Could it be that the first mom of reality television is seeing her 15 minutes of fame come to an end? TLC decided this week to pull the plug on “Kate Plus 8,” leaving Kate Gosselin showless.
TLC tried to put a nice spin on the cancellation, releasing a statement which read, “By the end of this season Kate Plus 8 will have hit the 150 episode mark (including Jon & Kate Plus 8); an exceptional milestone. TLC hopes to check in with Kate and the family periodically with specials in the future.” So while the show has not been renewed, Kate fans take comfort in the fact that the network did mention the possibility of specials.
“Kate Plus 8” was the spinoff show that followed the mom and her brood after she divorced their father, Jon Gosselin. Their original show, “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” focused on the couple’s sextuplets, Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope and Joel Kevin , who were born on May 10, 2004.
The couple had married in 1999 and after experiencing trouble getting pregnant; they had twins Cara Nicole and Madelyn Kate in 2000. Wanting more children, Kate started taking fertility treatments and later became pregnant with the sextuplets. The show started as a special titled “Surviving Sextuplets and Twins” on Discovery Health.
While filming “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” the crew couldn’t hide the growing tension between the Jon and Kate. The couple finally separated on September 29, 2009 and TLC made the decision to carry on without Jon. Jon didn’t want the production to continue and it was briefly suspended, but returned and ran for an additional two seasons.
All in all, the Gosselin children have been in the spotlight most of their lives. People have seen these six little cherubs grow up, so it’s not likely that they will disappear entirely from the public eye. However, maybe it’s time to let these kids be kids and we can catch up with them in 10 years. What do you think?