Collin Gosselin is sending love to his younger self.
“Dear little me, you won’t always carry this alone,” Gosselin, 22, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, July 29, alongside a black-and-white throwback photo of his childhood self smiling while wearing a laser tag vest.
“One day, you’ll turn your pain into purpose, your silence into a voice, and your story into hope for other children,” he continued. “You will be the reason someone else speaks up. I’m so proud of you.”
Gosselin’s message comes three months before the release of his memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, which details his life during and after his time on the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8. The show ran from 2007 to 2017 and documented former couple Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raised twins Mady and Cara, 25, and sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Aaden, Joel, Alexis and Leah, all 22. Following Kate’s 2009 divorce from Jon, 49, the series was renamed Kate Plus 8.
“My life was always broadcast to millions, but what was actually happening in my life was never shown — in fact, much of it was deliberately kept hidden,” Collin exclusively told Us in June. “For years, other people told my story through headlines, television episodes and public speculation.”
He continued, “Now, finally, I’m sharing what was really happening behind the scenes. This book is about truth, survival, resilience and finding my voice after years of being silenced. If my story helps even one person feel less alone or gives them the courage to tell their own, then every difficult page was worth writing.”
The book is also expected to detail Collin’s estranged relationship with Kate, 51, whom he alleged emotionally and physically abused him by keeping him tied up in a basement as a child. Later, when he was 11 years old, Collin was admitted to a behavioral institution, claiming that his mother sent him away to keep him from speaking out about the alleged abuse. Kate has denied her son’s allegations, claiming that he exhibited “unpredictable and violent behavior” growing up.
“Collin is finally sharing the truth about being held down, the basement cell where he was hidden for years and the cocktail of powerful antipsychotics forced on an 11-year-old boy,” the book’s description teased. “This is a reckoning with the dark side of fame: the systems, the entourage, and the institutions that allowed one boy to be erased.”
Kate addressed Collin’s abuse allegations in TikTok comments last month, revealing whether she planned to take legal action against her son.
“The rules are different for ppl in the public eye. I consulted a high power LA attorney (you’ve definitely heard of him) years ago when other ppl were putting crazy stuff out there and that’s what he said,” she wrote. “The courts don’t honor it if you’re in the public eye :(.”
In the Shadow of Eight hits shelves on October 13.
