed her,” but Kate ignored him.

The doctor, who was in the room with them, mentioned Collin had “lashed out a couple times” recently, but Collin writes that his “crying fits” were over wanting to go home so badly.

The 22-year-old (seen here at Page Six’s studio) says he was confused when Kate called his doctor by his first name. Brian Zak/Page Six
Kate (seen here on “Today” in 2019) allegedly refused to take Collin’s origami gifts for his seven siblings. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

After the doctor claimed the then-teenager was “responding well to the program,” Kate thanked the doctor by his first name, Jack, which shocked Collin.

“I shifted uncomfortably in my seat,” Collin writes. “When did my mom and the doctor get on a first-name basis? How often were they in touch?”

Collin says when the doctor left, he showed his mom origami gifts for his seven siblings, but Kate refused them.

In that moment, Collin felt his stomach “drop,” he writes, adding, “These gifts were my chance to remind them I existed. If she wouldn’t take those, she wasn’t going to take me.”

Collin says in a “desperate” plea, he asked Kate if he could come home, but she allegedly insisted that “wouldn’t be appropriate,” and claimed his siblings were “doing so much better” with Collin away.

Collin also writes that Kate (seen here with ex-husband Jon Gosselin in 2008) shot down his ask to come home and told her son that his siblings “were doing so much better” with him away. Getty Images
Kate (seen here with all her children) also allegedly told Collin, “You are here because of you. You broke our family.” Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Kate, after allegedly bragging about the cakes she ordered for the rest of her sextuplets on their birthday and sharing details about the family’s upcoming summer break plans, then allegedly told Collin, “You are here because of you. You broke our family.”

The “Special Forces” star, who claims that he’d heard the scathing comment before, says he “started to sob” and covered his face with his hands, as the doctor reentered the room and Kate declared she was leaving.

“I don’t remember saying goodbye,” he writes. “A nurse escorted me back to the pod. That was the first and last time my mom ever visited me in the institution.”

Collin (seen here at the “Special Forces” Season 5 red carpet event on September 17) says he “started to sob” after Kate made that scathing comment. Getty Images
Collin writes that Kate (pictured above in 2010) then left the room without saying goodbye. WireImage

In his bombshell memoir, Collin exposes his mom’s alleged wrongdoings during his childhood, including her decision to ship him off to a facility back in 2016.

Kate claimed in 2023 that she placed Collin in the institution “following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs,” and did so “for the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters, and for his own well-being.”

The “Celebrity Apprentice” alum also claimed Collin “remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help.”

Collin, however, alleged in a 2025 interview with The Sun that Kate sent him away because he didn’t want to be on camera with her for TLC’s “Kate Plus 8” following his parents’ 2009 divorce.

Collin (seen here) exposes his mom’s alleged abuse during his childhood in his new memoir. JISH / BACKGRID
Kate (seen here in 2015) is “nervous” about Collin’s book, a source exclusively told Page Six. Getty Images

Collin eventually got out of the facility thanks to his dad, Jon, who was then granted legal and physical custody of his son.

Page Six exclusively reported last month that Kate, who is still estranged from Collin, is “nervous” about his memoir.

“Kate doesn’t want anyone in the family to talk about their past,” a source told us. “She considers any of the children who talk in the family as traitors.”

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