Kate Gosselin has been accused of many things in the past year, but laziness certainly isn’t one of them. In the four weeks since she was booted from Dancing with the Stars, the mother of eight has launched her new reality series, Twist of Kate and Kate Plus 8, and initiated a new gig as a special correspondent for ET.
“It has been extremely exciting to hold a microphone, and I found that I am loving this side of it,” Kate told PEOPLE backstage at Monday night's Dancing with the Stars performance show, where she was conducting on-camera interviews. “I can talk. We all knew that, and so I really enjoy it.”
Though she finds it comfortable holding the mic backstage at the Dancing studio, the single mom also admits she still hasn’t gotten the hang of reporting from behind the ET news desk. “It’s something that I feel is like a challenge -- sort of like dancing,” she said. “But I know I can conquer that one ... the dancing, not so much!”
Adding “correspondent” to her growing resumé, which already includes reality-TV star, author, promotional speaker and mom of twins Cara and Mady and sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel, is all part of Kate’s plan keep herself active and focused.
While her day-to-day routine has certainly changed, Kate insists life hasn't exactly slowed down since she retired her dancing shoes. “You’re going at the speed of light and suddenly you slow down to like the speed of a car ... but I’m not any less busy at all,” she said, adding that she gets the same amount of sleep every night despite no longer being part of the competition.
“It was just about two weeks before I was like, ‘Oh, hey, I’m resettled back into life. I feel like a normal mom again,’ ” Kate said, while also admitting she went through “major withdrawals” after leaving the show. “It’s really difficult ... There is a post-DWTS depression that they fail to tell you about.”
The hard-working mom says the feelings stem from missing her castmates, whom she refers to as “family.” Since her departure, she’s kept in touch via text message with such fellow celeb dancers as Evan Lysecek.
As for her real family, Kate promises to look into dancing classes for her kids “when life settles down a little.” She credits her stint on Dancing with teaching her how important dance can be to a child’s upbringing.
“I grew up minus dance experience, and I see now how valuable that is to formation, determination, stamina, all of that," she said.
In the meantime, the Gosselin matriarch says her brood is just enjoying the lead-up to summer. “They are so happy to have our crew back and so happy to be doing adventures in the world. Life is good!” --Jessica WedemeyerMelanie Dunea
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