Kate Gosselin Says ‘Sickening’ Legal Bills Forced Her Back To 12-Hour Nursing Shifts

Kate Gosselin is getting candid about why she’s back to grueling 12-hour nursing shifts, and it has nothing to do with missing the scrubs.

The former “Jon & Kate Plus 8” star took to TikTok to share a glimpse of her “long day” as a home health care nurse.

When a fan asked why she returned to the demanding full-time job, Kate Gosselin didn’t hold back.

“Honestly? Providing for 8 kids,” the 49-year-old mom replied. “College funds which I am proud to say covered all of their college and more and LAWYERS.”

She went on to call the situation “sickening”, explaining, “I was drug into court constantly and that costs A TON. Sad because my kids could have a lot more saved and I could have a retirement saved if it weren’t for lawyers.”

Still, she said she’s made peace with the reality, “It’s okay. I’m helping other families and I feel needed and I enjoy helping.”

Another follower questioned why the former TLC star even had to work after years on television. Gosselin responded that her reality TV paychecks weren’t as hefty as people might assume, especially when raising eight kids solo.

“Reality TV doesn’t pay as well as it should when you have to provide for 8 kids on your own,” she explained.

Gosselin’s last reality appearance was in 2023 on the first season of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” though she left during the first episode due to injury. She also headlined the short-lived TLC spin-off “Kate Plus Date” in 2019.

These days, she’s more active on TikTok than TV, sharing workday prep videos and even featuring rare cameos from her kids, including 21-year-old daughter Alexis, who recently helped her mom pack lunch.

After her high-profile 2009 divorce from Jon Gosselin, the mother of eight found herself “drug into court constantly” over custody and other disputes.

What started as a battle for custody of their children stretched on for years, with hearings, filings, and legal fees piling up. At one point, Gosselin lost custody of two of her sextuplets, Hannah and Collin, after missing a court hearing in 2018, a shift that followed numerous contentious exchanges in family court.

Jon has claimed he spent over $1.3 million fighting for custody, and Gosselin’s own legal bills drained much of what she’d hoped to save for retirement.

In one separate legal battle, Gosselin was hit with a more than $10,000 bill after a marriage counselor took her to court over unpaid fees.

Therapist Sylvia Lafair, of Creative Energy Options, claimed she had a verbal agreement with the couple to fly to Los Angeles in March 2009 to provide counseling. According to Lafair, Gosselin later refused to cover her travel costs and services. Gosselin, however, told the court she never made such an arrangement, insisting Lafair was Jon’s therapist and only came along because Jon wouldn’t agree to the trip without her.

Despite her defense, the judge ultimately ordered Gosselin to pay up.

Looking back, she says the money spent on lawyers could have gone toward her children’s future and her own security, but instead, the courtroom became a revolving door, and an expensive one at that.

Kate and her ex-husband Jon rose to fame in 2007 when “Jon & Kate Plus 8” premiered on TLC, documenting life with their twins, Cara and Mady, now 24, and their sextuplets, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel, all now 21.

After the couple’s messy 2009 split, the series was rebranded as “Kate Plus 8,” which ran until 2017.

Now, years after living life in front of cameras, Kate is quietly clocking in as a nurse, still supporting her big brood, but without the TV lights and production crews.