Who is Kate Gosselin?
Kate Gosselin is a former American television personality best known for the reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, which followed her family life raising twins and sextuplets. The show became one of the most-watched reality programmes of its time.
Early life and education
Gosselin was born Katie Irene Kreider in 1975 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania, the third of five children of a pastor. She trained as a nurse at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center.
Career before television
She worked as a labor and delivery nurse in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She married Jon Gosselin in 1999; the couple had twin daughters in 2000 and sextuplets in 2004.
Reality TV career
- Early specials: the family appeared in TV specials about raising sextuplets and twins.
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 (2007): started on Discovery Health, then moved to TLC.
- Kate Plus 8 (2009): renamed after the couple’s divorce, following Kate as a single parent.
- Other shows: competed on Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice, and later hosted the dating show Kate Plus Date (2019).
Major achievements
The series drew very large audiences and made Gosselin one of the most recognised reality TV figures of the late 2000s. Her book Eight Little Faces debuted in the top five of The New York Times Best Sellers list.
Writing
She has written three non-fiction books, starting with Multiple Blessings (2008), about parenting a large family.
Impact
Her shows were part of the early wave of family reality television and sparked public debate about the effects of reality TV on children, a discussion that continues today.
Current life
Gosselin has largely stepped away from reality television in recent years, and reruns of her earlier shows continue to air.
How the show worked
To make Jon & Kate Plus 8, the family was filmed three or four days a week, and they were paid for appearing. Episodes showed everyday challenges such as meals, school runs, birthdays and holidays with eight young children. The format became a model for many later family reality shows, and the couple’s divorce in 2009 was covered heavily by entertainment media.
Timeline: key moments
- 1975Born in Hershey, Pennsylvania
- 1999Marries Jon Gosselin
- 2000Twin daughters born
- 2004Sextuplets born
- 2007Jon & Kate Plus 8 premieres
- 2008Publishes Multiple Blessings
- 2009Show renamed Kate Plus 8 after divorce
- 2010Competes on Dancing with the Stars
- 2015Kate Plus 8 returns
- 2019Kate Plus Date premieres
Kate Gosselin went from nurse to one of reality TV’s most recognised faces, at the centre of a new era of family television.
