KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN

by Robert Hoffman

  Now I can say I am glad that I had to walk through that fire because I now see God-he is amazing! He wants to love me, bless me, forgive me (praise Him for that!!!) and bestow unending grace on me! I am amazed truly by Him everyday! Thank you Lord for loving (even in my multitude of imperfections) and saving ME! Thank you for never changing and never leaving me! I could not do this alone!!!!

  Since the day I started reporting on the Gosselins for US Weekly, I watched and waited for that beautiful Sunday morning scene where Kate would get the kids all dressed up and take them to church. The girls would have little flowers in their hair, and the boys would be in their matching (of course) Sunday best.

  I waited and waited, but I never saw it happen. Not on a Sunday. Not on any Saturday or any other day of the week. And still I waited. Then finally, on Easter Sunday, 2012, Kate tweeted that she would be taking the kids to Easter Sunday services and, sure enough, she actually did it. I saw it for myself. The fact that she tweeted far in advance about going to church was a sure sign that she was angling for a photo op and she would definitely be there.

  Since there were no photographers around anymore to prove otherwise, Kate started tweeting about how she takes the kids to church on Sundays. On a personal note, if it was me, and my show (Kate Plus Ei8ht) was failing, and my other show (Twist of Kate) had been thrown on the scrap heap, I’d be in church too, praying or begging. Whatever it took. So I gave Kate the benefit of the doubt that she was actually going to church, like she tweeted she was, even if it was only to pray for more fame and fortune.

  I decided to find out for sure, so I started spending my Sunday mornings once again staking out the Gosselin house, like I had done so many times before, waiting for Kate to load up the kids and take them to church. I wanted to believe Kate Gosselin was telling the truth about going to Sunday services. I really did.

  I went to Kate’s house early in the morning for eight straight Sundays when I knew she had the kids, since she tweets that she takes them to church on the Sundays when she has custody.

  Much to my surprise – OK, not really – the church trips never happened. Not once that I saw, even though on some of the same days that I was there, she tweeted that they had, in fact, gone to church, even as I was there watching and listening to the kids playing in the yard in front of the house.

  So how could this be? Isn’t church one of the little things that a devout Christian would make time for? Wasn’t she breaking the Fourth Commandment and then lying about it?

  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to The Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11 RSV)

  OK, after reading that passage, I think it may be a little too strict. Surely Kate should be allowed to have her “manservant or maidservants” working on Sunday. She does have eight children after all.

  I’ve watched Kate spend 10 to 20 hours per week on superficial pampering of herself, and countless hours driving around town without her children shopping and running errands that one of her staffers could easily take care of.

  In a journal entry dated December 1, 2006, Kate wrote that she knows that God will provide for them.

  Well, God surely provided for Kate, but she must have decided she doesn’t need Him anymore. I must have missed the scripture that states that once God provides for you, it is perfectly OK to forsake him. With all of her posturing and holier-than-thou talk of God, it turns out that Kate doesn’t have one hour a week to take the kids to church. She mentions the Lord close to 200 times in her journal and in her books, but she can’t drag her lazy self out to church to give Him thanks. But no matter. She has fooled her adoring, gullible fans into thinking she goes to church regularly. I’ll bet she fooled her Christian life book publisher in the same way as well.

  It is actually surprising that she doesn’t take the kids to church, at the very least for the rare possibility that it could turn into a photo op. I guess it’s just too much of a burden for her to waste that hour on a Sunday when she could be getting her nails done.

  So if Kate isn’t going to church on Sunday, what is keeping her busy, you ask? These tweets sum up the many far-more-important things she does on Sundays:

  I’m up—lots to do! Laundry, baking, fall decorating, running, and more! I’ll check in later!!!

  Hi all! It’s a work day….Just stopping in quick to say ‘hi’…..

  But Kate…it’s Sunday. I know you have no intention of going to church, because I’m standing at your front gate watching. She’s not even smart enough to not tweet her day’s list, which does not include Sunday mass.

  Just back from church… Ate lunch and big surprise… They’re riding bikes again! Lol! Georgous day!!!

  xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 Yeah..So HAPPY you went to church today! God is awesome and HE loves you and your family soooo much!

  agreed! :) we go.. Just don’t always remember to mention it lol. When I have kids and am home, we’re there!

  So Kate doesn’t always remember to mention going to church, but she has no trouble mentioning every last detail of her and her kids’ lives all day, every day, on Twitter? She mentions and posts photos of the most mundane and inconsequential things, but she forgets to mention church?

  Here’s an excerpt from Kate’s journal about NOT going to church:

  Sunday, July 2006

  Kate described the day as memorable!!!! They didn’t go to church but they cleaned the house and managed not to yell at each other.

  This is a paraphrased excerpt from Multiple Blessings. Believe it or not, Kate says that God delivered paper towels to her house.

