JON WANTS OUT OF JON & KATE PLUS 8

Season five of their TLC reality series, Jon & Kate Plus 8, is filming at the couple’s Wernersville, Pa., home and it’s clear that recent scandals are causing on-set tension between Jon, 32, and Kate, 34, like never before. During an afternoon of filming with the kids in the front yard on May 20, “Jon and Kate never came near each other,” says an observer. “The whole time the cameras were rolling, Jon looked really uninterested.”

Brian Sep, a close friend of Jon’s for the past 15 years, confirms that Jon is sick of the spotlight. “There have been some perks to the fame,” Brian tells Life & Style, including free trips, plastic surgery for Kate, clothes and, just recently, a custom-built motorcycle for Jon courtesy of Orange County Choppers. But with his family now falling apart, Jon has changed his mind about having their lives — and problems — aired for all to see.

“I think this will be the last season,” Brian says. “Jon wants it to end.” But that decision may not be Jon’s to make. If he and Kate are locked into a contract, Jon could be forced to continue filming. “If he has a contract with TLC to do more seasons of the show, having marital problems with his wife wouldn’t automatically let him out of it,” Quinn Heraty, a NYC-based entertainment lawyer who hasn’t seen the contract, tells Life & Style.