Donny Osmond: 'It would have been nice to have a simple life'

Donny and Marie are doing their own celebrity cruise next month, which made us wonder how, 40 years later, they feel about their childhoods in the spotlight

And it turns out, there are some disturbing similarities to the Gosselin kids.

Children made to work when sick.

The Gosselin kids had to work when they had double ear infections and were severely constipated. Donny had to work when he had appendicitis. Although he was experiencing severe symptoms, 15-year-old 


Donny put on his show before being rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.

"It was only years later that I thought: 'I'd had a major operation, I almost lost my life," Donny said. 

Losing their money.

When asked about his family spending his money he earned as a kid, Donny said, "I have never asked for the details. What was I going to do about it?"

Osmond's father and brother Alan are reportedly plagued with guilt over misguided investments that nearly bankrupted the family. 

"Choosing" to be famous.

"I think I was coerced into the business, the Osmond Business," Donny said. "I look at the alternative - a very simple life. It would have been nice to have a simple life." You mean, Donny wishes his life were more mediocre?

Donny once wrote to his mother begging to let him come home. His parents said no. "I was nine years old and on a six-week tour of Sweden with my father, playing three shows a day."

"I've been in it all my life and I don't really know anything else. I've never really known it any other way and maybe that's an advantage. Maybe it's a disadvantage," Marie said.

As for the Donny and Marie cruise, it's nice to know there are celebrities out there who are honest about what you are getting for your money. Their cruise is also jam-packed full of events, and sails next month during a Hurricane-free time.