‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ Alum Jon Gosselin Details ‘Excruciating’ Poisonous Spider Bite

“Jon & Kate Plus 8” alum Jon Gosselin has opened up about his painful experience after being bitten by a poisonous brown recluse spider.

The incident took place at his home in Reading, Pennsylvania while he was in bed sleeping and was awakened by “excruciating pain.”

“I was DJ-ing for the weekend in Philadelphia, and I finally felt free. It was my first real single weekend. I was totally ready to open up and meet new people and start fresh,” Gosselin told The Sun.

“But I woke after a night of music and fun and went to stand up only to fall back down on the bed. I was in excruciating pain.”

Due to previous health problems experienced during the year, Gosselin initially assumed he was having another case of bad luck.

“My first thought was ‘What now?’ I have had a rough year, my breakup was hard, then I got Covid which was bad,” he said.

“It was really weird because when I looked at my leg I realized it was twice the size, and there’s a red-looking blister with a large red circle around it. It kind of looked like a cigarette burn, but really raised.”

Realizing it wasn’t a normal wound, Gosselin immediately went to urgent care, where a doctor informed him he was bitten by a deadly brown recluse spider.

The former TLC reality star’s revealed his leg experienced severe swelling. “I went through days of severe pain, and now the antibiotic is so strong it’s made me ill. I’m losing pounds again,” he said.

After speaking to the doctor Gosselin realized he was actually lucky following the venomous bite. “The doctor told me that I was lucky to come in because if you don’t treat this you can lose limbs or die from a bacterial infection,” he shared.

A bite from a brown recluse spider damages the cell membranes, which results in the breakdown of fat, blood vessels, and skin near the bite site.

Side effects can include joint pain, seizures, severe pain, nausea, and more. It can also result in death and loss of limb if not immediately treated. Despite another setback amid his already rocky year, Gosselin revealed he’s in the process of recovering from the spider bite.

“It’s finally healing after a week, and the swelling has improved, and the pain is just where the bite is rather than my entire leg,” he said.

Following his bite, Gosselin contacted an exterminator to ensure that his home is rid of the deadly spider.