Collin Gosselin says his estranged mom’s decision to institutionalize him at 12 years old caused serious “damage” and left him in a “dark place.”
The 18-year-old candidly discussed his experience at two “scary” facilities in a rare TV interview, sharing that he “learned a lot” about himself after Kate Gosselin sent him away.
“I was in a dark place mentally,” Collin told “Entertainment Tonight” on Monday. “I think being in a place like that does more damage than it helps you.
“I spent my 13th and 14th birthday there, so I was young,” he continued. “I didn’t have a lot of life skills. I didn’t really know even what to expect, what to think of being there at the time, so I was hopeless.”
Kate, 47, revealed in 2016 that she enrolled Collin in a program away from home due to his “special needs” and behavioral issues.
However, Collin now points out that being institutionalized made it impossible to share his side of the story.
“I wanted to take time for myself, and I wasn’t able to give the truthful answers. I mean, there were just things out there, you know, not my words — other people’s words,” he said in the interview. “It was tough, but, you know, it’s good now to be able to put my own word out there.”
The teen went onto reveal that writing a letter to his dad, Jon Gosselin, was the “one thing” that helped him “mentally figure out that there was a way out of there.”
Despite being ready to talk about his “hard” years growing up, Collin has yet to repair his relationship with his mother.
“Even before [being] there, I don’t think we had much of a relationship, and I think that just kept tearing it even more down,” he told “ET,” adding that being in the public eye “tore” them apart.
Although Collin — who appeared in his parents’ TLC reality series “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ from 2007 to 2017 — hasn’t given up hope about the possibility of reconciliation, he said he doesn’t “sit around and mourn and cry about” it.
“It would be ideal,” he said about seeing his mom again. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a relationship. I think every son wants to have a relationship with their mom.
“My mom had her own agenda, and I don’t know exactly what that was. But I was put in a tough spot, and my agenda was to make it out on top of that tough spot.”
Collin has lived with his dad and sister Hannah since 2018. Jon, 45, and Kate — who divorced in 2009 — also share Collin and Hannah’s sextuplet siblings, Joel, Aaden, Alexis and Leah, as well as 22-year-old twins Cara and Madelyn.
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