Kate Gosselin of ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ Admits to ‘Unhealthy’ Fix for Her Empty Nest Heartache

Kate Gosselin of Jon & Kate Plus 8 joined TikTok in mid-July, prompting fans and critics to wonder if it was truly her or just a fan account. She eventually made a video saying, “This is actually my account. I’m just waiting for TikTok to verify. There’s gonna be a lot of dogs on it and kids, but mostly dogs and me. I’m in my German Shepherd dog mom era. Is that how they say it?”

Since then, the now-50-year-old has posted health and wellness content, dog training videos, and parenting advice. Many viewers say they see a whole new, softer side of the maligned reality TV star, especially during Gosselin’s recent video advising newly empty-nesters.

Kate Gosselin is amassing a big following on TikTok

Jon & Kate Plus 8 often depicted Gosselin as authoritarian, striving for perfection, and visibly stressed. She acknowledged her reputation as “obnoxious, controlling,” sparking many early internet jokes about her critical comments toward her then-husband, Jon Gosselin. Under intense media coverage, this exaggerated portrayal fueled both fascination and backlash. Tabloid narratives and blogs dubbed her bossy and overbearing, more so than typical criticism of reality stars.

Now, Kate is quietly setting the record straight via TikTok. She has completely exited the entertainment industry, opting to work as a pediatric home healthcare nurse. Regularly working 12-hour shifts, Kate shares how she balances work, parenting, and household duties. Her demeanor surprises fans who haven’t checked in on her lately.

“I didn’t have falling in love with Kate Gosselin on my 2025 bingo card, but here I am getting inspired to organize my life and make my own coffee creamer,” said a commenter on her video about which vitamins she takes and how she sorts them.

Another viewer commented on a video of Kate making homemade dog food for her pets. They said, “I’ve always felt Kate is misunderstood. She was an overstimulated mother. That doesn’t mean her true heart isn’t there. I’m so here for this Kate era.” The TV star and cookbook author replied, “Thank you,” with a kissing face emoji. In addition to home and wellness content, Kate gave sweet advice about empty nest syndrome, showing a different side of life with her many kids.

Kate Gosselin shared the ‘unhealthy’ way she overcame empty nest syndrome

Kate recently took to TikTok to share her advice about kids leaving home for college. She explained how she might as well multitask while sewing a button on Joel’s suit jacket. (Joel is one of her sextuplets. He has sextuplet siblings, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, and Leah, as well as twin older sisters, Mady and Cara.)

Kate says she often receives a query from parents: how to survive empty nest syndrome. With soft, sweet music playing in the background, she explained as she sewed on the button, “I remember originally, when Mady and Cara went to college, I unhealthily pretended for the first, hmm, probably three months, that they were just upstairs sleeping.” She simply couldn’t accept that they were gone until the holidays. Kate called it “unhealthily coping,” sharing that she sent them nicely decorated boxes every holiday, big or small, so they’d miss home less.

“I remember the first few weeks when they both went to college — two different colleges — we were on FaceTime the three of us; all three of us crying every night for at least a week or two,” she shared. “After that, they slowly found friends, and then I didn’t hear from them as much, which scared me.” Kate wanted to know where they were at all times and if they were safe. A friend gave her advice, telling her to stop worrying, that Mady and Cara were fine. “So I slowly let go of that,” Kate stated.

She considered her twins a “trial run” of kids leaving home, saying it wasn’t as hard with the little kids. Kate added, “[The sextuplets] go to college closer to home, which is nice — and it was a little easier because they could come home on the weekends. It didn’t feel so final, I guess is what I’m trying to say.”

Kate gave extra encouragement to parents of college students. “I will tell you the most wonderful, wonderful thing is when the kids come home for the holidays, and they’re all catching up because they all live in different places or go to different colleges, so I get to listen to them catching up and be a part of that,” she said. “We cook big meals together, um, it’s really loud here, and I love it. I love hearing their laughter. They get along really great.”

Her final advice: “I guess what I wanted to say is just in all of this empty nest stuff, don’t forget what our goal is as a parent is to prepare our kids to be functional, productive members of society. And so when they go to college, it’s a good thing. It’s a good thing, and they’re growing up, and it’s this next step, and they still need us, but not as much. And that’s okay.”