Kate Gosselin and her kids are apparently going to help TLC promote its new Sarah Palin's Alaska reality documentary series.
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Gosselin and her eight children are currently in Alaska to film a Kate Plus 8 special that will feature the former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate, In Touch Weekly reported Thursday.
"Sarah, Kate and the kids will go camping," a source told the magazine.
In addition, Palin's father Charles Heath, a retired science teacher, and her brother Charles Heath Jr., a third-grade elementary school teacher, will "conduct a hands-on natural history lesson" for all eight Gosselin children during the family's Alaska visit, In Touch reported.
"She's excited because it will be fun and educational for the children. Sarah will even teach Kate how to avoid bears!" the source told In Touch about Palin.
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The In Touch report came after the publication of paparazzi photos which showed Gosselin and all eight children -- 9-year-old twins Cara and Mady, as well as 6-year-old sextuplets Aaden, Alexis, Collin, Hannah, Joel, and Leah -- visiting Anchorage's The Alaska Zoo and shopping at a local store on Wednesday.
Palin's representatives referred reporters to TLC when contacted about the In Touch report, while the network subsequently stated it had no comment.
Sarah Palin's Alaska, which TLC landed in March following a bidding war, will feature Palin spotlighting various aspects of life in Alaska. The eight-episode series is being produced by Survivor producer Mark Burnett.
The network has not announced when Sarah Palin's Alaska will debut, however Palin's Kate Plus 8 appearance won't mark the first time TLC has used the Gosselins -- its biggest stars -- to attempt to promote one of its other programs.
Last June, TLC broadcast an American Choppers/Jon & Kate Plus 8 crossover that began with an American Choppers episode that featured Jon Gosselin helping the show's stars build a custom motorcycle for him and concluded with a Jon & Kate Plus 8 episode in which American Choppers' stars delivered the bike and visited the family.
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Earlier that same month, it also broadcast a Jon & Kate Plus 8 episode in which Kate and the children visited Charm City Cakes, the Baltimore, MD custom cake shop featured on Food Network's Ace of Cakes reality series.
Ironically, TLC's decision to not let Jon keep the American Choppers motorcycle later became a minor issue in his feud with the network -- which featured TLC announcing plans to relaunch Jon & Kate Plus 8 as Kate Plus 8, Jon suddenly claiming the show was "detrimental" to his children, and TLC suing him for numerous contract violations after the couple's June divorce announcement.
Following the lawsuit settlement, TLC is now airing Kate Plus 8 as a series of occasional specials without Jon, who still remains under the network's control. Two sets of specials have aired thus far -- one on June 6 and the other on July 11.
About The Author: Steven Rogers