Katie Irene Gosselin (née Kreider; born March 28, 1975) is an American television personality. Gosselin achieved national recognition on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, in which she and her then-husband Jon Gosselin are profiled as they raise their atypical family of sextuplets and twins.
The family was featured in a special on Discovery Health in September 2005 entitled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins. A year later they were featured in another special entitled Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later. With high ratings from the specials, Discovery Health signed the couple to a reality series that aired beginning in April 2007, called Jon & Kate Plus 8, which documented their lives. To produce the show, the family was filmed for three or four days per week. The show's first two seasons aired on Discovery Health Channel and then moved to TLC. The family received payment for appearing on the show.
On June 22, 2009, an extended one-hour episode was aired. Jon and Kate announced that they were separating. The two had met with Pennsylvania attorneys on the day that the episode aired to finalize plans for divorce rather than separation. They explained, in separate interviews, that "the show must go on." However, TLC announced on June 23, 2009 that the show would be placed on hiatus effective immediately. According to TLC, Jon and Kate had moved the focus away from the family and the change in the dynamic, as well as the production difficulties that had occurred because the couple was no longer living together, made it unclear whether the show was still viable.
On September 29, 2009, TLC announced the title of the show would be changed from "Jon & Kate Plus 8" to "Kate Plus 8," and would follow Kate as a single mother. Jon would continue to appear, albeit infrequently, on the show. The last episode was a season five finale on November 23, 2009 because of Jon's decision to stop filming. Reruns of the show still air on TLC.Kate Gosselin filmed a talk show pilot with Paula Deen in September 2009. By the end of 2009, it had not been picked up by a television network. In late December 2009 it was also announced that Gosselin was no longer being considered for a role in the planned show because she was deemed "too controversial" by show executives. Gosselin was a contestant on the tenth season of the television show Dancing With The Stars and had expressed a strong desire to remain on the show and win despite widespread criticism of her dancing. She was partnered with Tony Dovolani. She was eliminated from the competition on April 20, 2010.
In April 2010 TLC announced Gosselin would be getting her own show called Twist of Kate. The series will feature her traveling the country, visiting mothers who have written her letters about their stories. TLC has a new series of specials planned called Kate Plus 8.
Shortly after Gosselin was eliminated from Dancing With the Stars, rumors began flying that Gosselin would be featured on the upcoming edition of the popular TV show The Bachelorette. However, several people have denied this, including the show's creator, Mike Fleiss, and a rep for TLC. They did however, state that it would be interesting to place her in the show.
On June 24, it was announced that Gosselin would be back as a co-host on "The View" on July 2, on which she has previously co-hosted twice.
Author
Gosselin has also written several non-fiction books. Her first book was published in November 2008, titled "Multiple Blessings." It debuted at number 5 on New York Times Best-Seller list, and sold over 500,000 copies by the end of 2009. Her second book, "Eight Little Faces", was released in April 2009, and also debuted at number 5 on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Her third book, titled "I Just Want You To Know" was released on April 13, 2010 selling approximately 10,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number 103 on the New York Times Best-Seller list.
Gosselin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She became a registered nurse after completing a diploma program at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. She then worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Reading Hospital until 2004. Gosselin gave birth to twin girls, Cara Nicole and Madelyn Kate "Mady" on October 6, 2000.Jon & Kate Plus 8 episode "Our Story" The couple used fertility treatment to get pregnant because Kate was initially unable to conceive due to polycystic ovary syndrome. After further treatments, Gosselin became pregnant again and she gave birth to sextuplets on May 10, 2004, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She gave birth at just shy of 30 weeks gestation, short of a full-term pregnancy, which required the sextuplets to be placed on ventilators. The sextuplets are, in order of birth, Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope and Joel Kevin. According to her newest book, Kate revealed that very early in the pregnancy there were 7 egg sacs, but the 7th never developed into an embryo. The couple was featured in the NBC reality TV show Home Delivery, when their home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, was renovated to accommodate the large family.
The couple filed for divorce on June 22, 2009. Jon and Kate have said that their eight children will remain in their Pennsylvania home, and the two of them will move back and forth to accommodate the custody agreement. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that the couple's divorce was finalized. Kate had been granted the ownership of the family home and primary custody of the children.There has long been speculation that Gosselin would pose for Playboy, but boss Hugh Hefner quashed these rumors with an animated dismissal of the idea.
UsMagazine.com reports that in addition to Gosselin's tummy tuck, which she got shortly after having the sextuplets, Gosselin also got breast enhancement surgery as well as botox. On The View, she denied both surgeries.
