Kate Gosselin is wishing she could turn back time.
The Jon & Kate Plus 8 alum reminisced about life raising her and ex Jon Gosselin’s twins Cara and Mady, both 24, as well as 21-year-old sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel, sharing throwback photos of her kids just hours after Collin penned an emotional message to his estranged siblings.
“I just wanted to preface and tell you a story about the photos I’m about to show you,” Kate said in an August 11 TikTok video, before including various photos of her kids when they were little. “It was in 2010, so the kids were 6. Maddy and Cara would’ve been 9.”
At this point, much of the Gosselin children’s lives were showcased on their parents’ TLC show, which premiered in 2007 and ran even after Jon and Kate’s messy divorce in 2009. (The show was later retitled Kate Plus 8 and continued to air until 2017.)
“Deanna, our makeup artist friend—do you remember her from our show?” Kate continued. “She came one summer morning, and we decided she was gonna do makeup on the girls and mustaches and beards on the boys.”
So, that’s exactly what they did on the patio of their Pennsylvania home—and Kate still has the adorable photos to prove it.
“They are the most precious pictures,” the 50-year-old gushed. “I totally had forgotten about them. I came across them the other day, and I cannot wait to share them because the kids are so happy with the results and they’re so cute and it was such a fun little silly summer project to do together. I totally forgot about it.”
“I hope you enjoy these pictures,” she added. “They’re really cute. I wish I could go back.”
For his part, Collin—who lives with his father and sister Hannah while he remains estranged from his mother and six other siblings—recently expressed a similar sentiment. However, he didn’t remember their time together always being so positive.
“Born to be a team, us against the world,” he wrote over an old family photo shared to TikTok August 8. “Forced to do it alone, and wonder everyday what our lives could’ve looked like.”
Because the way he remembered it, his and his siblings’ younger years were often accompanied by their parents’ cheating allegations, custody battles and estranged relationships.
“Forced apart, pitted against each other,” Collin continued in the caption. “All the fame and money in the world, but what about kids being kids?”
In fact, back in 2023, he went as far as blaming his mother for their broken family dynamics, claiming that she drove a social barrier between them. After all, she sent him to a boarding school for children with behavioral issues back in 2016, which she said was on the advice of his doctors, before his father stepped in to remove him two years later.
But even so, Collin yearns for the relationship that could have been between him and his seven siblings.
“I will always love them more than anything,” he added. “The tears I shed behind closed doors, thinking about the memories we could’ve shared. I love you guys…”
For more of the Gosselin family through the years, keep reading…
Sextuplets Turn 21
Sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel turned 21 on May 10, 2025, and Kate shared pics from the latter four’s birthday celebration.
Hannah’s 21st Birthday Celebration
Hannah celebrated her birthday with her dad and his fiancée Stephanie Lebo.
Sextuplets’ 20th Birthday
On Mother’s Day 2024, two days after the former couple’s sextuplets turned 20, Kate shared a tribute the four who lived with her: Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah.
“No more teenagers in this house! Happy 20th birthday, my forever babies! I love you!” she wrote on Instagram. “Who feels old? I know I do! #20yearsold #ItsaPICKLE.”
Hannah’s Birthday Post
Hannah shared new pics of herself on her and the other sextuplet’s 20th birthday.
Hannah the Graduate
On to the next chapter! The sextuplet graduated from high school in 2023.
High School Graduates
Jon shared a pic of sextuplets Collin and Hannah graduating from high school in 2023, years after they had moved in with him.
Girls’ Trip
Kate appeared with twin Mady and Cara in New York City in this 2019 pic.
All Grown-Up
“Happy 18th birthday!” Jon wrote on Instagram in 2022. “Today is your birthday we gonna say it loud. I love you. Love, Dad.”
Birthday Bash
“Our big celebration of #15 is finally winding down here! We celebrated ALL DAY LONG, beginning with a present at 6:30 am before school! I’m so very thankful for my ‘babies’…. somehow they are 15 already?!” Kate wrote on the special milestone in 2019. “I’m amazed by them each day! I’m so proud of the positive qualities I’ve seen developing as they edge closer to adulthood.”
Back to Class
“This was yesterday! Feels like school never ended…and they’re already back! #SeniorYear #EighthGrade #ProudMom,” Kate wrote on Instagram in 2018.
Birthday Greetings
“Happy 15th Birthday Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah!!!! Wow I can’t believe you are 15!!! Time is flying by!!!” Jon Gosselin shared on Instagram when posing with Hannah and Collin Gosselin. “I love you all very much. I wish you the best day ever and I hope you enjoy your birthday celebrations today and this weekend!!! Love always, Dad.”
Girl Power
“My beautiful ‘little girls’ …. they keep reminding me how many days until they turn 14. Today it was ’12 days til we turn 14, Mom.’ HOW’S THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!” Kate shared with her followers in 2018. “I told Leah that she’s too small to turn 14. She said ‘Yeah, true. Are you sure I’m not turning 11 or 12?’ I’m positive. I gave birth to you. They’ll always be my babies….I love them so very much!”
Growing Up Gosselin
“I can’t believe they’re 13!” Kate Gosselin wrote on Instagram when celebrating a major birthday for her sextuplets.
Greetings From Alaska
Rewind to 2014 when Kate and her children found themselves visiting Alaska.
Girls Trip
Kate also treated her twin daughters Cara Gosselin and Mady Gosselin to a trip to New York City in 2014, where they stopped by the Manhattan Hotel.
Happy Holidays
“A precious Christmas memory. My 6 were 6. Christmas Eve 2010 and they’re SO excited for Christmas!” Kate Gosselin wrote on Instagram with a throwback photo. “Look at those adorable smiles! #TheyAreMyHeart #My8ReasonsToKeepOnKeepingOn #NoMatterWhat #TrueLoveX8.”
Camera Ready
Back in October 2007, Jon and Kate Gosselin gathered their eight kids together for a trip to New York City. First stop? A visit to NBC’s Today show.
