Jon & Kate Plus 8 Season Premiere:Jon and Kate Plus 8 Divorce Rumors

Jon & Kate Plus 8 kicked off season 5 on Monday May 25, 2009. The long awaited new ‘first’ episode have finally aired on TLC, and many of us are viewing the reality show from a different perspective and a good deal of skepticism.The show has morphed into something far removed from when Jon and Kate had no time for anything other than tending to family. The Gosselin’s have become very successful, receiving $50,000 per episode. This has allowed them to shed their old home and plunk down money on a $1.35 million estate in Wernersville, PA.

Kate is no longer the ‘organic’ cook. She doesn’t do the laundry. The family has a personal chef, housekeeper, behind the scenes caregivers, a gardener and Kate has a personal assistant. So the ‘crazy life’ they used to speak of is history. That is not to say that things aren’t still crazy - just in a very different way.

Kate’s brother Kevin Kreider and his wife Jodi have shared the fact that the reality show IS NOT real. Even TLC has acknowledged that the couple are struggling with marital issues. We have also recently heard that the rift between Jodi and Kate occurred when TLC wanted to pay Aunt Jodi, and feature her more often on the show. Kate wouldn’t allow it.We’ve heard that Jon has signed a contract that says he can do his own thing, provided he shows up on filming days. He is reported to be staying in an apartment over their three car garage.

On the new episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8, the birthday party planning and celebration activities were interspersed between candid snippets of conversation regarding the deterioration of the Gosselin marriage. Kate said, “Very swiftly we turned into two different people and it’s just hard.”Kate admits that she has been hard on Jon while they have been raising the children. But she doesn’t believe that it has driven Jon to his currently situation. She emphasized several times that he has made some very poor decisions and she has a lot of anger, and doesn’t appear willing to take any of the blame for his “eratic behavior”.

She admits that for at least the past six months, and probably longer, Jon has resented her extensive travel schedule while he has been left at home to tend to the eight children. Kate was quick to say that Jon has help at home and isn’t shouldering the burden all on his own, as some might think.We heard Kate say multiple times that she loves what she does. Jon, on the other hand, can only be described as miserable. He looks puffy and like he may be on medication. His speech is slower and he seems less alert. Kate says he suddenly hates their fans. She admits that she used to as well but now really appreciates them - even the naysayers, because they keep her in line.

While getting the kids ready to head to the party store, Kate mentioned that Jon needed the weekend off and would not be home. This seems to lend credence to the rumors that they have been living apart. Kate has been relying more heavily on Cara and Mady when she is solo parenting.Jon admitted that what started out to be a way to document his kids lives has turned into a business. He stresses that it is not the life he would have chosen, but it is the life he had handed to him when the sextuplets were conceived.

Kate loves her life but acknowledges that being on the road and away from the kids has a downside. Recently one of her kids called her by the babysitter’s name. It brought on a case of guilt, but she believes that as long as her brood is happy, healthy, safe and loved, then she will continue with the book tours and a full media schedule.We saw tears from Kate as she shared the statistic that parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate. As far as what the future holds, they weren’t sure. While the couple are clearly heading in two different directions right now, they vow to remain focused on the kids.

Meanwhile Kate Gosselin's sister-in-law Julie is urging viewers not to watch TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 premiere tonight. Over the weekend, she blogged : .... I hope that the older girls do not find the website and see all of the things written about them.