Jon Gosselin issued a public apology to ex-wife Kate Gosselin, about three years after their highly-publicized divorce, and adds she is a “great mom” to their eight children.
The two became famous thanks to the popularity of their TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which starred their twins and sextuplets, now ages 11 and 8, and debuted in 2007. The often-squabbling parents became one of the most popular – and mocked – reality stars at the time. The two divorced in 2009 and the series continued production without Jon and its name was changed to “Kate Plus 8.” The new show ended its run in 2011.
“I am sorry, because I did stuff I wouldn’t want done to me,” People magazine quoted Jon, 35, as saying in a recent interview, referring to the women he dated after their split.
Kate’s spokesperson had no immediate comment about his apology.
In 2009, after the couple broke up, Jon dated a younger woman, Hailey Glassman, for several months. People says Gosselin is currently living and working in Pennsylvania as director of sales and promotions for Gameface Int. and that he is currently dating a 27-year-old single mother named Liz Jannetta.
The magazine says Jon underwent therapy to deal with his split and now has a better relationship with Kate, 37.
“I’ll call [Kate] up and say, ‘Mady’s sick. What do I do?’ And she’ll tell me. She’s a great Mom. We just have different parenting styles,” he was quoted as saying.
Kate had told Peoplein June 2011 that things between her and her ex-husband have “just naturally gotten more peaceful.”
It is unclear if she is currently involved with anyone romantically. Kate told Dr. Drew Pinsky on a February episode of his CW series “Lifechangers” that she is lonely and is not sure she is ready to date yet, or whether she will find someone would can “deal with eight kids.”
After their split, Jon met with spiritual leader Rabbi Smuley Boteach, former advisor to Michael Jackson, several times to seek advice about his divorce from Kate and how to help his children.
He said that November during an event with the rabbi at a Jewish center in New York that he had become obsessed with fame and added that he regretted taking Glassman on a vacation – in front of the paparazzi – days after announcing his breakup.
The TV show “Extra” quoted him as saying he wanted to apologize to Kate in private for “openly having relationships in the public eye.”
Jon told People that Boteach told him: “There are two things you can do with your fame sell out or take it and use it for good,’ adding that he “didn’t grasp that at the time.”
Kate was a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” in 2010. She currently works as a blogger for the website CouponCabin.com and has penned articles with titles such as “Kate’s Tips for Saving on Health & Wellness” and “6 Tips to Save on Kids’ Sports.”
Jon told OnTheRedCarpet.com in 2010 that he would have been a better “Dancing With The Stars” contestant than his ex-wife, adding: “I know I can dance but I don’t know if I want to show people. I’m more private that way. I have other things I want to work on first before I go back on television.”
“I want to do something that I believe in and I’m passionate about and something that I can explain to my children why I did this and stuff like that instead of ‘I just did it for money or I just did it for this or I did it because I was desperate or something like that,'” he said.
He has not appeared on a new TV show since 2009. People magazine quoted Jon as saying in its new interview that he has been offered a lot of “crazy stuff” related to entertainment, adding: “It wasn’t the right fit, then or now. I don’t want [my kids] thinking I take every show just to make a buck.”