TLC has announced that there are no plans to scrap popular reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 despite the fact that it’s clear that Jon and Kate’s marriage is over. The season premiere received over 9.8 million viewers on Monday, making it the most watched episode ever and big money-maker for the network. Instead of considering whether Jon and Kate should take their troubles off camera for the sake of the children, TLC is hoping to milk this story for all it’s worth. Producers are said to be helping Jon search for an apartment that will accommodate all their cameras and lighting equipment.
What’s more is that both Kate and Jon are said to be looking for lawyers to help plan their divorce. They both have a lot at stake and are thought to be worth $10 million. They’ve supposedly already agreed on the important custody issue:
National Enquirer: Jon and Kate’s $10 million divorce
Now with their marriage in shambles, both Jon and Kate are scrambling to find divorce lawyers, according to a family insider.
“Jon said their goal is to be legally separated by July 15 because Kate wants to move on quickly,” the insider told The Enquirer.
“They haven’t yet said anything to the kids, but they have agreed to joint custody – and that’s about all they’ve agreed to.
“Jon is going to push for half of their money, but Kate is determined to hang on to as much as she can – and they’re worth more than you think…
There’s a small fortune at stake here – easily $10 million.”
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 8, 2009]
In Touch: Producers looking for an apartment for Jon
A TLC insider reveals that Jon may not be in the picture much longer. “Producers have begun looking for apartments that are camera-crew friendly so that Jon can move out (whether he wants to or not),” said the insider.
Since at least early February, Jon has been spending time in Huntington, PA, near where his mom lives. That’s three hours away from the home he shares with Kate. But he began spending more time at home after rumors surfaced that he was cheating on his wife of 10 years.
[From In Touch, print edition, June 8, 2009]
All of this is of course said to be very hard on the kids, with The Enquirer reporting that they’re acting out and fighting each other and Star running a kind of heartbreaking piece about how the eight year-old twins are particularly affected by their dad’s long absences. We might report on that a little later, but that’s the saddest part of this story. Jon and Kate both seem like idiots in their own unique ways but their kids deserve so much better.
Meanwhile the NY Daily News has a piece on why the public has become so fascinated with this family. They quote a psychologist who said that Jon and Kate make us feel better about our own flawed lives.
“A lot of TV shows make people feel worse about their own lives since people on TV are happier and sexier and better able to work through their relationships. But with Jon and Kate, it’s what’s going on in everyone’s home. It’s not always perfect and smooth, and up to now, it was about a marriage that was making it.”
I don’t know if I agree that people want to see a happy marriage on screen. It looks like there are so many more tuning in to see it fall apart.
Of course TLC doesn’t want to stop airing the show, even if their family is extremely disfunctional, they want the ratings none-the-less!
This is sad, I truly feel bad for the kids.
He’d have to get a pretty big apartment with all the kids and the camera crew.
I finally watched the premiere (feeling ashamed the whole time, lol). I can honestly say that for all their faults, I genuinely hope they don’t break up. It would be such a shame.
I’ve mentioned before that I used to watch this show because it seemed genuine. There is no way in Hades I’ll ever tune in again to watch what is now officially a train wreck. The kids don’t have a chance. I guess TLC gained a lot of viewers over this mess (and more money), but for this viewer it is over. Hell, I can watch my own community members for signs of marital discord and emotional child neglect – no need to waste my TV chill time on it.
J & K really piss me off! They haven’t even tried to work on trying to repair their relationship. Instead they scramble to find lawyers so they can protect and fight for whatever they feel is their “entitled” share of the TLC gravy train. Kate is such a narcissist that at the kids’ b-day party she coldly ignored Jon and seemed completely at ease with her self righteousness. “Who cares if it is MY KIDS 5th BIRTHDAY PARTY. Afterall, I am the injured person here…” Ick! She makes me hurl!!!! Jon tried at first to make eye contact and she carefully avoided any overture. Kate is in for a rude awakening when people no longer watch the show and TLC stops supporting the fraud. I can see Kate turning into a total shrew towards the kids when the cameras stop rolling and no one is there to indulge “poor put upon Kate”.
I am not a human doctor so take this with a large grain of salt, but from the puffiness of his face it sort of looks like he may have a drinking problem. I am not trying to be mean to Jon, but sometimes when you see smoke (puffy red face, slurring) there is fire (alcohol abuse). I really hope that is not the case.
I don’t think its unreasonable at this point to speculate that Taylor…after all, he was slurring his whole way through the premiere and many people of Asian decent get flushed when they drink alcohol. The puffy face is a good point, too.
If TaylorB is on target (and several people have commented on Jon’s behavior/speech), then his priority should be a good therapist and/or AA meeting, NOT a divorce lawyer. Of the two parents, he is the one who seemed most at ease with the children and who put in an effort to make sure that had some fun just being kids.
