Jon Gosselin’s girlfriend, Stephanie Lebo, praised his parenting skills amid his ongoing feud with ex-wife Kate Gosselin.
“A judge awarded him custody for a reason. … It takes a lot in the state of Pennsylvania for the judge to award full custody to a father, it’s usually veered towards the mother,” Lebo, 35, told The U.S. Sun during a Thursday, August 3, interview, pushing back against “people [who] say that Jon is a bad father.”
Lebo added that Jon, 46, is a father figure to her daughter from a previous relationship — 13-year-old Giuliana — even though he “doesn’t have to do that.”
She continued: “I think sometimes with Kate and other people Jon has been around — is it something to do with your childhood, growing up? [Were] there some issues — is that why you are how you are?”
Lebo’s comments come after two of Kate, 48, and Jon’s sextuplets — 19-year-old Hannah and Collin, whom Jon gained custody of in 2018 — spoke out against their mom in a July episode of the docuseries Dark Side of the 2000s. (Jon and Kate also share Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel, all 19, and twins Mady and Cara, 22.)
During the episode, Hannah claimed that Collin was often “separated” from his siblings as a child. “He would not get to come outside and play with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us,” she alleged. “I don’t think effort was made in the home to help him learn what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not acceptable.”
Collin — whom Kate sent to Fairmount Behavioral Health Institution in 2016 to address his “special needs” — has long been estranged from his mom, who initially gained full custody of her eight children after she and Jon split in 2009. Collin went to live with his dad after he left the institution in 2018.
In Dark Side of the 2000s, Collin alleged that his mom sent him away after he started telling people that she was “abusive” toward him. “I was starting to tell people what was going on at home, and she caught wind of that and had to put me somewhere where I wouldn’t be able to get the secrets out,” he claimed.
After the episode aired, both Kate and Collin’s sister Mady spoke out denying his version of events.
“I have never wanted to do this; but I feel I have been backed into a corner and left with no choice,” Kate’s lengthy Instagram statement began. She went on to claim that Collin had “received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years” and was admitted to an institution after he allegedly had “one of his many attacks/outbursts — this one involving his use of a weapon.”
Mady, meanwhile, claimed via her Instagram Story that Collin had “physically threatened [her] and every member of [her] immediate family” as recently as last year, noting that she would “never allow someone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior” to be part of her life.
A rep for Jon subsequently called Kate’s claims about Collin “cruel” and “false” via a statement to The U.S. Sun. “[This] seems to be just another way for her to justify her inexcusable horrific past behavior toward him,” the rep’s July statement continued. “True love for a child wouldn’t include a mother attacking their son to the public. … Do not forget that a judge awarded sole legal and physical custody of Collin to his father.”
Despite the ongoing family drama, Jon — who remains estranged from his other six children — recently shared a piece of good news, going public with Lebo after two years of secretly dating.
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“We met at a backyard barbecue at a mutual friend Dean’s house,” he told The U.S. Sun on Tuesday, August 1, noting that the pair “never stopped talking” after they first connected.
Jon added that he previously thought all his “relationships were going to be a struggle,” but found that things came “easy” with Lebo. “I feel it’s taken 19 years to find Steph. All the trials and tribulations, the heartbreak, the fighting and worrying about who is going to talk about me to the press, then finally I meet Steph,” he said.
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