Kendra Wilkinson Recalls 'Celeb Wife Swap' With Kate Gosselin: 'Awkward at Times'
Kendra Wilkinson is looking back on her experience with Collin Gosselin and his siblings as his new memoir about his complicated childhood makes headlines.
“Did you notice anything about Collin when you visited the Celebrity Wife Swap episode?” a fan asked Wilkinson, 41, via Instagram on Thursday, October 22, referring to the 2013 episode of the reality show where she swapped places with Kate Gosselin and spent time with her eight children. (Kate, 51, was already divorced from ex-husband Jon Gosselin at the time of filming.)
Wilkinson admitted it was a “long time ago,” but she noted there was something that stuck out about Collin, now 22, from that timeframe. “I remember he leaned on me a little,” she recalled.
The Girl Next Door alum confessed, “I did feel bad and awkward filming at times.” (Collin has claimed in his new book, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, that his mom abused him as a child, which Kate has previously denied.)
Collin Gosselin Shares Throwback Video from 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' Amid Memoir
Wilkinson explained that her uneasiness about swapping houses and kids for the show helped her connect to all the Gosselin children.
“There was a moment [when] I gathered the kids and I told them to run from the cameras into the woods,” she shared. “We all ran away. [It] was a moment I’ll never forget.”
Kate and Jon, 49, were married 10 years before they unveiled their divorce in 2009. Prior to their split, the pair let fans into their lives on TLC’s Jon and Kate Plus 8 alongside their kids: twins Mady and Cara, now 26, and sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Leah, Alexis, Joel and Aaden, now 22.
Wilkinson, for her part, was married to former NFL wide receiver Hank Baskett when she appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap. The former couple shared a son Hank, now 16, when she picked up her life and filled in for single mom Kate on the ABC series.
Kate Gosselin and her sextuplets on ‘Kate Plus 8.’ TLC/Everett Collection
Wilkinson, who later welcomed daughter Alijah, 12, with Baskett, 44, exclusively told Us in February 2013 how worried she was to step into Kate’s shoes — even if it was for a short period of time. (Wilkinson and Baskett divorced in 2018 after nine years of marriage.)
“Finding out that I was switching with her with eight kids — I wanted to run!” she confessed. “I wasn’t necessarily thinking about the domestic side of things — and trust me, I needed a lot of help with that.”
The former Playboy model pointed out at the time that she and Kate were “complete polar opposites,” explaining that Kate “believes that pretty much one minute away from your kids is something you’ll regret. I believe the opposite, that you sometimes have to spend time away from your kids to be happy.”
Collin Gosselin Says Happiest Memories With Mom Kate Were 'Fabricated' for TV
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