Kate Gosselin says thief 'knocked' her over as boyfriend tried to stop grocery store robbery in New Zealand

Kate Gosselin says she was nearly slammed to the ground during a terrifying grocery store robbery in New Zealand.

The Jon & Kate Plus 8 star, 50, shared a TikTok video showing the aftermath of the chaos, saying a man tried to steal a trolley packed with groceries.

Her boyfriend Steve Neild jumped in along with others to stop the thief, but in the scuffle, Gosselin says she got ‘knocked’ over while still recovering from a serious leg fracture.

The reality star broke her leg last September while playing with her dog and had to undergo surgery, making the incident even more frightening.

Just days ago, she celebrated walking unassisted in public for the first time in nearly four months - only to be thrown into this terrifying ordeal.

‘The guy ran past us and lost his shoe,’ she claimed in the TikTok. ‘He literally pushed past me, almost knocked me down in my lack of walking state.'

She continued, 'He ran past me, and I'm just now starting to walk. I had an injury, so I can just now walk, and it sent me off my feet for a second.'

She confirmed her boyfriend was on hand to help during the chaos.  

‘I love that Steve turns right back into a cop on a moment’s notice,’ she wrote. 

She also painted a picture of the frenzy around her: ‘You should see all the Kiwi men running after him, trying to stop him. Everybody’s on their phone to the police. It’s a big deal here, because honestly, there’s not much crime here.’

As other shoppers passed by, Gosselin explained the scene, noting, “In America, they would have just let him go.”

‘Oftentimes, [people] don't pitch in and they don't try to stop it. It's so refreshing to see. There was like six or eight of them that went flying after him,’ she said, adding that she even kicked away the thief’s shoe as he fled to 'slow him down.'

'Good job guys,' she shouted as several bystanders returned the shopping carts to the store.

By the end of the video, Gosselin revealed the thief and an accomplice had escaped in a car, but several bystanders had noted the license plate for the police, which she called 'so cool.'

The Jon & Kate Plus 8 alum previously shared how she suffered a 'life-altering' leg fracture injury while playing with her dog and had to undergo surgery last September. 

In the clip, she appeared to have a slight limp in her left leg as she walked cautiously, but she bore a big smile on her face as she made her way into the local shop. 

At the beginning of the video, she layered text over a clip of herself walking into the shop and up to the counter.

'I've been walking at home more and more and then BAM. I could suddenly walk everywhere!!!' 

'It's amazing,' she said to the camera at one point of the clip. 'It, like, happened overnight.' 

After placing her order and enjoying her treats with her travel companions, she started walking out of the cafe. 

'So now I'll just casually walk out of here,' she narrated before exiting the shop. 'I did it.' 

At the end of the clip, she wrote in text on the screen that she 'cannot believe this day has FINALLY come.' 

In November, she went official on Instagram with her bodyguard-turned-boyfriend Neild.

The two first met almost 20 years ago when he was hired to protect her during her sudden rise to fame from the success of her family show. 

At the time, Kate was still married to Jon Gosselin, and rumors swirled about her relationship with Neild, which she firmly denied.

The pair have now been dating for over a year, with some outlets even reporting they are living together.

In September, Neild made a brief appearance in a TikTok livestream, bringing Kate a café latte. Though his face wasn’t visible, it marked the first confirmation of their romance.

‘Hello to the boyfriend,’ Kate said, adding that ‘he waved’ back to fans, even if no one could see it.

Kate also shared that her beau is ‘not very fond’ of being on camera, noting fans shouldn’t expect to see him, though she admitted, ‘we’ll see.’

At least one person hasn’t taken the relationship well - her ex Jon.

In September, he made shocking cheating claims against Kate, backed up by their son Collin, hinting that the romance with her former bodyguard had ended their marriage years earlier.

Photos later surfaced showing Kate and Steve posing on the beach and enjoying a sunny getaway, smiling in swimsuits and life vests against a lush, poolside backdrop.

Jon even addressed their relationship on Instagram, linking to a Page Six story about the pair dating and writing, ‘Guess who really ruined the marriage… Read for yourself.’

The Wyomissing-born reality star said his earlier claims were ignored at the time, but now, he feels vindicated: ‘Maybe when I speak people will listen now!!!’

Kate met Steve in 2008, a year before her divorce from Jon, and Page Six later reported the couple is already planning a wedding.

‘They have wedding plans, it’s that serious,’ an insider said. ‘There’s no doubt that Kate is crazy about him … things are serious, they have discussed wedding plans and moving on that next stage.’

Just days before the report, Kate shared on TikTok that she is ‘actually, finally’ dating again and admitted she’s ‘super happy’ with her new love interest.

She revealed she’s been seeing him for ‘a little over a year, maybe 14 [or] 15 months’ and said it’s nice ‘not to be lonely any more,’ though she didn’t name Steve.

Kate and Jon were married from 1999 to 2009 and share eight children: twins Madelyn and Cara, 24, and sextuplets Aaden, Collin, Joel, Hannah, Alexis, and Leah, 21.

She hinted fans might catch glimpses of her boyfriend in upcoming TikTok videos: ‘You perhaps will catch a peep of him here and there or once in a while going forward.’