They speak! After last week's incredibly awkward and silent Today show appearance, Kate Gosselin's twin daughters Mady and Cara gave Barbara Walters and her View cohosts an actual sit-down interview on Monday, Jan. 20 — except when their father Jon Gosselin was mentioned.
"What kind of stuff do you do around the house to help your mom?" Sherri Shepherd asked the 13-year-old twins, both seated beside their famous mother, on the set's trademark blue couch. "I don't really do chores… so Cara?" joked Mady as she turned to her sister.
"Okay, well, I unload the dishes," explained Cara, who was dressed in a pink sweater, black tights and brown boots for her appearance. "Mady loads the dishwasher, she does do some work," she said of her sister, who wore a black sweater and tights. Mom Kate, clad in a bright pink sweater, simply nodded her head in response.
"What do you guys like to do?" inquired Whoopi Goldberg. "Tell me — don't look at her — pretend she's not here," the comedian continued as she motioned toward Kate, 38.
"If I'm going to be 100 percent honest, I don't like Justin Bieber," Mady said in response. "But I… One Direction," she said, adding that she's a fan of Niall Horan. Unlike her 1D-adoring sister, Cara said that she prefers Demi Lovato's music.
The conversation then took a serious turn to the topic of Kate and Jon Gosselin's bitter and public divorce back in 2009: "When I was in my twenties, my parents went through a divorce," confessed Jenny McCarthy. "It was really hard at age 20, how did you guys handle watching your parents go through a divorce but also watching it happen in front of everyone?" she asked the girls, who gazed at each other and bursted out into giggles.
"Honestly, it wasn't hard for us," responded Mady. "I think it was harder for you, definitely" she said as she turned to her mom. "It didn't really affect me and we still saw both parents… we were little, we were like 8 or 9." Mady continued, "We knew what was going on, but we didn't see the stuff…"
Her mother then interjected, "I kept them sheltered and yeah, it's necessary and it drew the nine of us closer." Kate explained, "There's really nothing off limits we don't talk about. Clearly there's hard times and strange discussions, and probably not preferable things, but we're very open and the girls hang out in my room with me every night."
Walters then prodded, "To have six younger brothers and sisters, that's not easy. Tell us about that." The girls shrugged their shoulders and smiled while Kate turned to Mady and said, "You've waited your whole life for this question."
Mady quipped, "You ruined my dramatic silence!" while the audience erupted in claps and cheers. "They're annoying," she admitted of her younger siblings — sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel, 9, while Cara chimed, "they are annoying" in agreement. Mady also revealed that the family still keeps in touch with TLC crew members from her family's hit show, Jon & Kate Plus 8, which ended in 2011, and they still want to remain on television.
Although most of the discussion remained lively and animated, the two became tongue-tied once again when their father Jon, 36, was mentioned Monday. "Do you see your father, too?" asked Walters.
"Um," responded Mady as she gave her mother an uncomfortable smile as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Answer," prodded Kate. Both daughters gave their mother the same uncomfortable blank stares from the Today show last week during a sit-down with Savannah Guthrie. Kate just shrugged her shoulders and made a face in response.
While their dad has yet to address their latest live TV interview, Kate happily tweeted after The View appearance: "Thx 2 all the awesome ladies of The View for your warm welcome! So much fun!"
