Kate Gosselin Misses the Jon 'I Used to Know'

By Michaele Ballard and Michael Y. Park

09/21/2009 at 02:00 PM EDT

Kate Gosselin still loves Jon – but not the man she knows now.

"I miss Jon, the Jon I used to know," she said to a crowd of 700 at the Southern Women's Show in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday. Gosselin, who's got a cookbook coming out, also confirmed that she's trying to land a talk show.

"I've been given the gift of gab, so why not use it?" Gosselin, 34, told the Charlotte Observer.

PHOTOS: Revisit Kate & Jon's Decade Together

The women of The View must agree – they asked her to extend her guest-hosting duties, after all.

"It is sort of like a career move, so I had to do it," she said.

Still, there's definitely one job she doesn't feel qualified for – doling out romantic advice. "I don't think you want to talk to me about boyfriends and breaking up," she said when a woman in the audience mentioned recently splitting from her boyfriend.

WATCH: Kate Spills on The View

But no matter how lost Gosselin may feel nowadays, she's got a fervent supporter in Kathy Griffin, who declares herself a Team Kate loyalist on the Rachael Ray Show set to air Monday.

"I started watching that show when it was a sweet little family show on the Discovery Health Channel, and now it's Breaking Bonaduce, basically," Griffin said of Jon & Kate Plus 8. "I know people don't like Kate, they find her annoying, but that Jon is such a tool. He's the worst of the bunch with his ridiculousness and his hair plugs. He's out of control, he's out of control."