While Collin Gosselin‘s tell-all “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood” soars to the top of the bestseller lists, the book continues to generate controversy over the shocking claims of abuse he levels at his mother, Kate Gosselin.
Now, a woman who spent time within the Gosselin home is coming forward to back up the bombshell accusations made in the book.
A Job in the Gosselin Household
The woman, identified as Ashley H., told People that she landed a job as a housekeeper in the Gosselin household, but initially didn’t realize she’d be working for the stars of “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”
“She didn’t say who she was [in the post], just that the nanny could live on the estate, and you could tell she was very, very wealthy,” she told the magazine. “So, I met her at Starbucks, and she showed up in her sports car.”
Once she began working in the household, however, she claims that what she witnessed was a far cry from the wholesome family antics of the TLC hit.
“She very much outwardly treated Collin different,” Ashley told People. “She 110 percent abused Collin. It’s hard to almost put into words the specific hate that she had towards Collin. You could just feel it. I saw her grab Collin many, many times.”
A Restrictive Environment
According to Ashley, Kate Gosselin maintained a “house manual” that laid out rules for staff. These rules included taking no pictures of her children, and ensuring the family dog didn’t enter the main area of the house, confining the pet to the basement.
“The house was to look unlived-in at all times,” she recalled. “She would have weekly chores, biweekly chores, and they would include having a toothpick and going around the edges of the fridge.”
She remembered the environment being highly restrictive for the eight Gosselin children.
“She wouldn’t let the kids do anything,” she said. “There was never toys out. There was never things out. They couldn’t live.”
According to Ashley, the Gosselin kids could only wear “either one or two school outfits per week because it would cause too much laundry,” and Kate’s interactions with her children as “robotic.”
“It was not loving,” she insisted. “She very much made it known who was a favorite, who wasn’t, who’s annoying. Someone would come and pick the dog up for grooming, but she treated her kids basically worse than animals.”
The Final Straw
One memory that continues to chill her comes from the time she discovered a large, red plastic spoon hidden among some school supplies. She found it odd, given that “everything in the house was always so meticulous.”
When she asked the children about the spoon, “instantly, I’m pretty sure it was Alexis who said, ‘Oh, that’s the spoon mommy uses when she gets mad.’”
That was among the various incidents that compelled her to quit after just six months in the household. “I was like, “Oh, okay. I can’t work here anymore. This really is as bad as I think it is,’” she shared. “That red spoon has haunted me for a long time.”
Just before she left the job, Ashley said that she called Children and Youth Services for Berks County, reporting Kate. That confirms what Collin wrote in his book, claiming he’d learned that multiple CYS reports had been made against his mother.
Collin Was Targeted
Ashley recalled Kate being particularly angry at Collin. “All the time. She’d rip him right out of his chair in the kitchen,” she said, revealing she reported Kate because “I ended up getting sick because I started taking it home with me, because I didn’t have my own kids and I didn’t understand how somebody could be so nasty, downright evil and nasty to their own kids.”
She added, “I know for a fact that I was not the only one who did that. I want to use this opportunity to not only back Collin that his mom was psychologically abusive to him, not to mention the physical.”
She’s hopeful that by sharing her personal experience, others will also come forward to share what they’d seen.
“I really hope it will spark people to speak up, even if it’s been 15 years later,” she added. “I am so incredibly proud of Collin and hope he feels validated.”
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Kate Gosselin’s Former Housekeeper Backs Up Allegations in Son’s Book