Jon Gosselin, 44, is a single man again. The father of eight confirmed to The Sun on Thursday (Aug. 12) that he and his girlfriend of seven years, Colleen Conrad, have broken up. Jon said that while he’s “incredibly sad” the relationship is over, he’s ready to “start a new chapter” in his life. “It’s hard, it was a big decision. We have been together for seven years which is a long time, so it’s very upsetting,” he told the publication.
The former Jon and Kate Plus 8 star explained that his romance with Colleen, a nurse practitioner, became “fraught” while they were isolating together amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year. “We had some struggles and we tried to push through them as best we could, but it didn’t really work out the way we thought it would,” Jon told The Sun. “I still love and care for Colleen but we’ve both determined that it’s the natural end.”
Rumors of Jon and Colleen’s split first swirled when Colleen didn’t mention her longtime beau while announcing her breast cancer diagnosis on Aug. 7. Colleen shared the difficult news via Instagram and said that she was “putting off” announcing her diagnosis, but finally decided to do so. “On 4/21, I got the call that is confirmed it was cancer,” she wrote. “Stage 2, triple-negative breast cancer. I was BRCA1 and 2 negative. Everything seemed so surreal.”
Colleen mentioned a few people who were there to support her during the tough time, but Jon’s name was clearly left out. “I was also lucky enough to have support through amazing friends and family but mostly my 2 kids Jesse and Jordan and my sister Debbie,” she said. “Even though My sister was 1200 miles away. She was always there supporting me. I have one last surgery in about 2 months but I feel good!!”
Before their split, Colleen and Jon last made a public mention of each other around last Christmas, when Jon shared a pic of a decorated Christmas tree with the caption, “Getting there, Colleen did amazing!!!” Prior to that, Colleen shared cozy photos of them in an anniversary post in November 2020 when they celebrated dating for six years. “We’ve been through a lot together and everyday I love you more and more,” Colleen wrote.
As fans known, Jon shares eight children with his ex wife Kate Gosselin. Jon only has full custody of two of the kids, Collin and Hannah, 17. Kate, meanwhile, has custody of the six other children who remain estranged from their father: twins Mady and Cara, 20, and Hannah and Collin’s fellow sextuplets Alexis, Joel, Aaden, and Leah, 17.