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Kate Gosselin -- You Only Have Yourself to Blame For Kate Plus 8 Being Canceled

Posted: 08/16/11 12:28 PM ET

Kate -- I hate to tell you, I told you so, but I did tell you to stop attacking your ex-husband Jon at every turn and to start being warmer to your kids.

Listen Kate -- I'm sure you were trying to do the best thing for your kids by putting them to work and making them stars of a reality show. I'm sure that you looked at your former salary as a nurse and it was a quick calculation to see that you'd be making a whole lot more dough and could lead a far more exciting lifestyle if you had the Jon & Kate Plus 8 show, and then kept it going after your divorce.

But what you never seriously considered was what made your initial show a hit and what you would need to do to sustain it or even grow that interest after you dumped Jon personally and professionally. But you didn't do that!

You clearly didn't realize that #1 your fans liked you and Jon together as a family -- even as a family with parents that sniped at each other. THAT was refreshingly real -- most parents do bicker at each other, and fans could understand why you'd do that, especially with eight young kids. It's stressful -- we got that.

What wasn't so appealing after you split was when the sniping became one-sided and when it went on and on and on. Last September 10th, 2010, you told Anderson Cooper, who was filling in on the Regis & Kelly show, that when your kids had visitation with Jon, "[you] basically wait for the phone call, for how many of them want to come home." You admitted under further questioning that "at different days and different times, some of them don't mind spending time with him." Slam!

But of course your kids didn't mind spending time with Jon -- he's still their dad and he could be a fun dad. We saw that on the show. Just because you and Jon had issues and yes, he may have cheated -- that sucks -- but didn't mean that he couldn't still be a loving father to your kids.

You were still at it on Access Hollywood recently on June 6, when you again implied that Jon still didn't want to parent his children. "He is actually making an effort for the four days a month he has the kids," you related. "I do wish he would see them more, but that is what he has chosen."

The only thing Kate is that, it's been very well publicized that you have full custody of the Gossellettes and that Jon would love to see them more. That bothered the fans of the show. They didn't like that you were apparently with holding the kids from Jon.

#2) Fans wanted to see the eight cute Gossellettes on Kate Plus 8 and instead we got a whole lot of you -- going bungee jumping without the kids in New Zealand, going swimming with sharks without the kids in Australia and going out with your girlfriends to party and dance in NYC for your birthday, without the kids.

The problem with this was that you weren't loose, or funny enough or self-deprecating enough to make interesting TV on these "adventures." Maybe if you had just been very open and honest about the trials and tribulations of going through a divorce and being a single mom, it could have made for very engrossing and empathetic TV.

Instead, you preferred to present yourself as a perfect mom, though grouchy mom, who made all your kids meals, even when you were traveling to LA to do Dancing with the Stars.

#3) When your kids were expelled from school -- again you weren't honest about it, and you insisted that filming a TV show was not at all part of their problems.

Kate -- people get uncomfortable when they feel like they're contributing to making children miserable and I think this was more of a watershed moment than you realized.

You did admit that Collin and Alexis "were having anger issues, acting out, having a behavior thing." But you insisted that TV was not the reason for your children being asked to leave school. Maybe so -- but then people wondered if the hostility that you kept expressing against Jon on TV could have a lot to do with it. If you were dissing Jon publicly, what were you doing when the cameras were off? Maybe that upset your children who were after all only seeing their dad four days a month!

#4) Finally Kate -- you were a Wendy Whiner who seemed too focused on your hair, abs and spray tan to appeal to regular moms.

You went on Sarah Palin's Alaska and whined about the rain, the Caribou burger, and the cold and then you dragged your kids away from having a good time, and dissed them by telling them they were now Palins instead of Gosselins.

You whined on your birthday episode that you didn't want to dance and that Jon was "abducted by aliens," and you whined when you tried bungee jumping.

Click here to read more about WHY Kate's show was cancelled!

