Collin Gosselin speaks candidly on Kate Gosselin abuse claims and 'crazy' 'Special Forces' experience with VRT

I was pulled out of school and they'd go to school every day and I'd be at home with just my mom. And I'll tell you, those days were not pretty at all. They were horrible. I went through hell when my siblings were off at school, having fun, being with their friends. I went through hell. We are here with Colin Gosselin. I'm so excited to chat with you all. We're going to talk about Special Forces, your book, and The Shadow of Eight, which I read. Two sittings I read this in and the only reason it was two was because I was like, I need to go to sleep and I need to start fresh tomorrow. but before we get into the book i do want to talk about special forces because i love this show it's so good i i have a feeling you're gonna go far if not to the end saying that it's just the inkling i have um but you kind of have this advantage over everyone else because you actually went to boot camp for the marines how similar was your real life experience to the experience in this show there were so many similarities and i'd say the biggest one was definitely mentality is like you know you're getting up day after day and you're you know you're pushing yourself and doing things you've you will never you know most people will never do in their lives yeah um so it's definitely a mentality thing that's the biggest similarity that i could connect is that it's it's really just about telling yourself i can do this i can do this one foot in front of the other one day after the next yeah one day at a time i feel like the ds probably appreciated having somebody there who kind of like had this background too did you feel like they were harder on you because they knew you could do it or did you feel like they kind of went a little easier on you because they respected that you had kind of gone through that before I don't know maybe a little bit of both but I mean most of all I just appreciated their mentorship and it was like I was I literally felt like I was back in boot camp with how you know with having drill instructors and you know it was just it was really cool i mean my senior drill instructor in boot camp was they're more that's more of like the laid-back drill instructor but um he was just so much of a mentor to me i still talk to him today and um i just really had i felt that connection with the ds as well it's like that mentorship and and that just that guidance totally and i'm sure because i know in your book you talk about how how like alive you felt when you were at the boot camp did you kind of did that feeling kind of come back to you oh it absolutely did i was like you know there were feelings of what am i doing why am i here this is this is crazy like it was still setting in but then at the same time i just feel so alive when i'm able to challenge myself and i really you know i tell this to my friends and i tell this to so many people like you have to get out of your comfort zone i think that's really where you find yourself and that's where the most growth occurs is just being in an uncomfortable environment and you know where else than the jungle right you know there you go well obviously you're not the first gosling to to attempt this course your mom did it back in season one do you think your dad should try it next how do you think he would do so um similar to alexia and mauricio and i i love them by the way they're they're fabulous they're amazing um i think in the beginning they asked my dad did they ever go in and do like a parent and child season like partnered up um i don't know whatever happened whatever ended up with that but um i absolutely think he should take on this challenge. I just want him to know that, you know, I really want him to know that you can do anything and he's been through the ringer as well. And I just want him to know that he can in fact push himself and do more than maybe he thinks he can. And a lot of us can do that. Right. And I, I would love to see him take on these challenges. It's just, it is crazy, but like I said, there was so much growth and it's a challenge I'll never forget. Yeah, definitely. Well, who knows John Gosling season six right come on dad i want to see you on there well you mentioned them before Alexia and Mauricio i am curious because we haven't seen too much of your dynamic with Alexia yet so far in these first couple of episodes but she also was kind of thrust into the limelight when her parents signed on for a reality show did you guys get to bond over that at all we we did chat about that how you know she she did mention that from a young age she was on tv and it was it was cool to have someone else like that right next to me and to be able to do this challenge together and hopefully I hope just as much as I found that growth I hope she also realized that you know she can do more than you know yeah like like I said all of us we can just do so much more than we give ourselves credit for and I will say she's the sweetest kindest like she just cares about everybody she was so just so good to all of us and um but she is just such a badass like she's such an adventure and seeing how she could push herself was I mean it helped me to push myself you know and and it was just so cool to see yeah definitely and i am curious you know getting into into your book, In the Shadow of Eight um, I did notice that Paris Hilton wrote one of the endorsements for the book. Did you connect with her through Alexia because they're cousins or did Paris kind of reach out to you separately? It was so we connected with Paris