Trouble In Gosselin Land - What Will Happen?

On the eve of the fifth season premiere Jon & Kate Plus 8 (watch a preview here), there’s trouble in Gosselin land.  “Everything’s falling apart,” says Kate in a new preview for the show

Such is the status of TLC’s hit reality series thanks to recent reports of Jon’s infidelity and Kate’s iron-fisted ways.  No one is denying events that seem to threaten the stability of the couple’s nearly 10 year marriage.  Even the network’s promo’s urging viewers to watch take advantage of the marital trouble, saying, “There are two sides to every story.”

The rift has turned the cable show into one of TV’s hottest items.  Just two months ago, the fourth season finale drew an audience of 4.6 million, a large number by cable’s standards.  Expectations are even higher now that it’s entered pop culture’s zeitgeist.  A recent Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” joked of replacement shows, “Jon Plus 4 and Kate Plus 4,” and even respectable newspapers have noted that promos feature Jon and Kate being interviewed separately, a significant change from previous seasons.

“I can’t be myself,” Jon said in one of his testimonials. “I’m not feeling so hot right now. I might as well be in prison.

Reports have him living above the garage in the couple’s $1.1 million home.

“I don’t know that we’re in the same place anymore, that we want the same thing,” Gosselin told People magazine. “I’ve been struggling with the question of ‘Who is this person?’ for a while.”

She’s not the only one asking questions. A headline in the New York Daily News wondered, “How will Jon & Kate deal with their marital fate?”

The Gosselins don’t know.  “I feel like the world is sitting on my shoulders,” Kate says in a clip from the new show.  “I will not give up. I will not lay down and die.”

Are Jon & Kate splitting up?

In an ideal world, right now fans would be discussing the Gosselin’s new house, the sextuplet’s recent fifth birthday party and Kate’s new hairdo, which did send fansites into a tizzy for a moment.

Click here to see photos of the Gosselins.

But that turned into a memory of simpler times when Jon, 32 was caught partying with 23-year-old school teacher Deanna Hummel into the wee hours of the night at the Legends Lounge nightclub near his Pennsylvania home. Although both denied any wrong-doing other than bad judgment, Hummel’s brother, Jason, confirmed the affair to Us magazine, admitting that he heard the two being romantic at their house.

See our 8 essential facts about Jon & Kate

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“A lot of the time, it was pretty, um, gross listening to her, you know, um — how do I say this? The walls are thin,” he told the magazine. “Let’s just say that. I mean, no one wants to hear his sister having sex, let alone with a married dude who’s, like, almost twice her age and who has eight kids and a maybe-crazy wife. Ick. Nast.”

E! News exclusive: Brother confirms affair.

In a statement, Jon said, “It is certainly hurtful for people to spread rumors and lies about us. It certainly makes me reluctant to live my life like the average person would. This has made it very clear that the simplest innocent gesture — such as taking a picture with a fan, can be taken out of context. As you can see on the show, I am not perfect, but I am a part of a loving family and couple.”

Really? In follow-up interviews with People, the Today Show, Larry King and Rachel Ray, a tense-looking Kate intimated otherwise. “It’s one of those things that we’re just handling privately,” she told Rachel Ray. “We’re just taking it one step at a time and I’m trying to walk through it.”

Instead of a sympathetic portrayal in the media, as has been routine since the Gosselins’ TV debut in April 2007, Kate experienced the opposite treatment. An Us magazine cover story called her a “monster” and claimed the “short-fused,” type A former nurse had fired 40 staffers in the past three months.

Watch the origins of Jon & Kate.

Rumors also emerged that she might have gotten too close with her bodyguard, a story that didn’t seem to hold much water after bodyguard Steve Nield’s wife called the story “ridiculous.”

Kate denies bodyguard affair.

Further complicating matters, Kate’s brother Keith Kreider and his wife Jodi came out against the Gosselin’s. In an interview with Star magazine, the Kreiders claimed Jon and Kate are living under a “secret marriage contract”. According to the contract Jon is allowed to have extramarital affairs as long as he lives together with the family for the sake of the show.

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In her interview with People, she blamed the tabloids for creating a personal hell. But privately she appeared to reserve ample blame for her husband, particularly after she was seen leaving their sextuplets birthday party in separate cars. How will this affect their show? Insiders have already noted that promos for the new season feature Jon and Kate facing the camera alone.

Over the years, the Gosselins have handled their share of dirty diapers. But this might be a mess they can’t clean up as easily.

Watch previews and past episodes of the new season of ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8.’

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