Kate Gosselin gets why people are so fascinated by her family.
"Certain events take place that makes us sitting ducks," she says in an interview on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, airing Wednesday. "It makes us easy targets."
Referring to estranged husband Jon, she adds, "Certain ones of us speak a lot; others of us prefer to keep our mouths shut."
Asked whether it helps that Jon, 32, talks to the press so much, Kate, 34, replies, "I just know that on TV or off TV, I've been very much targeted and torn apart."
But she adds, "I am a mother first. I will always be a mother, and I would die for my kids if need be. I would never put them in a situation that was dangerous or unsafe for them and like any mother … there is nothing I would do to put them in danger. My focus is them. It's not the paparazzi. My focus is not what trip I can go on, or what shows I can do as a result of this thing. This is my job. This is my paycheck, and so this is what I do."
When the topic turns to dating, Kate clams up. When DeGeneres tells her, she's "got to date" again, Gosselin replies, "I have to?"
She then adds, "The thought has crossed my mind at some point," but she fears any relationships she has are "going to be scrutinized."
Now that she has taken off her wedding ring, Kate says that she has been eyeing a new ring that has "eight little diamonds surrounded by mother of pearl," which she says reminds her of her and her eight kids. "It's the symbol of me and the kids together forever," she says, adding that she's already told her kids she might buy it. "They were very excited about that," she says.
She says she won't get it until "I have a job again."
Referring to the kids, DeGeneres then asks, "Now do they each get one ring with one diamond?"
"Absolutely," Kate replies, "when they get a job."
Before the interview ends, DeGeneres asks Kate about the new "Kate Gosselin Halloween costume."
"Somebody emailed that to me a bit ago saying there was going to be a Kate Gosselin wig," Kate says. "I thought, 'Wow, is that really what my hair looks like?'"