'Jon & Kate' star Kate Gosselin not surprised by nanny's affair claims

Kate Gosselin said she wouldn't be surprised if recent allegations that her estranged husband Jon had an affair with a part-time babysitter for the Jon & Kate Plus 8 stars' children turned out to be true.


"Just based on the behavior of the last several months, am I surprised?  No," Kate said as guest co-host during Friday's The View broadcast when asked about the allegations of Stephanie Santoro, a 23-year-old single mom who previously worked as a waitress at Legends, a local bar Jon visits regularly.

"It goes back to the police being called, the whole babysitter thing.  This is the babysitter I objected to and I couldn't tell you why at that time.  It was just like my mother's intuition.  I did not want her there."

Santoro alleged in In Touch Weekly's current issue that she had sex nine times with the Jon & Kate Plus 8 star during the month she served as a part-time nanny for his eight kids.

Before the allegations were made, Santoro was at the center of an argument between Jon and Kate last month when he had custody of their eight children and decided to use Santoro as a babysitter.


Police were subsequently called to the couple's Wernersville, PA home to break up a verbal argument that resulted from Jon refusing to allow Kate access to the property after she called and learned Santoro was babysitting.

Jon subsequently called it a "miscommunication" between himself and Kate and added he didn't have a babysitter when it was his turn for filming TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8, so he called his "babysitter Steph and she came over and watched for filming.  She's always available -- like some of our babysitters live far away."

However Kate contends that Jon "omitted a lot of the facts" when the story surrounding their argument broke.

"I learned that he asked this babysitter to come over," said Kate on The View. "He was not going to be home.  It started out very friendly.  I called him and I said, 'If you're not going to be home, can I come home and be with the kids.' I mean I don't care if he's not going to be there, I'd rather be there.  It turned into this big thing, [he said], 'No, it's my custody day.'"

Kate added that it wasn't the first time Jon had used Santoro as a babysitter.


"I think that my main issue with her at the time was not her necessarily," she explained.  "It was that intuition, but it was also I just fell like anyone going through a divorce, when you have children involved, my opinion is both parents should be involved with the hiring of any babysitters.  These are still my children whether I'm present or away."

"So it was his custody day, and you heard he was hiring a babysitter that you didn't approve of so you went over there?" The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked.

"He had used her before, and I -- again -- my alarms and whistles went off and I didn't quite no why," replied Kate.  "I had asked him kindly, 'Can you use our approved babysitters that we have?' For whatever reason, he used this girl again, called her again to babysit."

"Well we know what the reason is now," added The View co-host Joy Behar, a reference to Jon's alleged relationship with Santoro.

"Well we don't know," interjected Goldberg since Jon has yet to publicly confirm or deny Santoro's allegations. 


"I'm trying to understand what happened first of all, because I'm getting a little confused because if it was his turn with the kids and he hired someone, was it someone you knew and you knew you didn't like or what happened."

"It was this girl that was in this [In Touch] article, and I had never met her.  I still have never met her," answered Kate. 

"And I didn't approve of her because what I'm telling you is my intuition was saying, 'No, no, no.'  And I didn't know why.  Again, going back, it started out with a friendly phone call -- me saying, 'Hey, can I be there with the kids if you're not going to be.'  Because essentially when I don't have custody, I'm in hiding from the paparazzi, literally.  I'm close to home."

"But you kind of knew he wasn't going to say yes because it was his time," said Goldberg.

"I was hoping for the sake of the kids he would [say yes]," answered Kate.


"But it was his time and he was doing what he was doing," said Goldberg.  "I'm trying to figure out what made you go over there."

"It was wrong of me in the end to appear on his custody day, but I was really hoping for the sake of the kids that he would see that, I'm saying, 'Look, I'm available and I'm free and I'm there mom,'" explained Kate.

"I'm sorry, I understand that," replied Goldberg. 

"But when you go into a custody thing with someone, you have your specific time and their specific time, and you're not supposed to walk on.  I'm sorry, that's the law.  You could have gone to jail. Do you realize that?"

"I have learned my lesson and I learned it was not a good thing," answered a contrite Kate. 


"I just do need to say that in all of this heat, the kids were not present and I actually showed up and cried.  I did not say a word.  I sat at the gate and just sobbed.  I realized that I was wrong and it was his custody.  Will I do it again?  No.  But to me, a babysitter I never met or approved of, it bothers me."

Goldberg reiterated the public is unaware if Santoro's allegations are true or not.

"I'm not saying it's true or false.  All I'm talking about is what my intuition is saying," said Kate.  "The bottom line of this background story is I have never met this babysitter and it makes me uncomfortable regardless."

In addition to discussing Santoro's relationship with her estranged husband, Kate also used her The View appearance to deny a recent Star Magazine report that she has been offered $400,000 to pose nude for Playboy.

"There's a rumor that I was asked to pose for Playboy, and it's been going on all across the world for a week.  It never happened," she said.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio