Kate Gosselin has long been rumored to have had an affair with her bodyguard Steve Neild. Some sources say it’s true, while others claimed it was nothing but pure conjecture. Now a new facet to the tale has emerged, claiming she did in fact have an affair with her hired security man, but TLC bought the pictures taken by the paparazzi so they didn’t get published–in an effort to protect Kate Gosselin’s reputation, and thus that of their ‘product,’ which was Gosselin and her eight children.

RadarOnline reports that proof of a steamy affair with her married bodyguard would have certainly tarnished the reputation Kate Gosselin had. She was a woman who emerged relatively unscathed from a bad marriage, and managed to continue raising her eight kids as a single parent.

A source reportedly told the National Enquirer that TLC was protecting Kate Gosselin with the actions they took regarding photos they learned existed.

“The TLC network bought the photos so the public can’t see them!” the source said.

The source also claims Kate Gosselin and Steve Neild were photographed while getting intimate during a getaway in Mexico.

Kate Gosselin's dirty little secret FINALLY comes out?! Find out what it is here —> http://t.co/esMGy6b4mk pic.twitter.com/I2Azmuak1G

— In Touch Weekly (@intouchweekly) April 23, 2015

What do you make of this story? Would TLC go so far as to buy photos of one of their stars to prevent them from leaking to the media? And why would that do that? Kate Gosselin certainly wasn’t one of their biggest stars–at least not at the time she was rumored to have had this affair with Steve Neild.

TLC has denied these claims. The ‘source’ comes from the National Enquirer. Enough said?

People have loved to diss Kate Gosselin ever since she divorced Jon Gosselin. And sometimes they’ve had cause to do so. This story, however, sounds a bit far fetched.

It will be interesting to learn if proof from other sources claiming TLC bought these photos of Kate Gosselin and Neild ever comes to light.

A betting person would likely say the odds of seeing such proof isn’t too great.