and then I went and met Alexia and then I went and met Paris in person and yeah so it's really cool and then I didn't even know they were cousins after I'd met both of them in person and then I found that out after, so it was a really cool full circle moment um and yeah they're both so sweet and it makes sense why they're cousins, they're both the sweetest yeah and did you know because you and Paris kind of have you know this similar story to you where your parents had you institutionalized against your will what were your conversations with her like about that? Yeah we we did chat, we did chat about that when we, when we, when we met, it was, it was just, I'm, I've seen so much of her work in that space. And literally, I think the first thing I said to her was, I just appreciate what you've done so much. And it means so much to me after, after living that, I think that was literally the first thing I said to her and I gave her a hug. It just meant so much. I mean, the fact that she has done so much to stand up for these children and speak about things that are not easy to speak about. It's scary to, to be the face at the front of these institutions and the things that these institutions are doing. It's scary. And so I just have so much respect for her. Yeah. Well, you know, everybody has so much respect for you also, because you're coming out and talking all about this. And I'm sure that that couldn't have been easy for you. And I do want to talk a little bit about some of the stuff that you talk about in the book. You talk a lot about the abuse you faced as a child from your mom, the basement cell, the zip tying, you know, she didn't really visit you at all. Maybe one time when you were away, you know once you got out and you're going through all of these moments in your head and realizing like no this is not right and this was not how you're supposed was there any part of you or even your dad that was like we want to take legal action against her like what what stopped you if you didn't what what were your thoughts on that at the time i don't know how much i can say about this but um you know the more the more i tell my story the more i talk the more i've found and i have found in recent times documentation receipts do back a lot of what has happened and let's just say they will be out there soon yeah it's in the works yeah the legalities of it all there's a lot of paperwork that we've we found that i mean and and let me let me make this clear no child should ever have to find documentation to back up and to support when they when they choose to come out and talk about what their experience is they should never have to fight to find documentation that backs it up right we should hear when a child we should hear them when they choose to speak up we should hear we should listen and we we should everybody should join this fight because unfortunately these things are just occurring more and more um but let me just say documentation has been found and it's it will be out there well i'm i'm very happy for you that you're able to share this story and that you do have this public platform where you don't have to be silenced because we saw for so many years your mom trying to silence you trying to kind of take you down what does and you have every right to be angry about it but in the end of the book you're like i've made peace like i'm moving on with my life what does justice look like for you well More than, you know, going and trying to, you know, going and fighting this in a huge, in the court system, justice for me, this is where it starts because I won't speak on that yet, but where it starts for me is using my voice and using the platform, the platform that I may have gained in a very unconventional manner. It's using that platform to not let this flame die. I have to keep speaking on this because unfortunately it is happening so much where children are are not only being abused but being abused and then being exploited and then being used for a paycheck and we're just seeing so much of that and that's where justice starts for me is making this message known and yeah i mean it's that's very important that is my mission yeah absolutely and i am curious because in the book you talk about how your mom came to visit you the one time she said those horrible things she kind of pushed away the gifts um and then you saw her kind of like in a shadowy glimpse of a way when she dropped off your siblings at the one meeting you guys had have you had she tried at all once you were out to get in touch with you to talk to you did you ever want to reach out to her or try to reach out to her what was it like after you after you got home so the last time i saw my mom the last time i saw my mom was in the institution when where she sat and berated me berated me after seeing me for the first time in a year um and that's the last time i've seen her she has not reached out she's not mentioned anything but like i've like this is something i live by you know there's only you know you have to take actions you have to take action before you can just say like oh i want to come back into your life i want to say i'm sorry i want to say this or that there's action that needs to be taken and there's accountability that needs to be taken. Absolutely. And like you said, you have all this evidence. You had the psychiatric evaluation, which cleared her claims of special needs and other mental illnesses that she claimed you had. You have documents, like you said, this all backs up your case and your mom is still out here doubling, tripling down on her claims. When you see that, what does that make you feel? And What do you want to like tell her in those moments? Well, I think that she's just, she can't let go of things in the past where, you know, she was praised as America's best mom. And when I chose to not want to film anymore, and then as an adult, I exposed what actually was happening. And now even more with my memoir, she can't let go of, of, you know, being on that pedestal. and i've done everything i've i've done i've released everything i've put receipts out there more to come as well let me just say that um but there's only so much you can do when somebody just wants they want things their way and they just they can't let go of what was what you know and and um that's what she's doing it's it's she gained i mean she had everything the money the status the good reputation and the praise and when in reality what was going on behind the scenes was not pretty at all and I chose to speak up about it I just feel that she can't let that go yeah and that has caused her to just constantly keep trying to come after me I mean I thought as a kid I thought you know after graduating high school I thought everything of her putting my name and and trying to drag me through there I thought that was gone but then she came after my dream to become a United states marine and that that's where i realized this fight is not over and unfortunately for so many children that grow up and their parents they do the same thing they still try to come after them and that's why i have to be the voice that shows others you have to keep fighting and you need you know and and and show people who you are and be kind and be yourself and take on cool fun challenges yes in the jungle and you know just just do whatever you can that that creates that growth yeah it is interesting though now you know obviously you have receipts paper documents there were a lot of people around you guys growing up and i guess at the time you know everybody was kind of on her payroll and nobody was going to step out of line have you gotten to connect with any of those people since telling your story to the world and have they kind of been like we saw that but we didn't want to step in we or whatever i have not spoken to anybody of the network and i don't know if it's out of you know hesitation on their part but i i do want to make a point and unfortunately you know you have to follow the money trail but a lot of times the the welfare of children in this industry is put on the back burner because there's so much money being made so hundreds of millions per quarter the network was making off of my family i mean who camera crew on production my mother herself who's who says no to that who tells a network this is done you're making hundreds of millions a year who says that no this needs to stop yeah and that needs to be said that really needs to be said because screw the paycheck yeah you know we're talking about children here and the development of children and what things are going to stick with them for into their into adulthood so it's somebody's life here somebody's life it's a child's life we're talking about versus a paycheck but unfortunately nobody stepped in they saw they definitely saw i mean we watch episodes back and i'm and i'm like now knowing what we know i'm like wait so like right but like and then and then you're right you're right because viewers pointed out like oh we this is what we're seeing on camera that's what made camera yeah that's what made imagine how much is cut that's what made it on to camera imagine how much i mean it was thousands times times worse what didn't make the cut it's crazy and if you're thinking if anybody thinks what they see on and on the screen is bad which it is bad i mean just imagine that to the highest level and that's what didn't make the cut and that's what adults were seeing and that's when nobody chose to speak up about yeah yeah it's like mind-boggling the way and i was just saying before you know i was like eight or nine when the show came out it was like my first reality show because it was like cute little family and like little kids but even then like my mom and i would talk about it we were like she's kind of crazy right so when you came out with your story it was like i'm not like i could see that you know like it's not like out of the ordinary that because you you watch these episodes back and you see these little moments like i was watching one the other day and she kind of like smacked your dad across the face and she's like say it's fine say it's fine right and your poor dad's walking away like yeah and like and all those like playful hits yeah all those playful jabs and the jokes and the hits and everything that my mom would make to my dad i mean it was it was like a ha ha little laugh after on camera yeah but off camera there wasn't a laugh and it wasn't followed by a uh you know a playful reaction yeah it wasn't it was awkward playful it was like it was it was essentially abuse and she put my father down and it's i mean everything that made camera was dumbed down and polished up to to look how you know it was supposed to look yeah and how because your dad i mean with the tabloid of it all in the media i mean he really put him through the ringer with that with the divorce with everything that followed in the years after and um you know obviously when you were away you hadn't seen your dad for years at that point is there ever any resentment toward him that he didn't come get you sooner or didn't find out sooner what what's your relationship with him like now i guess i'm trying to ask i mean i didn't know this at the time when