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  • Children who grow up in front of reality television cameras often feel misunderstood.

  • Throughout their lives, Kate Plus 8 stars Mady and Cara Gosselin have had to clarify

  • different aspects of their highly publicized childhoods.

  • Not everything you read or hear about them is true, of course, and these girls aren't

  • afraid to speak their minds about what's really going on.

  • Here are some things you may not know about Mady and Cara Gosselin.

  • "Okay, story time people."

  • "I'll back her up."

  • First reactions

  • When Kate and Jon Gosselin decided to end their relationship, Mady and Cara were the

  • first ones to hear about it.

  • Apparently, the girls had very different responses, and Mady was less than shocked to learn the

  • news.

  • Kate told People magazine that Mady's response was,

  • "I can't say this comes as much of a surprise.

  • I could've guessed."

  • However, Cara had the opposite reaction at first.

  • According to Kate, Cara, quote, "just crumpled into tears," and told her mother,

  • "You said it was bad but it would turn out good."

  • Kate responded with,

  • "Because it is bad.

  • But it will turn out good.

  • You'll see.

  • I promise you that."

  • Done with Jon

  • It's no secret that Jon is not on great terms with all of his children.

  • "Mady and Cara I don't see that much, or often.

  • We're kind of not talking right now."

  • His split from Kate in June 2009 led to a nasty divorce battle, and the kids naturally

  • took sides.

  • Although it's not clear what specifically drove Mady and Cara Gosselin away from Jon,

  • one thing is for certainthey don't want him in their lives.

  • Mady told People in August 2016,

  • "He makes it seem like we're being kept from him, which is insane.

  • He should maybe spend some time thinking about why we don't want to see him, and maybe realize

  • that if he ever does want a relationship with us, talking about us on TV is not the way

  • to make that happen."

  • Jon's dating

  • When Jon called it quits with Kate, his love life took off in a major way, and Mady and

  • Cara weren't too thrilled about it.

  • According to Us Weekly, Gosselin dated six women prior to settling down with his longtime

  • girlfriend, Colleen Conrad, in 2015.

  • Mady told People that Jon had, quote,

  • "...lots of girlfriends.

  • Like, maybe it wasn't so normal to have someone new, like, every week."

  • Cara took the shade a step further, adding,

  • "Every day, every minute, every second!"

  • "You didn't need to say that, you DIDN'T need to say that."

  • No time for drama

  • Cara and Mady must have inherited Kate's Type A personality because they both seem very

  • motivated.

  • The girls don't want to waste time on negativityand this includes their dad.

  • In August 2016, before she turned 16, Mady explained to People magazine,

  • "I'm going to be learning to drive, taking the PSATs, thinking about college […] So

  • much is going on in my life.

  • And the last thing I have time for is a toxic relationship."

  • Sorry, Jon.

  • Worried about mom

  • Cara and Mady may get irritated with Kate at times....

  • "I'm sorry … I don't accept your apology."

  • ... but they still worry about her.

  • Following news in April 2018 that she got her own dating show, Kate Plus Date, Kate

  • opened up about the her daughters' fears to People magazine, saying,

  • "As we're talking about Mady and Cara going off to college, [...] it almost became like

  • a worry for them, too, like 'Mommy, you're gonna be all alone soon.'

  • [...] They want me to have somebody in my life."

  • "Better than ever"

  • As it turns out, Cara and Mady both claim that neither their reality show nor their

  • parents' divorce have been traumatizing for them.

  • "A lot of people think that filming our show has damaged us but it's only really helped."

  • Mady explained on a January 2014 episode of The View that since they were so young at

  • the time of the divorce, the experience wasn't too difficult.

  • She also told People magazine,

  • "People expect us to be damaged.

  • They think we're supposed to be so messed up, like, 'Ooh, the poor Gosselin kids, they're

  • going to be scarred for life, waaaaaaah.'"

  • Cara agreed with her sister, adding,

  • "It's so false, we're fine.

  • We're better than ever, actually."

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Children who grow up in front of reality television cameras often feel misunderstood.

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