Octomom Brings 9 of Her Kids Along for Chaotic 'TODAY' Visit (Video)

By Kiki Von Glinow Posted Jul 8th 2011 10:45AM

It was more like an inside look at sheep herding than a sit down interview when Octomom, Nadya Suleman, brought her 2-year-old octuplets and nine-year-old daughter, Amara, to the 'Today' show as Ann Curry attempted to wrangle a few children and some answers from the tabloid sensation mother.

Falling over set lights, drawing on desks or hiding behind stage walls, the talk show host and Suleman had their hands full to say the least. At one point, one little one even fell into a stage light as a shocked and concerned Curry began yelling, "No, no, no" before jumping up to help the two-year-old. Later two of the children sprinted from the set before both Curry (who was having difficulty carrying her question cards and a squirming toddler) and Suleman came back to finally get down to business regarding the Octomom's financial situation.

It takes nearly $15,000 per month to support Suleman's 14 children and until recently, the Octomom claims that she was not paid for her appearances or interviews. Hoping to change that, she recently hired a manager to help land paying "odd jobs," including celebrity boxing matches, to contribute to her monthly bills. But Suleman's 'celebrity' gigs come in addition to the income she earns for being a personal trainer -- a job she believes helps her deal with the guilt from involuntarily putting her young children's lives under a microscope.

"That's been my way to self-medicate, through exercise," Suleman explained as a way to cope with the death threats she has received and the panic attacks they cause.

Before Suleman landed management representation and her fitness gig, she was forced to lower her standard when it came to making quick cash to support her 14 children as a single mom. Although the Octomom, who bears a striking and controversial resemblance to actress Angelina Jolie, says she cannot linger on regret, she does admit to having made poor choices in her past, including signing on for a fetish video in which she sports bondage gear and cracks a whip on a man wearing a diaper.

"I personally cannot waste my energy fixating on the past and my past choices, regardless if they were good or bad choices ... Learn to grow as a result of your choices, own and accept the responsibility of your choices and look forward because if you look back, what are you going to do, stab me? You're just going to stab me forever and grow old."

But her past gigs, although some may lack a moral code, have helped Suleman keep her head above tough financial waters or worse -- according to Suleman -- going on public aid.

"I've never in my life been on [public assistance], and I never would," she told Curry. "I would feel like a failure as a mother and as a human being."

We get that Suleman refuses to go on public assistance but what about some private aid? Although she told Curry that the reason why her little ones were so rambunctious during the live interview was that they only had two hours of sleep during their travels to the New York interview, we can't imagine how Suleman is able to take care of 14 children on a daily basis.

"I'm so happy I don't have nannies," she said. "It's harder, but I feel so much stronger. I forced myself to pull out strengths I never knew I possessed."

The Octomom, who finds time to climb 40 miles/week on a stair climbing machine, starts her day at 5:30 AM and is in the middle of potty training her eight two-and-a-half-year-olds. But Suleman believes it is precisely because of her single status that she gets such a bad rap as a mom.

"If I had a mate, that would have defused a lot of the animosity," she said. "I'm the ultimate societal scapegoat, I believe."

That "animosity" is exactly where Suleman believes a recent In Touch magazine article that claimed she said, "I hate babies. They disgust me. My older kids are animals. I can't discipline them," came from. Suleman divulged that she is considering suing the magazine for slander.

"I think they should retract it because it's all slander," she said. "I love my children. I would do anything for my kids."

With eight toddlers to potty train, we have a feeling that Suleman's lawsuit will be getting more than a little cool on the back burner.

Tags: nadya suleman

Comments

(398)

Friday 08 July

By kathy

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How did an unemployed woman manage to pay for all her platic surgeries and fertility treatments? And she claims she is not on public aid?

By stu

where's the cage...i mean play pen?

By lnlfeng

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I love reading this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via agelessc'upid.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends.. SS3

By biff

I would rather see her(she's american) get any public aid than the millions of illegal greaseballs that are here getting it........

By gagasdvfa

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By Jennifer

She lies about everything. Just like Casey Anthony & no one does anything to stop these horrible people from wreaking havoc on our society.

By Hoosiermom

Perfectly normal for the situation, age, and number of kids. I don't agree with having so many children, but kudos to her for making it this far, and the kids look adorable. She seems to speak well publicly, and has her wits about her, I had two and I couldn't keep them on the "carpet" at that age!!!

By ladyinomaha

She got student loans. She used the money from the student loans.

By bazel

Yes... Ann Curry (Genius???)... Why in the world would you set an interview in this setting, with 8 2 yr olds, on a set with no confinements? You're either not very smart, or I suspect you prefer to see things spin out of control and thus make the Octomom look "out of control" once again. I think Octomom's kids did exactly what any other children would do in the same environment. Let's stop judging her... Why wouldn't you help her instead of exploiting her. I think the Today Show and The View too, do more 'spiteful and malicious' interviews than any other shows, all the while pointing the finger of blame on their subjects... and the sheep just continue to follow them along.

By emma

From getting paid by networks to appear on their shows.

By ETHome

Geez, aren't you not concerned about the children just a little? Where is the urgency for you to know!

By gary

Think Bill Clinton..

By dlee

the state of california has so far dished out 10 million dollars for the kids care and money to her where she used 250,000 or her surgery. she is as big a liar as Casey Anthony!!!!

By eskieme1970

It seems like a heard she got a settlement a few years ago of some kind. With all do respect to the response below, I don't think student loans would've covered the cost of IVF

By frankerin

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Want your cut, or just financial advice?

By Allie

She never said she was unemployed. She is self employed as a personal trainer.

By almmj

In the video she says she has only been able to pay her bills since LAST MONTH. She says she hasnt been on financial aid but how did she make it for the past 12 years if she has only been able to pay her bills since last month?

By gjwil62

By being PAID by all these idiots that want to hear her story!

By KatieLee

She gets caught lying a lot. According to her "welfare" doesn't include Gov services like what she uses for her autistic child. Considering she's unemployed she probably get help for healthcare, paying out of pocket for 15 people 14 being ten and under would be astronomical. She was also living off donations from the public, which was substantial, but she squandered through most of it paying for expensive clothes, makeup and plastic surgery in addition to caring for the kids. The money she made last month was in part because she let another mother beat her up in a boxing ring. Since she is really disliked she could make a career out of it.

By denise

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she was using her school financial aid for all this.

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