What am I missing here....

No, you're not missing anything of significance.  But I think the train wreck of their marriage is being played out publicly, and so for many people it's like passing an accident on the side of the road - everyone has to take a look.  I feel a little bad for Jon, since he married young (22), and they started having kids right away, so he never got a chance to figure out either himself or his marriage, and he clearly never was as comfortable with the publicity.  OTOH, he chose to marry Kate, and some of her character flaws had to have been evident from the start.

And here's a little bit of personal trivia - they live not too far from me; Jon's father for a few years when we first moved here was my kids' dentist. Rumors in town for years before the show were that Jon was a slacker whose family worried that he was not going to accomplish much. (We are also Taylor Swift's home town, where she lived until about 7th grade. She's just one year ahead of my youngest daughter.  But that's another thread)

They're famous for being famous, duh. Now get in line.

The sick, twisted part of me secretly (ok...not so secretly) hopes their big announcement is that she's pregnant again.

I can write 'Jon' and 'Kate'.  So if anyone wants an autograph, send $5 to me...

yeah I can't figure this one out either...I tried to force myself to see it once to understand but I did not make it 5 minutes....just too boring for me

p.s. I'll take an autograph poster from ya trixe

I'm kind of proud to stupidly ask, "who are Jon and Kate"?

Jon and Kate are the parents in a "reality" show called "Jon and Kate plus Eight".  They got married young, and almost immediately used fertility treatments to get pregnant, having twin girls.  A couple of years later, they had another round of fertility treatments, and got pregnant with sextuplets, who were delivered at Hershey Medical Center.  The local paper did a piece on them, and the local church group helped them out with a lot of donations, building on to their home, etc.  They were profiled in a piece on (I think) Discovery channel, which led within a year or two to getting a TLC show.  Initially, they seemed more or less like typical parents who were overwhelmed.  However, like most "reality stars", the underlying narcisissm came out, especially in Kate, who got plastic surgery, makeovers, and took advantage of all the "perks" that were coming her way (free stuff, mainly, but also great trips - I can't remember how many exciting vacations their kids have had already).  She has alienated various family members who used to appear on the show to help her out, and the claim is that when the TV people offered money to the other relatives, Kate freaked out, that only she and Jon should get paid.

Over the last year, their marriage has had some serious problems, that have been playing out in the tabloids.  Both are rumored to be having affairs, and that's the least of the claims.  The ratings have jumped this season as people watch the marriage fall apart publicly. And all the while, Jon and Kate claim they never signed on to have their lives exploited in this way (which of course is EXACTLY what they did). They still live in a huge home on something like 22 acres, near a beautiful lake in Berks county, courtesy of the producers of the show.  They recently had Emeril come to their home to cook for an episode, and the guys from OC Choppers built Jon a motorcycle.  And Kate does a lot of promoting and travel as well as continued TV appearances.

Or so I'm told.

Right on. That oughta knock "Octamom" down a peg or two.

I am not 100% sure it isn't all a publicity stunt.  Year 3 of the show, ratings drop.  Jon hits the tabloids with a rather minor story and the PR group uses it to get the show back up.

That is not to diminish the difficulty both are facing by having an instantly huge family with a media circus around it.

No offense...but if you're entire entertainment world revolves around the WSJ and your Kona DVDs, then you probably need to get out more...

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well, he still didn't. I mean the doctors even fertilized the eggs for him. just sayin.

and I SWEAR to god if she's pregnant I will laugh so hard!!! (I didn't even THINK of that)

well, he still didn't. I mean the doctors even fertilized the eggs for him. just sayin.

and I SWEAR to god if she's pregnant I will laugh so hard!!! (I didn't even THINK of that)

Ah!  That's why.  All you need to say is "reality TV" and I'm going to be blissfully ignorant.  To busy swimming, biking, running and/or pizza to have ever gotten involved in that kind of stuff.

So Jon only had a father for a few years? Did he get a new one every now and then? Maybe that's part of the issue