Kate Gosselin’s been working hard – very hard – to rehabilitate and purify her public image in the wake of her nasty divorce. There have been magazine cover shoots, sit-downs on The View, and yet none of that may stick with her fans as much as her in-your-face meltdown on last night’s Dancing With the Stars.
In a taped rehearsal sequence, Gosselin hectored her partner Tony Dovolani about the way in which he was teaching her new dance steps, dismissing him as inconsiderate of her learning style. Dovolani at first tried to explain his frustrations to the amateur dancer and reality TV star, but then threw up his hands – while seemingly in tears – as Gosselin stormed away, removing his microphone and announcing that he was quitting. Gosselin, less interested in apologizing to her partner than in selling the moment, stares at her camera and repeats ““I don’t get it, I don’t get it.”
After a commercial break – and no doubt some lengthy chats with the show’s producers – Dovolani came back and apologized to his dance partner. Kate received the apology with the oddly self-serving line: “A lot of people quit on me in life.”
Reality TV thrives off conflict, but something about this back-and-forth runs counter to the public posturing that Kate has been pursuing for months. Aiming to present herself as the well-meaning wife and mother who was devastated by a cheating husband and is now fighting to move forward in her life, Kate yet again demonstrated that when under pressure she is a well-trained blame machine, and relentless in her quest to bestow guilt and fault on others.
It was an ugly spectacle, in an unflattering venue; yet the latest evidence that maybe Kate should step away from the spotlight for a while. If not for her own best interests, then for those of her children…
