February 16, 2009, 08:45 AM
Jon + Kate = Disaster
Flipping through The New York Times yesterday, I came across a piece on Jon & Kate Plus 8, the reality show which follows a family with eight children. Train Wreck Factor, I thought in reaction to the story, titled "Big Brood Spawns Big Ratings." Unfair? Maybe, but train wreck describes my experience with Jon and Kate.
I interviewed Jon and Kate Gosselin for a Valentine's Day story called 8 Love Tips from Jon & Kate. While on the phone with the couple, Kate yelled at Jon for interrupting her, said he wasn't very good at communicating and generally treated him like he was a misbehaving child. After his initial attempts at answering my questions garnered such a response, Jon kept quiet.
The publicist, who was also on the phone, recognized the interview was spiraling out of control and suggested Kate tell me about renewing their vows in Hawaii. Kate lost it. She yelled into the phone, "I'm so sick of talking about Hawaii. It was really nice, but it's over and we just keep re-hashing it." Dead. Silence.
I asked a few more questions, trying to coax something, anything out of them. They juggle so much, there must be something they do to keep their marriage afloat. Kate said, "Marriage is a lot of work and anyone who says it's not is lying." OK, but what do you do to work on it? How do you work on it? Finally, Kate snapped, "This is stupid. I don't know why you're doing this story. We're not romantic or lovey. We're not that couple." She's right, I thought. Dead. Story.