Peter Kramer/NBC, Josephine Santos, PacificCoastNews.comIf you ask Jon Gosselin, the downside of reality TV far outweighs its perks.
In an episode of Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now show that aired Sunday, Nov. 3, on OWN, Kate Gosselin's ex-husband blamed Jon and Kate Plus 8 for ruining his reputation and having a negative effect on his eight kids.
The Gosselin family's reality show, which premiered on TLC in 2007, "just became stressful on me and stressful on the kids," said Jon. He also saw his 13-year-old twins Cara and Mady as well as 9-year-old sextuplets, Aaden, Alexis, Collin, Hannah, Joel and Leah "not growing up normally, like I grew up, and having community."
"Yes, they got to travel the world, and yes, they got these fabulous things, and yes, they have trust funds, and they're taken care of educationally. Great," he said. "But developmentally, they have problems with their peers, and they have problems with talking to other people, and they have problems with wants and needs and manners and morals and what's right and what's wrong. I think more so than someone who grows up off TV."
The 36-year-old, who now works as a waiter in Beckersville, Pa., admitted it "wasn't easy to quit [reality TV] because there's a revenue stream I'm never going to have again."
Now, though, he's "happy" and "free" to "do what I want." And while he doesn't "really have a relationship with Kate" these days aside from "custodial stuff," he wanted to make it clear he was not unfaithful to her during their 10-year marriage.
"The most common misperception that I cheated on my wife, that I left my family [and] that I'm a party boy," he said. "But my family knows the truth."