Their marriage may be crumbling, their faces may be plastered on the cover of every supermarket tabloid, and their eight children may soon be living in a broken home, but at least Jon and Kate Gosselin can find one upside in their endless marital drama: the ratings for Monday’s season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus Eight were huge.
The hourlong episode attracted an astounding 9.8 million U.S. viewers, nearly double the audience for March’s Season 4 finale, Entertainment Weekly reports. It was also TLC’s most-watched show ever.
The episode benefited from an increased interest in the reality TV family, since allegations of the Gosselins’ rumoured affairs and marriage troubles have dominated the press for weeks.
Though the episode attempted to follow the reality show’s usual kid-focused format — with Kate corralling the troops to organize a fifth birthday party for the sextuplets — it also managed to address the couple’s marital woes. In separate interviews, the 34-year-old mother said her husband has “made poor decisions and we have to live with it,” while Jon maintained that he did not cheat on Kate and that “people are getting paid off [by the tabloids] to say whatever they want to say.”
“I did not sign up for the public scrutiny of everything,” added Kate.
Their supposed hatred of the media attention did not stop the pair from releasing a statement to the press immediately after the episode aired, saying: “As many couples do, we are navigating a very difficult time. Our current situation brings us together around the children and some times sets us apart. We keep our faith that we will make the right decisions for our family.”
