"Jon & Kate Plus 8" dad Jon Gosselin is pronouncing his love for his girlfriend, 22-year-old Hailey Glassman -- but how does he feel about his estranged wife Kate? Read on to find out!

"I love Hailey," Jon tells People.com, adding that they started "talking" in May but began dating only after Kate filed for divorce in June, because going out before that time "wasn't appropriate."

"I'll always love Kate," Jon says. "I went through a whole bunch of pictures today, and it's sad to see something that was good turn bad, but we moved in two different directions. We know that."

"I have no ill will toward Kate," he continues. "She's the mother of my kids. She's a great mom. She does a lot for them."

Jon adds that he went to counseling to try and salvage their marriage.

"I worked on my marriage," he tells People. "I went to therapy. I have huge bills so [detractors] can't denounce that ... For [Kate] to say she'd been working on it -- well, I'd been working on it too, and at one point in time I just gave up. There's a point in time where you just say, 'This is not going to work.' So I just moved on."