Now all they have are the nannies.
As an adult, you may hate/have regrets about your past decisions or the current state of your life, but that doesn’t give you a green light to disappear from your kids’ lives just because they now have nannies.
I really think that they should take time off of the show to get their stuff together. I’ve tried my hardest not to judge these two but it’s obvious the pressure of the show and all the money at stake played a big part in the dissolution of their marriage. They fame and money just came so quick that they probably didn’t know how to handle it. TLC is obviously gonna push them to continue the show because it’s a cash cow. It’s up to them to decide if fame and fortune is worth the pain and misery.
I have watched the show on and off. I am uncomfortable a lot of the time because of the way both parents treat the kids. They are treated like objects. I can understand where the initial need was for the money the show brought in. But, it has turned into a greed machine. Kate takes a lot of flack but John is the father and susposed to be the leader, emotionally and spiritually. However, they are now trying to live a lifestyle of the rich and famous. They need to “be real” without those eight cute faces, they are nothing. The only part I liked about the show is watching the kids grow. However, on the last comercial one is rocking back and forth and another has her ears plugged. I think it’s time to stop watching as the children are being exploited and I sense harmed. I have no desire to watch a John and Kate drama/ soap opera. Time to bow out .
Hmmm,
This is not the way life is meant to be.
It is tough raising children and money is needed to do so. Poverty brings stress to a marriage and also too much money brings stress. I would like to see a “happy ending”. If the marriage is as emotionally deprived as those children then getting out of it into healthy relationships would be great for all. However, I think they are reacting to dysfucntional living rather than actually escaping an abusive relationship. I sense that the next relationships are destined to also fail – what could follow the fame and fortune from the first? Once again, the “child actor” looses out. The greedy management parents, ( ask mcallly calkin) looking for more money, sex and alcohol. sad.
TLC can turn this into 2 shows,
Jon plus 8 the happy kids.
Kate plus 8 the screaming years.
Macaulay Culkin –
that’s what is needed those adorable kids to divorce the parents.
I love to watch that show because of the kids not because of the parents. She is unbearable and all she does is nag, nag, nag. Jon is plain boring.
People like these shouldn’t be allowed to have children.
@OXA: I hate to say it, but it might be interesting to see how they parent by themselves. I have a feeling you’ve got it right on.
I’d love to see the kids acting like kids again without the ear bleeding.
I can not tell you how many times I have watched pet ‘parents’ with my patients and am troubled by their behaviour and attitudes, they are ‘lost’. Unless I or my staff see evidence of obvious physical abuse I can do nothing but make helpful suggestions and pray that they take the suggestions seriously and follow through with training and behavior therapy which is usually more necessary for the pet parent than the pet itself. Jon and Kate seem to be lost parents, not technically ‘bad’ but certainly in need of help to get back on track, I hope they do so, for their childrens sake, and their own be they together or separate in the process.
I’ll tell you what they’ll be like parenting on their own: there will be double the number of nannies, that’s all. One pair of nannies for her and one pair of nannies for him.
Honest to God, they shouldn’t have had all these kids. I mean, I wonder why they even did.
I think they both outgrew each other fairly quickly and Kate realized, again fairly quickly, the babies aren’t objects and the novelty wore off.
The children have always hit, screamed and pounded on each other. I have always found it disturbing and also am disgusted how many tantrums Mady, one of the twins, has.
The show is a not a legitimate showcasing (if you will) of a family with multiples. There are no scenes of how/what it means to be one of a multiple, how multiples learn, how they learn to interact with others their same age, etc. Anyone can come to this conclusion with observing one or two shows.
I don’t understand how the Figure 8 and TLS producers can tolerate (other than the almighty buck) Kate’s extreme obnoxiousness and rudeness and flat out non-social skills. She clearly is someone who has not worked (extensively) or interacted prior to this with the general public. She has no social skills other than what she perceives from other tv shows or movies. And apparently she refuses any advice. It is only ~now~ that she concedes she treats fans well. Huh? And why haven’t the producers hired a top media person to craft her image better? Or at the very least, learn how to behave to your public at women’s shows and book signings.
The entertainment business tolerates many difficult entertainers for the sake of the product and for some, their talent. These two are not entertainers but real-life parents who are supposed to be role models.
Feel sorry for the children? I’m not certain I can because it seems to me they clearly all enjoy their perks. They have no sense of value when continually given new things. The waste depicted in some of the scenes of clothes, toys, etc. is unbelievable. It’s hard, at least for me, to feel sympathetic when children are out of control with each other. There ought to be some intrinsic kindness. And, no, beating up on each other is not just being kids. It is disheartening to see several of the little girls exactly mimicking their mother.