i was an institution i didn't know that he didn't know where i was yeah so and even then there wasn't any resentment towards him there was a resentment after i came home because i because my father was told that i didn't want to see him and i was told that he didn't want to see me so there was a resentment i was like why didn't you want to see me and he's like what what do you what do you mean there was no resentment and i later figured out that he didn't even know where i was that letter that I wrote that was the single that was the only way that he knew where I was literally he wouldn't know if I would have never wrote that and I did hesitate reaching out at all because I thought my father wanted nothing to do with me right you were scared and literally went through and there was no other I nobody else I literally had nobody else I know the way out for all I knew I'd be there I mean there was 21 22 year olds in there well I'm 22 now and for all I know it could have been i mean you know i could have been there forever so it was hard to write the letter but i had to take that leap because had i not i don't know what would have happened yeah well what about i mean you have so many siblings obviously you know you write in the book that the last time you saw them was when you were 15 when you guys all met up at that amusement park and that was just out of the six that wasn't even your older sisters i think right um like have any of them since you've started telling your story have they tried to reach out what do you think if not what you think stopping them i can confidently say i mean none of them have reached out and i can confidently say the reason is because i always say this similar like we my mom was just such a manipulative person i mean i thought my dad was a monster when he left her home during in the midst of their divorce right i mean i i almost hated him before she told me he didn't want to see me um which was not true but it's the same thing it's the same thing i mean they would go my siblings would go to school every day and and I really I want them to hear this they would go to school every day after I was pulled out of school yeah because I I went to my teacher about the abuse I was pulled out of school and they'd go to school every day and I'd be at home with just my mom and I'll tell you those days were not pretty at all they were horrible I went through hell when my siblings were off at school having fun being with their friends I went through hell and so they'd come home we'd pick them up from the bus stop I'd be in the back of the van i'd be withdrawn sad angry i'd have i'd be out of it and that's all they saw of me they saw this upset kid who was angry who didn't know how to manage emotions you know and it's all and i i didn't want to be on tv and my mom retaliated against me for it and i'd have temper tantrum saying i don't want to be on camera i don't want to do it you're also a kid like that's a normal reaction for a kid i'm like the stuff you were talking about in the book i've done 20 times over again right and uh it so I had all these reactions yeah and it was so easy for my mom to bank on that I mean she'd do it in front of me it wasn't even after I left home your brother needs help he's different than you guys I didn't I mean we lived in the same home and she separated them from me we never saw each other I didn't play with them I didn't I ate meals alone at a huge long dinner table and i was i sat at them and ate my dinner and so we we didn't like even before i was sent home i didn't know them yeah and so it was so easy for her to tell them when i was when i was when i was reactive to the emotions i was feeling as an eight-year-old not wanting to film it was it was easier for her to tell them your brother he's troubled he needs help he needs this and that special attention whatever and then they were also so young so i have no i do not blame them at all because i was manipulated to believe horrible things about my father that's the same thing she did to them yeah she manipulated the young minds of children to perform and get with the program and believe what she wanted them to believe um well one last quick question because i know uh i saw your sister hannah obviously you guys are you guys are good she's the one sibling that you do talk to um that you say in the book um she did an interview last year and she said that she was able to pay for half of her college tuition with the money she made from the show. I am curious, have you seen the money from the show that you were supposed to? I've seen what I've seen so far is documentation that my mom has taken money from a collective trust of me and my siblings and I want to say that on air because I want them to hear this and I want them to know yes, she did take your money. She took all of her money, she took money from us. She actually furnished her home in South Carolina her lake house a home in North Carolina with the money she took from me and my siblings. Oh my gosh. That should be, that should be out there. Do you know how much she owes you? Um, well, so far in this documentation, there was, she admitted to taking a hundred thousand dollars, uh, from me and my siblings. Wow. So, and that is on paper. Colin, I am so proud of you. I just met you today and I'm so proud of you. And I think that you're going to do amazing things. And so many people are going to read your book and, and just fall in love with you all over again. And I just wish you the best of luck. And I'm hoping to see you go to the end special forces. Cause I think you're going to do it. You'll get to see that.