Jon Gosselin still has photographs of his twin daughters, Mady and Cara. But after years apart, the former reality television star says he “wouldn’t be able to pick them out in the street,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
Gosselin, 49, discussed the estrangement during the November 3 episode of Brooke Goff’s Legally Goff podcast. The twins are now 26, and he said he has not heard their voices since they were about 13.
He said he missed their proms and graduations and doesn’t know whether they have partners or drive. Even everyday details, such as their favorite colors, are unfamiliar to him.
Jon shares eight children with his former wife, Kate, whom he divorced in 2009. Their younger children are 22-year-old sextuplets. Hannah and Collin moved in with him as teenagers, while he is also estranged from the other four.
Jon Blames Kate and TLC for Losing Contact With the Twins
Jon Gosselin Says He ‘Wouldn’t Be Able to Pick’ Out Daughters Mady and Cara If He Saw Them on the Street https://t.co/Xn9XjCTjma
— People (@people) November 4, 2026
On the podcast, Jon said he believes negative accounts from Kate and TLC convinced his daughters that he did not want to see them. He alleged that Kate told Collin his father wanted no contact while telling Jon in court that Collin did not want visits. He suspects the twins received a similar message.
In an August 2016 interview with PEOPLE, Mady addressed the estrangement herself. “He makes it seem like we’re being kept from him, which is insane,” she said. She urged Jon to consider why they did not want to see him and said discussing them on television was not helping him rebuild the relationship.
Jon later acknowledged a request from the twins in a May 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight. “But they told me they don’t want me to talk about them in the press,” he said, adding that he was trying to respect their wishes.
He Also Described a Difficult Visit With Four of the Sextuplets
Discussing Aaden, Alexis, Joel and Leah, Jon initially identified 2018 as the last time he had seen them, then recalled one subsequent visit involving Collin. He described that meeting as painful and said he had not seen the four since they moved away.
The comments followed an October 23 Entertainment Tonight interview, covered by Us Weekly, in which he addressed his six estranged children directly. “I hope you understand that I still love you. I hope one day you reach out to me,” he said.
Jon said he had tried contacting them privately in earlier years before making public appeals. He also encouraged them to read Collin’s memoir and reach their own conclusions about the family’s history, saying his interest in speaking with them extended beyond the dispute over the book.
Collin’s Memoir Preceded Netflix’s Documentary Announcement
Published October 13 by Grand Central Publishing, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood recounts Collin’s experiences growing up on Jon & Kate Plus 8. He alleges that Kate abused him and describes being separated from his siblings during residential treatment. Kate denies abuse and maintains that he needed treatment.
Kate has also made allegations about Collin’s childhood behavior. His representative rejected those accusations in an October 26 statement to Entertainment Tonight, including her claims that he harmed animals or used weapons against family members.
Netflix announced on October 21 that production was underway on a documentary featuring interviews with Jon, Collin and Hannah. The film will examine the family’s conflicting accounts of growing up on television and what happened after their years in the spotlight.
Mike Gasparro and Julia Willoughby Nason are producing the project for The Cinemart. Netflix has not confirmed participation by Kate, Mady, Cara or the other four siblings, and it has not announced a premiere date.