By Mark Gray
2:56pm PST, Nov 7, 2023
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Kate Gosselin reportedly raked in $250,000 an episode when she starred on TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" from 2007 to 2009 and continued to earn a significant paycheck while starring with her children on other iterations of the show for years. She parlayed her reality TV fame into high-paying speaking gigs and even a turn on "Dancing With the Stars," banking an estimated $500,000.
Six-figure paydays are now a thing of the past for the mother of eight, who's struggling make ends meet and is in "dire" financial straits as opportunities on reality TV have dried up for her, a new report has alleged.
The claims come amid a fight between the former TV star and her ex-husband over alleged unpaid child support.
Keep reading to learn more about Kate's financial situation…
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In 2022, Kate Gosselin claimed that ex-husband Jon Gosselin owes her $132,875 in unpaid child support. At the time, she asked a Pennsylvania court to enforce the payment, but the case remains ongoing.
According to a November 2023 report in the The U.S. Sun, she's barely getting by amid the legal battle.
"She is suing for support for money that was created by domestic relations in 2012. It was at the time she wanted legal custody of the kids so she could film and earn more money. She is relentless and desperate for money so she is now trying to sue," a source said. "Kate hasn't had a job other than reality TV for 17 years. She is doing what she can to get money. It looks like Kate's financial situation is dire."
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In Touch recently reported that Kate Gosselin knows that her star has faded.
"She's fallen quite a ways from being one of the country's top reality stars," a source said. "Kate is currently living a very quiet and boring life in North Carolina. She doesn't date and has very few friends — actually, her best friends are pretty much her kids."
"Kate lives paycheck to paycheck… There hasn't been a glam squad for a very long time, so Kate looks totally different. She stays home a lot, watches a lot of TV," the source added.
The mother of eight hasn't appeared on reality TV in years, though she still gets recognized in public. The experience is "not always positive," according to the source: "Kate continues to get a lot of hate from people. She doesn't have it so easy," the insider said.
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Amid the ongoing lawsuit, Kate's lawyer, Richard J. Puleo, threw shade at Jon Gosselin, saying, "The docket speaks for itself and 90 percent of the time, if not more, what you hear from Jon or his sources are complete outright lies. May want to check the docket, apparently his most recent attorney, which I believe is his 10th or 11th, needs to be withdrawn because Jon can't pay him or owes money, which is the normal route for him. That speaks volumes."
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Kate Gosselin and Jon Gosselin have been at odds for years, but things took a turn for the worse last year when he accused her of "stealing" from their kids.
In 2019 legal documents, the "Kate Plus 8" star admitted to twice withdrawing $50,000 from the kids' trust: "I will have to keep borrowing from it to survive," she said at the time.
She then claimed that her eight children actually owe her money for their private school education.
"I'm not looking to collect that but I borrowed $100,000 from the kids' trust. … And it owes me $387,000 technically," she claimed in the legal docs.
Jon told The Sun in response, "It's disgusting and it's morally wrong. Parents are not supposed to withdraw any money from these accounts without permission and without drawing up paperwork that they will pay it back — but she has produced no paperwork and no payments have been made. You can't just live off your kids' money."
