Bodog Beat

Jon and Kate tried to get along during the premiere episode. (TLC Images)

You could cut the tension with a knife during last night's premiere of Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Producers knew they had a fat cow to milk – and man, did they milk it. This fifth season, their real life drama has been incorporated into their reality show after Jon was rumored to be cheating on Kate with a 23-year-old – and then Kate was said to have retaliated by cheating on Jon with her bodyguard. There were multiple confessional interviews, where Jon and Kate Gosselin sat uncomfortably next to one another on a couch and tried to explain the dilapidated state of their marriage. Jon denied his affair and they both seemed aloof to one another, reiterating that they were there for the kids.

"I never cheated on Kate and that's the way it is," Jon said. "I'd like to apologize to my family for my actions. Like I said, it was wrong place, wrong time. I should have thought about more what I did and where I was going."

What was clear during the premiere episode, which showcased the sextuplets fifth birthday party, is that Jon and Kate are in a very bad place right now with a lot of heartache and tremendous tension.

"This possibly could be, maybe, I don't know, our last family picture," Kate said of the group portrait taken at the kids' birthday party.