 

Follow Bonnie Fuller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bonniefuller

 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hollace
01:27 AM on 09/14/2011
her kids were robbed of their privacy...something ordinary mothers understand.
04:09 AM on 09/06/2011
This Kate lady is a sad person, she has more temper tantrums then the children, I’d hate to see the behind the scenes and edited out parts. I have 7 children, 2 sets of twins and we never had this much drama on road trips. Yes, we are a whole family, husband and wife, but that is no excuse. She has used the media to her benefit and she will only fail in her future. Perhaps the father should have the children, Men do make better single parents, this is proven psychologically both in book and practice. I am glad that the Kate+8 is over, and it was sad that there are such better family environments out there in the world that would better role models for a TV show. She is a fail on TV and most likely in life if the TV show was a sample of who she is.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cruiselover11d
07:17 PM on 08/22/2011
great article its about time
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LaFemmeSASE
12:12 PM on 08/19/2011
I dont like Kate Gosseline, but the article seems a bit harsh and a bit out of line and extremely venomous.
There was no need for this long treatise on Kate, both Jon and Kate were too blame for the break-up of their marriage and the emotional welfare of their children.
01:31 AM on 08/18/2011
Whew the show as cancelled? Finally, it is the best thing for Kate and the children, the show was never a good idea for that family, and the show really changed Kate as a person, I just pray that the kids will be ok. And yes this article was very precise, this is exactly why people turned on Kate, you described why it is hard to put up with her perfectly. The show became the Kate show, and there you see Kate parading around with fake blonde hair, fake nails, fake tan, lots of make up, manicured nails, high heels (very high) daily, sparkly tight clothing, and short skirts and it makes you go ..."uh?" I do wish her and her children well, it is obvious (painfully so) that Kate isn't perfect and that she has many issues and problems that she needs to solve so that she can be a better mom to her children, and hopefully the cancelling of the show will help her get back to reality and hopefully the kids, her, and Jon can come together for the kids, so that the kids get to have both parents in their lives as they grow up, and everyone will be ok. Hopefully... Well cancelling the show is a step in the right direction.
07:31 PM on 08/17/2011
Well, this article nailed it!
Ta ta Kate.
Find a job...like most single Mom's.
Get those children a great therapist and stay outta the limelight.
You just weren't that likeable. Stopped watching you yrs ago!
02:03 PM on 08/17/2011
If Kate started dating a guy from the Jersey Shore cast, sold the sextape they made and took the kids on paid nightclub appearance gigs, she'd be right back on top!!

I mean that works for every other reality tv star, so why not??
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cydRN
12:11 PM on 08/17/2011
I hope she has a "therapy fund" for every one of those kids, they're gonna need it.
Holypat777
Got no time 4 closed minds-WA/3D
12:01 PM on 08/17/2011
Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, please . . .

An article on pigeon droppings could've served humanity so much better.
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LazarusRises
Tax The Rich, Feed The Poor!!
11:33 AM on 08/17/2011
Possibly her 15 minutes mercifully ended?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Peddler
Peddler of Information
10:48 AM on 08/17/2011
With all that is happening in the world today------who cares about Kate and the eight? We have our own problems, and if you watched that ridiculous reality show------nothing changes in our problems of living life-----pure waste of money and time!
10:28 AM on 08/17/2011
I have only seen a handful of John & Kate episodes and even less of Kate Plus 8, but what I thought was bad was the show was no longer about the kids. It was ALL about Kate. And every time I saw a commercial or something for this "reality" show it was always all the free vacations they got, free parties, free etc. That isn't "reality". And when they did go on a trip you could see how the kids were on their own, with staff or workers at whatever resort they were at, while Kate seemed disinterested and kept her distance. This is neither warm or fun no matter where they were sent by the network.

And she says her kids don't have fun when with John? She doesn't think the show was part of that problem. Imaging being surrounded every day with cameras and TV crews doing pretty much whatever you want. Imagine being on that show where you are sent to all these cool places, for free, and everyone waits on you hand and foot...and then going to hang out with your "working joe" dad who can't afford all the luxuries the TV show provides. How do the kids like having to maybe clean up after themselves, or help out a little bit, or entertain THEMSELVES instead of having teams of paid staff around?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
happycat
No bio needed. My cuteness speaks for itself.
10:21 AM on 08/17/2011
Maybe Andy Cohen and the other bottom feeders on Bravo, will offer Kate another show.
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BassguyGG
Former Moderate driven Left by eight years of Bush
09:36 AM on 08/17/2011
While Bonnie makes some good points the main reason "Kate Plus Eight" was canceled was that her fifteen minutes are now over.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ReadMyLipstick1
It can't be that hard.
09:36 AM on 08/17/2011
I think the article is a little harsh. To judge Kate is not right. No question but what she has made mistakes along the way,and yes, whines frequently, and still can't seem to forgive her former husband for his part in the mess she's in, and even made some judgment errors, but Kate is not a bad person. I have never for one moment, while seeing her on tv, reading articles about her, or occasionally seeing her on the tv show, thought for one second that her intentions were anything but the best for the well-being of her children.