JON Gosselin has revealed he now has a “ninth child” after becoming a stepfather to his new girlfriend’s daughter, Giulianna, 13.
In an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, Jon, 46, and his new girlfriend, Stephanie Lebo, 35, revealed they have moved into a large five-bedroom home together in Pennsylvania.
The new couple made the comments during a romantic break at the luxury Ette Hotel in Orlando, Florida, an upmarket resort, which is becoming a fast favorite with celebrities.
Jon and Stephanie opened up about the ups and downs of adjusting to their new blended family - which includes Jon and his two kids Collin and Hannah, and Stephanie and her daughter.
Jon told The U.S. Sun: “We’ve been living together for a while but we just got our first home together in June.
“We both sold our houses and now we’re renting a place. We’re both on the lease, I’ve never had that ever. We want to buy eventually but for now we are happy renting.
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“It’s a big five-bedroom house and we wanted a big space so our families can come and hang out and come for holidays.
“We were previously in a smaller place but now all our families can come together, our friends can come over, it’s perfect.
“We don’t go out as much because we love being at home.”
He said the two families had settled in and are enjoying living together.
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Jon said: “We are all pretty much living together."
“Collin was living on his own but then he came to live with us for a few days before he went to go to the Marines.
“Hannah floats in and out, she stays here a few times a week when she’s not with her boyfriend. And Giulianna, Steph’s daughter lives with us. So we are all living together.
“It was a bit of an adjustment period. Most of our arguments were about our kids not doing enough around the house. I don’t want to lie I want to keep it real - life isn’t always perfect.
“I feel I’m always saying, ‘Put your dish in the dishwasher' and no one listens!”
HAPPY FAMILIES
Stephanie said her relationship with Hannah is now super close, even though it was a little cool to begin with.
She said: “When I first met Hannah she wouldn’t let me touch her. She was very much like, ‘Don’t hug me, I’ve never had that in my life, I don’t want that now.’
“Now as soon as she comes in she gives me a huge hug. She lays in my bed and she loves it when I stroke her hair. She was never very lovey, but now she is. She calls me ‘Stephy’ and she’ll text me if I haven’t seen her for a few days and say, ‘I miss you.’
“We have a very close relationship, I love her.”
SIMILAR PERSONALITIES
Jon admitted he and Stephanie’s daughter, Giulianna, took a while to get to know each other, but now love hanging out with each other.
The teen even wants to take the TV star’s last name.
Jon said: “It took Giulianna and I a while to warm up to each other, but now I primarily work at night now so we hang out a lot during the day.
“I’ll say to her, ‘Do you want to go to Hershey Park and she’ll be like ‘Yes! Let’s go.’
“She’s been used to being on her own with her mom, and she’s very self-sufficient. She can make her own chicken nuggets.
“I’m learning more about Giulianna and I think we have similar personalities. We both like to be alone and play on our electronics.
“With Julianna, I feel like she’s my ninth child."
Jon continued: “Giulianna has a different last name than her mom, but she said ‘I don’t want to be a Lebo. I want to be a Gosselin.' Hannah joked, ‘You know with our name comes a lot of responsibility.’
“For a 13 year old I thought that was pretty neat.”
Steph added: “She has told Jon she loves him. She sees him as a dad."
'NO MORE KIDS'
However, both Stephanie and Jon are adamant they didn't want any more kids.
"At the beginning, Giulianna would ask ‘Are you guys going to have a baby,’ And I’d be ‘No way, blasphemy!’" Jon said.
He continued: "Neither of us want more children, we are happy with the children we have. No storks over here. I’m getting older, we know where we want to be, we want to be together, things are just lining up. It’s time to live."
Beaming Jon said he and Stephanie are both happy.
He gushed: “We are both the happiest we have been in a long time, absolutely, because it’s so easy and I don’t have to worry that I’m traveling for work and I have to entertain her.
"I don’t have to worry about whether she’ll come to my gig, will she be bored? Will we get in a fight? I don’t have to worry about whether she will get jealous when all these girls come up to me to take pictures. She just understands and we have a great time."
DEALING WITH FANS
“I think there have been tests. Like when we went to Miami last year and there were all these beautiful people coming up to take pictures of me. I wondered how she would handle it all. But it was great."
Stephanie insists she never gets jealous even when Jon gets attention from fans.
She said: “I never get jealous about it. I don’t get jealous of the attention, at the end of the day, he goes home with me.
"I’ve started now staying at home more so I don’t go to all of Jon’s events and it’s really nice because I get to hang with Giulianna and Hannah, and Collin when he’s around.
“But I’m never wondering who is he with if I don’t go. I’m very secure and I’ve never felt so secure.”
ROMANTIC BREAK
Stephanie and Jon's romantic break at the Ette, a five-star hotel in Orlando, came after weeks of controversy involving his ex Kate.
Collin, 19, did a tell-all interview with Vice in which he alleged that Kate never visited him in the mental health facility she dropped him off at when he was 12 and claimed neither his mother nor siblings visited him after a near-fatal car crash in 2022.
He also accused Kate of taking out her "anger and frustration" on him following her divorce from Jon, whereas his sister, Hannah, claimed their mom would separate him and not let him play with or eat with his brothers and sisters.
Kate, 48, hit out at the claims on Instagram, saying Collin is a "troubled young man" with "unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies" and said he had told "many lies" in the interview.
A rep for Jon was forced to hit back in defense of Collin, saying:
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"Kate posting cruel false accusations regarding Collin seems to be just another way for her to justify her inexcusable horrific past behavior toward him.
"True love for a child wouldn’t include a mother attacking their son to the public."
