have never watched a single episode of the TV series “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

So-called “reality” programs of that nature simply are not my cup of tea.

I can’t even say that I have ever even laid eyes on the show while channel-surfing. I was actually quite surprised to learn it was in its fifth season.

However, in spite of my utter and blissful ignorance of “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” I have found it quite impossible to escape the gazes of the program’s titular couple here of late.

That’s because every time I’m in a checkout line, I find the grim-looking faces of Jon and/or Kate Gosselin staring back at me from the covers of myriad gossip and scandal rags.

Their unsmiling countenances are inevitably accompanied by headlines trumpeting the latest blow-by-blow accounts of the couple’s rapidly disintegating marriage.

I was particularly struck by one cover which, by juxtaposing “before” and “after” photos, documented Kate’s transformation from a somewhat plain-looking mom of eight — one set of twins and one set of sextuplets — to a sleek, French-manicured, immaculately coifed basic-cable goddess.

From perusing those mag covers, in addition to reading the occasional story in the quote, unquote, legitimate press, I have been able to ascertain that the Gosselins’ union is in deep doo-doo because of alleged infidelity on the part of both Jon and Kate.

The major concern seems to be whether the show will be able to weather the couple’s drift into stormy marital waters.

Some have speculated that the Gosselins and/or their handlers have manufactured the discord as a cynical ploy to boost the show’s ratings.

Here’s what I’m wondering: Did those two honestly believe their marriage was going to survive when they signed on to do the program?

If they did, they have to be the stupidest and/or most delusional people on the planet.

What, raising eight kids, all of them younger than the age of 8, wasn’t difficult enough already within inviting the entire world in to watch?

The ruinous effect of having a family’s every move chronicled by TV cameras has been documented as far back as 1971. That was when PBS filmed “An American Family,” a series that followed the daily lives of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Louds, parents of three fewer kids than the Gosselins, wound up divorcing.

More recently, the longtime marriage of wrestling star Hulk Hogan and his wife, Linda, disintegrated into one of the nastiest celebrity break-ups in recent memory, due in no small part to the couple’s decision to participate in the VH1 series “Hogan Knows Best.”

What could have possibly made the Gosselins believe their marriage was better equipped to withstand the harsh glare of the national spotlight than were the Louds’ or the Hogans’?

Or, was this a case where Jon and Kate were aware their marriage probably wouldn’t survive, yet chose to do the program so they could rake in dump truck loads of cash?

Raising a family the size of the Gosselins’ isn’t cheap, obviously.

Still, I don’t want to believe that anyone would mortgage their family’s stability and their children’s happiness in such a manner, even for a reported five-figure-per-episode paycheck.

If that is, indeed, what the Gosselins have done, they should be ashamed.

As should TLC, which airs “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

And, as should the millions of viewers who have enabled the sham to persist by tuning in to the show every week.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.