  Kate had a list posted around the house of things that she needed so the volunteers knew what they could bring for free. One day she was adding paper towels to the list when she heard someone shuffling around outside the front door. Just as Kate opened the door, she saw one of her evening volunteers wrestling with a large case of paper towels that someone had dropped off. Kate dragged the package inside and smiled to herself. She wasn’t at all surprised that God knew exactly what she needed even before she could put in on her needs list. Kate said that she was newly reminded that day that her God delivered…literally>

  Here are some more of Kate’s “miracles,” as documented in her journal:

  Kate says that their quote is ‘in our lives, it’s a miracle a day.’ Well today’s miracle was more freebies from strangers, including many gift cards to Target, Wal-Mart etc. totaling more than $750. Not a bad day.

  Kate called a restaurant and got their seats arranged, which she says took a miracle.

  Kate made Jon ask their new dentist for nearly free dental work for eight kids. Put on the spot, the dentist said yes. Kate said she felt like an idiot and she started crying. Free dentistry! Kate said that it was just another miracle from the Lord! Kate also thanked the Dentist while thanking the Lord.

  A woman sent Kate shoes for the kids and Kate emailed her to thank her. The woman told Kate that she would continue to send the next size shoes for each child!!!!! She’s also sending sneakers for Kate!!!! That was one of today’s miracles! The other miracle was free tickets to Dutch Wonderland that someone brought for them!!!!

  The miracle of the day today was that Kate found strawberries at Sam’s club for only $1.50 a pound! She sent Jon back the next day for three more flats and maybe four!!!! Kate says she is praying for there to be enough to satisfy her need!

  The miracle for today was that Kate used up all the milk. She was bummed out but when she went to the store to buy just a half gallon, she found the milk on sale so she bought 15 half gallons and got six rain checks!!! Thank you Lord!!!!!!!!! Another miracle!

  Kate Gos
selin took everything as a sign from God – when it was convenient and beneficial for her, and when it made her money.

  ANOTHER CHRISTMAS “MIRACLE,”

  OR JUST ANOTHER CONVENIENT LIE?

  Kate speaks often of her “Christmas Miracle,” and after reading about it in Multiple Blessings, I’ll give her this one. I believe in miracles too.

  Kate’s “Christmas Miracle,” as written in Multiple Blessings describes a scare that she and Jon had with the sextuplets early in the pregnancy, and an ultrasound in the hospital a night or two before Christmas, that ended up confirming that all six babies were alive and in good health.

  In her third book, I Just Want You To Know, Kate wrote about another miraculous Christmas occurrence where God provided for her. This story is on page 66:

  Kate said the one of her favorite stores that she mentions frequently, happened on Christmas Eve in 2006. Her brother and sisters and their families were over for dinner and Kate’s sister was telling Kate about a family at her church who was struggling financially. Kate said she couldn’t stop thinking about this family and she knew God was telling her to write them a check. Kate even got into an argument with God about this that lasted several days. God wanted this and He even put a dollar figure in Kate’s head.

  Kate couldn’t take it anymore and got the family’s address and mailed a check on the spot and ran it to the mailbox. Well God works in mysterious ways and when Kate opened the mailbox to mail her check, she found an envelope in there with a bow on it. Kate tore open the envelope and literally almost fell over when she saw a gift card to Sam’s Club for the exact same amount that she had just written the check for.

  It’s very strange that Kate wrote about the exact same story that was told in her first book, Multiple Blessings, with a few changes here and there. It’s certainly OK to lift from your own body of work, but at least make sure the details are the same.

  Kate said this is one of her favorite stories that she mentions frequently, so it is obviously a very important part of her life and an example of how God provided for her “perfectly.”

  And yet, in her journal that she used to write this book specifically, in the entry for Christmas Eve in 2006, there is no mention whatsoever of this new “Christmas miracle” ever occurring. Not a word. Nothing even close. I checked the journal for the following week as well, and it wasn’t mentioned there either. The journal is filled with every minor detail of her life, right down to what she ate and what she was thinking, but there was no mention of this “Christmas miracle.” How could that be? Could it be that this miracle was a fabrication for the book? A big, fat lie even?

  It was a total fabrication. It never happened. It was a lie to sell books.

  “WE ONLY FILM A FEW HOURS A WEEK”

  Kate always insisted publicly that they were actually doing very little filming. Privately, the truth was an entirely different story. In an email Kate sent to “Crystal” on February 5, 2008, in response to an offer for free hair plugs for Jon, Kate said, “We are filming just about everyday lately.....”

  Every week and every show had a schedule for the Gosselin family to follow. I have many of those schedules for reference. There was nothing about the family’s life that wasn’t controlled by a production schedule and pre-planned storylines. (See the chapter, “I WANT MY FAKE TV,” for more on this.)

