Jon Gosselin's Ex Was 'More than a Mother' to His Son — He Announced Their Split amid Her Cancer Battle

Jon and Kate Gosselin had years of custody battles following their separation. Within that time, Jon found love with Colleen Conrad, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, the couple split amidst her diagnosis.

Over ten years ago, Jon and Kate Gosselin were the reality series power couple who showed the nation how it was like to handle eight children, including sextuplets. Not long into their relationship, the duo separated and started a decade-long feud involving a custody battle to fight for their son, Collin.

Jon made a bold accusation claiming Kate mentally tortured their son and abused their daughter, Hannah. While enduring the divorce proceeding, Jon found love with Colleen Conrad, who became more than a mother to his son. However, they recently ended their relationship amicably amidst her cancer battle.

THE END OF JON AND KATE

Those who knew the couple, married in 1999, rooted for them as they tried to overcome Kate's polycystic ovarian syndrome by getting pregnant. After seeking fertility treatments, the pair welcomed twins Cara and Madelyn in 2000 and sextuplets Joel, Collin, Aaden, Leah, Hannah, and Alexis, in 2004.

Their unique situation of having sextuplets and twins carved the way for the family to be reality stars in their own show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8." For a while, the show was the talk of the town, but everything went downhill in 2009 when Jon reportedly had an affair with a teacher, Deanna Hummel.

Similarly, Kate was rumored to be having an affair with their family's bodyguard, Steve Neild. Although both Jon and Kate denied the allegations, their situation led to divorce by June of the same year. According to Kate, it was her husband who wanted the divorce.

"Jon has been asking for this for a long time. He does not want to be married to me anymore. No questions asked, he went and hired a lawyer and said, 'You'd better get one.' So I did," Kate revealed.

In 2010, Jon sued for primary custody for all eight of their children and claimed that Kate abused her authority during visit schedules. Although he dropped the charges, Jon filed yet another petition in 2014 for custody, claiming his ex-wife was parenting their kids the wrong way.

Jon took his two children, Hannah and Collin, while everyone else lived with Kate. "I'm going to focus [on] Hannah and Collin and their futures because they're in my house now and be the best parent I can for them," he said.

ALLEGED ABUSE TOWARDS COLLIN

During their custody battle, Jon accused Kate of mentally torturing Collin and sending him to a child and adolescent behavioral unit without his knowledge. He said that Kate sent their son away despite no diagnosed medical condition other than ADHD.

While Collin was "caged" for three years, Kate allegedly only visited him three times and refused to inform Jon of their son's whereabouts. According to the reality star, he received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services stating that Collin was involved in suspected abuse.

After further investigation, Jon learned that his then-11-year-old accused his mother of abuse multiple times. Jon also revealed that he received some five dozen letters over the years about Collin and their other children's involvement in suspected child abuse.

Following his experience, Jon claimed Collin suffered PTSD. In a letter Collin wrote in the institution, he said, as reported by Us Weekly:

"I told Mom I want to live with you, she said no [sic]. But right? She can't choose for me. I'm old enough now. I'm YOUR son, not hers. She was abusive to me after I left your house. I'm sorry [...]."

In 2020, two years after being rescued by his father, then 16-year-old Collin alleged that his father physically abused him by punching and kicking him.

Kate did not stay silent amidst the issue and was enraged with her ex-husband. "I will not stay silent anymore," she said. "Say whatever you want about me, and I'll stay on the high road. But you harm my children, I'm ready to fight back."

Conrad had a single mastectomy, downgrading her stage 2 cancer to stage 1.

JON'S LOVE LIFE AFTER KATE

Amidst the chaos within their family, Jon fell in love with his long-time friend, Colleen Conrad. After years, they unexpectedly bumped into each other, reconnected, and began a romantic relationship. The blended family lived happily together under one roof with Conrad's children.

Fortunately, Conrad has been a kind mother figure to Jon's kids, especially Collin. On one Mother's Day, the teen wrote a post dedicated to Conrad and failed to mention Kate. As reported by Daily Mail, he wrote:

"I could call it Mother's Day, but it's more than that, Colleen, you are so much more than a mother to me, you are one of my guidelines and one of my guiding lights [...]."

JON AND CONRAD BREAK UP

Sadly, after seven years of happiness, Jon and Conrad called it quits amidst her cancer battle. According to Jon, it was a difficult and "Incredibly sad" decision to make, but the split came amicably. He said:

"We had some struggles, and we tried to push through them as best we could, but it didn't really work out the way we thought it would. I still love and care for Coleen [...]."

Currently, Jon is ready to "start a new chapter" in his life. Nevertheless, he is still a constant source of support in Conrad's life.

SUPPORTING CONRAD

The couple's separation came at the height of the pandemic after seeking couple's therapy to resolve their issues. Conrad was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after, and despite the state of their relationship, Jon stood by his former lover.

Conrad had a single mastectomy, downgrading her stage 2 cancer to stage 1. Jon helped her through cancer and even used his medical insurance to pay off some bills. "I have very good medical insurance. It covers the whole family," he said.

As opposed to what others thought, Jon accompanied Conrad to several doctor's appointments and surgeries and tried to understand her cancer diagnosis. Despite their split, all has turned out well for the two.