----TV's sextuplet dad Jon Gosselin spinning a new musical career





the 1990s, the Silo Nightclub in Reading was the place for the under 21 crowd to dance at its weekly underage nights.

There, a 15-year-old Jon Gosselin met DJ Koolie Kirk.

"I idolized him," says the former star of TLC's "Jon and Kate Plus 8." "We'd all go listen to him play and then go shopping for vinyl."

Now more than 20 years later, Gosselin is using his celebrity name to promote a new career as a DJ and work with his former idol.

DJ Jon Gosselin will spin tunes Friday at the Sportman's Cafe in Allentown and has gigs at the Broadway Social in Bethlehem and the Gin Mill in Northampton.

"I wanted to follow my dreams and this allows me to spend time with my kids," says the Berks County resident. "I'm just trying to provide for my family."

"Jon and Kate Plus 8" was a huge hit for TLC when it launched in 2007 as viewers watched Jon and Kate Gosselin raise their family of sextuplets — Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel — and twins — Mady and Cara. When the couple announced they were getting divorced on the show in 2009, ratings dropped. The show was canceled in 2011.

The couple's domestic disputes and romantic escapades became tabloid fodder. Jon Gosselin mostly avoided television, only appearing on VH1's "Couples Therapy." Kate rebooted the family's reality show as "Kate Plus 8" without her ex-husband. She also appeared on "Dancing With the Stars" and most recently "Celebrity Apprentice."

"I haven't filmed with the kids since 2009," he says. "But sometimes I feel like I never left it."

Gosselin was working in information technology when he and Kate were first married and says he continued to pursue jobs in the field after the series ended but found the hours interfered with his custody agreement for his children.

He was reintroduced to the world of DJs in 2013 when he started dating Liz Janetta, a divorced mom of three. Janetta worked as a DJ and Gosselin followed her around and even filled in.

"I was always interested in music," he says.

When he ran into his old friend DJ Koolie Kirk at a bar in Reading, he asked him for lessons on mixing.

In October, Gosselin went full time as a DJ. He has a regular gig the first Tuesday of the month at the Bally Hotel in Berks County.

The Bally Hotel calls Gosselin one of its "resident DJs" on its Facebook page where it adds, "He always does an outstanding job."

"I love the Bally Hotel," Gosselin says. "This has just became part of my life."

Although he filed legal action to prevent his ex-wife from putting the kids on television after they divorced, he now says he doesn't regret the show.

"The kids are taken care of financially," he says. "They go to a private school and have had opportunities that I couldn't have given them working in IT."

He says he believes the show became such a hit because when it went on air in 2006 there were only a few other reality shows on TV. The show had 10 million viewers at its peak.

"Now there is so much competition," he says.

"Kate Plus 8" ran for only a little more than a year, and just returned to the air last month.

Gosselin says he watches his children on TV and says the children, now 10 and 13, assert their independence now on the show.

"They're doing really well,' he says. "I think they are more well rounded because of it and they all handle celebrity really well."

He admits he watched Kate get fired by Donald Trump on "Celebrity Apprentice" last month.

"I saw it coming," he says.

However he says it was hard being "ridiculed" in his own hometown during the couple's very public divorce.

"There is no privacy," he says.

He tries to keep his children grounded and takes them roller skating every Saturday at an old-school roller rink with a wooden floor and glow bowling on the weekend.

"I'm spending a lot more time with them since I'm a DJ," he says. "I can drop the kids off at 7 and head to work. I schedule work around my children's schedule. Seeing them is way more important."

He says they think his new job is cool and on New Years' Eve, 13-year-old Maddy called him and requested a song by One Direction. He didn't have it, so he played Taylor Swift instead.

He says the music he spins is versatile and depends on the crowd.

He says he spins classic hip-hop like LL Cool J and Snoop Dogg, new hip-hop like Drake, country like Blake Shelton and Like Bryan and classic rock like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.

"I grew up on Motown," he says. "My parents are from Philadelphia and danced on 'American Bandstand.' We had vinyl everywhere. My mom loved Elvis."

"You have to play to every single person," he says. "The whole point is to keep people having a good time."

He says he is especially excited about going to the Gin Mill Feb. 20 and working with DJ Koolie Kirk and DJ N-DO.

"There will be six turntables and it will be amazing," he says. "If I've got to be celebrity I might as well capitalize on it."