  On the Season 3 “Behind the Scenes” episode of Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht, Kate put the rumors about long hours of filming to rest from the interview couch. This is what she said:

  “And, um, there’s also a misconception that we film, you know, like a whole series in like, some certain timeframe of the year and we’re done for the whole year. No. Um, we’ve never stopped since we started in August of 2005. And, it’s not glamorous and glorious, and we’re not always smiles and giggles, but we have love in our family, and, um, that’s all that matters.”

  On March 30, 2011, Kate was at it again, telling us, in her own words, that they’ve never stopped filming. Did she go to Time magazine or People magazine or US Weekly to give this huge interview? Not quite. Kate opted instead for the hard-hitting journalism outlet that is … cupcakemag.blogspot.com.

  Here’s an excerpt from that poignant and hard-hitting interview:

  Interviewer: 1.) We have to say – we missed YOU and are thrilled that Kate Plus 8 is back for a 2nd season. What can we expect to see this season?

  Kate: “We've not stopped filming at all so our crazily wonderful schedule has never missed a beat, but you can expect lots of travel to amazing places, some helping others, local history/education... Fun, fun, fun and lots of kid noise and mom's loud voice, as always! :)”

  Here are the girls of CupcakeMag wrapping things up. Kate should thank her God for people like this.

  We seriously adore Kate (we need TEAM KATE shirts around here!) and can't wait for Season 2 of Kate Plus 8! Set your DVR's now and remember to watch Kate Plus 8 on TLC this Monday, April 4th! Check your local listings so you don't miss it!

  http://cupcakemag.blogspot.com/2011/03/kate-plus-8-is-back.html

  “I’M JUST A MOM AND WE’RE JUST A FAMILY, LIVING OUR LIVES”

  On August 4, 2008, Kate Gosselin officially turned her “just a family” into a corporation – JKIG, Inc., filing the official paperwork with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Corporation Bureau, through her attorney, Paul J. Datte.

  Kate hogs up three of the four letters in the corporate name of course. KatieIreneGosselin. I hope the J at least stands for Jon. Given Kate’s narcissistic tendencies, though, it probably stands for “Just.”

  This is just a family living their lives?

  Here’s a quote from Kate, taken from one of her Q&A episodes of Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht:

  “First of all, people say that we don’t work. That’s the hugest misconception, like they feel like we’re just literally living our lives … which we are … but they don’t see like, the background scheduling, the what we have to do to struggle to get down here to do interviews, um, the emails, the conference calls, the phone calls, the phone meetings, the in-person meetings, the magazine article shoots, the phone interviews that we do for all that press stuff. They don’t see the background of that and that encompasses, for Jon and I, horrendously more than forty hours a week, besides writing books, traveling and speaking, book signings, I mean, that’s all aside from that so to say that we don’t work actually makes us laugh because this is beyond words the hardest job we’ve ever had and um, while it’s the most rewarding because we’re working from home and we can kind of choose our schedule to a certain degree, it’s definitely the hardest.”

  “MY FAMILY CHOOSES NOT TO BE A PART OF OUR LIVES”

  This is an excerpt from a very long email discussing Kate’s estrangement from her family that Kate’s sister Clairissa sent to Kate on Thursday, June 19, 2008. The subject line was “Hi Sis!!!”

  Kate’s sister tells Kate that she loves her and that she prays for her everyday. She says she misses Kate terribly and she often thinks of the memories of their childhood together, watching TV, baking and playing in their rooms together, etc. She apologizes over and over to Kate for posting personal information about Kate on her blog, the apparent reason that Kate no longer speaks to her or her family.

  She ends the letter by saying that she hopes that all ten of them are doing great and she’d love to hear from Kate, but she knows how busy Kate is. She tells Kate to hug her dear nieces and nephews for her!!

  She ends the letter with ‘Love you sis’

  Does this sound like someone who doesn’t want to be a part of Kate’s or the kids’ lives? It’s sad to think that the Gosselin children are missing out on all of this love from their own family.

  KATE’S (UN)SOLICITED FREEBIES

  In her book, I Just Want You To Know, and many times during interviews, Kate always makes sure to say that the free things she received from companies were “unsolicited.” Here are a couple of examples:

  Kate
says that while their schedule got crazier with the show, their financial pressures eased up because of increasing fringe benefits. Kate says thankfully companies unsolicited started sending them products and the kids were happy to open the surprise of the day. She said that so many of the generous people didn’t want anything in return – they just wanted to help them through a difficult time.

  The reality, however, is that while “helpers” watched the Gosselin children, Kate spent many hours a day writing letters and making phone calls and sending emails to every business under the sun, seeking freebies and handouts, whether she needed them or not. She was, and is, addicted to all things free.

  Here’s just one of many, many examples of her solicitation letters that I know about and have in my possession. Kate wrote this letter a few months after giving birth to the sextuplets. Notice how enthused she is to begin “marketing” her new babies, or “the six” as she calls them.