USWEEKLY.COM: What a difference four years makes. There was a time, not that long ago, when you couldn't mention Jon Gosselin without also mentioning his then-wife, Kate Gosselin. They were a unit -- Jon and Kate, plus their eight young children. These days, though, the two lead completely separate lives.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight's Brooke Anderson, Gosselin opens up about the nature of his interactions, or lack thereof, with his now-ex-wife. (The former couple finalized their divorce in 2009 after 10 years of marriage.)
"I don't have a relationship with Kate. There is no relationship. Text and email. That's it," Gosselin told Anderson, noting that it's been that way for four years. The two don't even cross paths when Gosselin goes to pick up their children. "The nanny comes out and I exchange the kids at her gate or at the bus stop," he explained. "I don't physically see her."
Gosselin also noted that he does not pay any type of child support to his ex. "[Kate and I] both support [the children] financially because she takes care of school and all that stuff, but I take care of the exact same things she takes care of," he said. "I buy their own groceries. They have their own groceries at my house, their own bedrooms, their own stuff. It's doubled."
As previously reported, Gosselin now lives in a cabin in the woods with no TV or internet. "I've hit rock bottom like 20 times, and then I just bounce back and go somewhere else," he told Anderson. After his family's TLC reality show came to an end in 2011, the one-time Jon & Kate Plus 8 star struggled to find work. These days, he's waiting tables at Black Dog restaurant in Beckersville, Pa.
"At first I was nervous because I was like, 'How are people going to react?'" Gosselin, 36, said of taking the job. "But then I'm thinking, 'Well it's fun and I get to talk to people.' And they technically already know me...They're like, 'Are you the guy?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm the guy.'"
JON GOSSELIN: YEAH, I FIRED MY GUN
Gosselin says the female photog is the one who broke the law by trespassing and repeatedly refusing to leave his private property ... which he says gave him the right to bust a cap.
"I am licensed to carry a concealed handgun, which I withdrew and used to fire a warning shot AWAY from the paparazza" Jon says, adding, "It is well within my rights under Pennsylvania law when someone is trespassing on private property."
Gosselin is calling the photogs bluff -- she says she's filing police report -- because he's certain cops will tell her a thing or two about trespassing and a person's right to protect their property. Jon says he's mulling over his own legal right ... because he's really pissed at the pap. Whether it's legal or not for Jon to fire the shot ... it did the trick.