And let’s hope while Kate is fighting for her millions, some one advisor ensures at least 3/4’s of it are protected in iron-clad trusts and college funds for the kids.
This is not a show about real life or a reflection of our current society or how lousy and difficult marriages are today or a poor young couple wanting more, sob sob, for their children. It’s a pure business deal concocted by both Jon and Kate and exploited by both for financial gain. It’s that simple.
Listen, NO ONE is looking at the biggest picture of all….you think this show is a hit now??? Think about it…Jon and Kate suddenly become totally human, admit their (both) mistakes on national television, apologize to each other AND publically to the friends and family they have alienated…hence bringing the circle of friends and family back into the picture……humble themselves in front of the world and to their children….. then go about the hard work of REPAIRING this broken marriage in front of MILLIONS of viewers….We would watch them weekely going to counseling sessions, TALKING to each other…like REAL communication through a professional mediator….making up…arguing….going on dates again, working it out….falling back in love and SAVING this mess!!! They would become national heroes!!! We would all fall in love with them again, cheer for them, cry with them…SUPPORT them…and the kids would be the biggest benefactors of all…..they could work this out and actually live happily ever after….WHO WOULDENT WATCH??????
mickie, you are delusional hon.
Lol @ anastasiabea…
Yeah mickie, nice fantasy but it ain’t gonna happen!
At first id didn’t really believe that they were breaking up because they “seemed” like such a happy family on the show – besides the numerous arguments John and Kate would have.
Jon,
I still want to know if that was your response on May 26th at 12.46 PM-after Kevin’s saying Kate did everything but cut your b’s off on the show and she wouldn’t pick up the kids from school because she had to TAN or TRAIN? ONCE again…was that really your reply??? I asked you twice on the 26th to be REAL&ANSWER! I HOPE it was YOU!
CJ
take this CRAP off the air. bad example of family life for my children. What has america come to…this is HORRIBLE!!!!
What a sad sad world it has become when people would rather chastize this family and berate the flaws both parents have instead of root for them to repair their marriage and family. Anyone who cannot see that this is a good family who is going through a very tough period in their lives is pathetic. They both want what is best for their children and unfortunately their marriage has suffered a great strain. I, personally hope they will seek counseling and do their best to bring their family together again. Anyone who believes they could do a better job of handling the stresses they deal with on a daily basis should give it a try.
Sunnygrace, I think you should be ashamed of yourself for talking about innocent childrent in such a fashion. If you watched the show at all you would know that these children do not pound on each other. They act like normal children of their age. What a shame you cannot see the sense of intrinsic kindness they do possess. Let’s remember they are children for goodness sake, not robots. How wonderful it must be to be so perfect!
Wow! How sad, I hate this so much……the fame got to them. I remember one show that Kate said that the show stops when the kids get affected by the show. Why is the show still going. Ya you know if Jon cheated on Kate or not it is their buiness not any one else. To bad that they can’t seek some sort of help and just remember how they were. I watched the show with my kids for the simple fact of how do they do it with eight kids and I have four and I feel so stressed out sometimes with their differenes as kids. So I was taking notes. Now we don’t watch it because of all the drama. That is why there is soap operas. Sorry to see all that garbage happen. Pretty sad that the producers of the show are helping Jon find an apartment so they have enough room for them to film. How come their not helping him for the simple fact of room for the kids.
I’m done watching the show my daughter and I once loved. If they really cared “most” about the kids, they would drop the show and work on saving their marriage. Instead, the show goes on and lives are in pieces. This is not the example I want my daughter to follow. So TLC’s Jon and Kate has already ended for us.
In Kate’s book multiple blessings she makes herself sound like a devoted Christian. Yet, you never here her talk about God, Jesus or church on the show. Last time I checked really devoted, by the Book Christians don’t believe in throwing away marriages and selling out either. I really hope they can work it out I was just wondering what happened with their faith
this is all just nuts.
Wow! This is very sad and I am tired of watching these two adults act like idiots. Neither are good actors and they need to be in order to pull this off……the viewers are not stupid so why are we all still watching???? I watched my last show on Monday night…..it makes me and my husband feel very uncomfortable for them. Two sides to every story? Sure, but these children have no voices at this time….what kind of adults will they grow up to be?
It is very discouraging to see this playing out at the expense of the children while Kate and Jon make millions…shame on both of them.
If Kate needs a fling Im in thats a bangin body she has. lol
If Jon cheated the marriage SHOULD be over. It’s just the price he’ll have to pay. I know Kate could have been kinder, but no one can blame someone else for their lack of morals that cause them to cheat. And you certainly couldn’t blame Kate (the germophobe) to not want to be with Jon after that!!! Who knows what kind of things he could catch. Such a shame to put his family in danger that way.
I am a single dad supporting my son when his mom left 4 years ago,no one talks about the single dads in the world….
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