A former nanny for the Gosselin family claims Kate Gosselin “110% abused” her son, Collin.
In an interview with People published Friday, Ashley H. — who preferred not to reveal her last name — alleged that Kate “very much outwardly treated Collin different[ly]” amid abuse allegations he made against his mom in his new memoir, “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.”
“It’s hard to almost put into words the specific hate that she had towards Collin. You could just feel it. I saw her grab Collin many, many times,” Ashley, 42, told the outlet.
Ashley, who worked as a house cleaner and fill-in nanny for the Gosselin family in her 20s, also claimed that Kate, 51, had a “house manual” outlining rules for staff, including a ban on taking pictures of the children.
She also alleged that Kate instructed staff to keep the house looking “un-lived-in at all times,” adding that her weekly and biweekly chores included running a toothpick along the “edges of the fridge.”
“She wouldn’t let the kids do anything. There was never toys out. There was never things out. They couldn’t live,” she said.
Ashley also claimed Kate limited the children to “one or two school outfits per week” to avoid creating “too much laundry.”
She described Kate’s interactions with her children as “robotic” rather than “loving,” alleging that the mother of eight made it clear which children were her favorites and which were not.
“Someone would come and pick the dog up for grooming, but she treated her kids basically worse than animals,” she added.
Ashley recalled allegedly finding a large red plastic spoon in a drawer and asking the children what it was for.
She said they told her it was “the spoon mommy uses when she gets mad,” prompting her to leave the job.
“That red spoon has haunted me for a long time,” she added.
After quitting, Ashley claimed she contacted Children and Youth Services for Berks County, located in Reading, Pennsylvania, because the situation had taken an emotional toll on her.
“I didn’t understand how somebody could be so nasty, downright evil and nasty to their own kids,” she said.
Ashley claimed she wasn’t the only person to contact authorities and is speaking out to “back” Collin’s claims that his mother was psychologically and physically abusive.
She alleged Kate dragged Collin by the ear “all the time,” claiming she would “rip him right out of his chair in the kitchen.”
Page Six did not immediately receive a response after reaching out to representatives for Kate and the Children and Youth Services for Berks County for comment on Ashley’s claims.
Collin, 22, previously recounted the alleged abuse in an interview with Page Six earlier this month, claiming Kate once dragged him by the ear so hard that he “went to school … with a swollen ear.”
The alleged ear-dragging incident was just one of several troubling experiences Collin describes as part of his “dark” and “violent” childhood in his memoir, released Oct. 13.
Kate pushed back against the allegations in a TikTok comment, writing, “Rational, logical [people] or anyone who has dealt with mental illness, understands what’s going on here.”
She also “liked” a comment claiming Collin would “regret all of this someday” and alleging he was “encouraged and enabled by other dysfunctional and mentally ill people.”
In response to a TikTok comment Thursday, Kate hit back at Collin’s renewed allegations of abuse, saying, “I know who I am and my kids know who I truly am and to me, that’s all that matters.”
Collin’s dad, Jon Gosselin, has defended his son by saying he is “not mentally ill” and claiming he has “grounds to sue” ex-wife Kate over the alleged abuse of their children.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text BEGIN the National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-422-4453.
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