There are many things that surprise us when we meet Katie Price in person. You see her before you hear her, her boobs aren’t as ginormous as you’d think (by the time you read this, she will have had them reduced), her lips are very pronounced after a recent filler touch-up, and her eyes are a mesmerising green. That’s the physical stuff. Mentally and emotionally, the 46 year old seems to be more resilient than ever.
We’re here to talk about her seventh autobiography – This Is Me: The High Life. The Dark Days. The Full Story – and its release seems like a metaphorical line in the sand. In it, she talks about the toughest time she has ever been through, detailing the sexual, mental and domestic abuse she’s suffered, her mental breakdowns, the bankruptcy and more, and how she has overcome all the trauma and is now in a healthy relationship with Married At First Sight’s JJ Slater.
While it might make most people want a life away from the spotlight, the mum of five – there’s Harvey (son of Dwight Yorke), 21; Junior, 18, and Princess, 16, from her marriage to Peter Andre; and Jett, ten, and Bunny, nine, from her marriage to Kieran Hayler – is not like that. She’s sorted her head out, thanks to therapy, and is now on a mission to rebuild her empire. After everything she’s been through, will she succeed? Honestly, given her drive, determination and sheer force of personality, we wouldn’t bet against her. In the immortal words of the woman herself, “Never underestimate the Pricey”…
At one point, your friend Kerry Katona said, “Your life is so bad, it’s fascinating”…
Yeah. There were some dramas, so I told Kerry – we always talk – and she was like, “F**king hell, Steven Spielberg couldn’t make this shit up!” I’m like, “I know!
You detail a lot of those dramas in your latest book…
I’ve had a dark time with breakdowns and stuff. I’ve had the hurt, the pain, the bullying, the dictating, the stitch-ups and now I’ve come out the other end. It’s like I’ve pushed the reset button and the reset button is like when I started my career, with the hunger, the excitement, the power. And now I’ve learned from therapy about boundaries and red flags, I’m not going to be dictated to by anyone, I’m not going to be controlled by anyone. No man, no management. No one’s getting in my way.
Is that why you wanted to write the book?
It’s part of the reset. I wanted people to know that, if you Google my name, it’s dreadful, but I’m not a bad person at all. I hate labels, but being diagnosed with ADHD now makes sense of how I’ve reacted to things in the past. Now, I know not to react to things, it has saved a lot of grief for me. In the past, if I got upset, I might put something on Instagram and then it fuels the fire. Now, I understand how my brain is connected differently, I’ve learned to control the way I respond to things.
That must help?
Yeah. I’m not blaming anyone – I can only blame myself and my choices. But, if I’d known what I know now about relationships and domestic abuse, I wouldn’t have gone for the men I did. I wouldn’t have rushed into marriages, I wouldn’t have rushed from one relationship to another. Now, I’ve learned.
Where’s your head at today?
I’m not just in a better place, I’m a totally new person. In my mind and my actions, everything is different about me. If any of my exes or people saw me now, they would probably be shocked at how different I am.
Do you still plan to be a life coach?
Yeah. I was training to be a nurse when I left school, and then I got into Page Three, and I still want to train to be a paramedic. I’ve applied and I’ll do that – it’s a five-year course. But a life coach, I can just do that straight away, get trained up. I think I’ve had enough life experiences to be able to help people. I’ve had a breakdown, I’ve had relationship problems, I’ve been abused, I’ve had work people rip me off. I’ve also dealt with a child with disabilities, I’m from a blended family – I literally probably tick every box to help someone.
What lessons have you learned from past relationships?
I was abused when I was seven, raped. That probably doesn’t help if you look at all the situations with men, and it goes back to childhood. My mum and dad split when I was three and, even though I still see my dad, it obviously does affect you somehow. It’s always wanting that man figure, that validation, that neediness. Whereas now, I don’t need that. I’m like, “F**k that”. I wish I knew all that before, because then I wouldn’t have jumped from one toxic relationship to another… The neediness, the validation, and then you put up with the controlling, the gas lighting, the narcissism.
Have you broken the cycle with JJ?
Luckily, JJ met me at the right time, because I didn’t even want another relationship. I was done with men, but I had the therapy and, thankfully for him, on Married At First Sight, they have relationship therapists and sex therapists, they have it all on there.
So, he gets it…
Yeah. There’s no rush, we enjoy it. It’s been foreign to me to have a healthy relationship and I’ve had to adjust to it. It’s good, he doesn’t come to work with me like other guys would. If I want to go for lunch or dinner with my friends, I can go, whereas before I wouldn’t even dare ask, because I wouldn’t be allowed things like that.
And are you happy?
Yeah. My family love him. I’ve met all his family. My dad’s invited his parents over to the Isle of Wight, everyone just gets on. It’s so easy and even my mum, who doesn’t like any of my exes, said, “He’s really nice, he’s really calm with you. We really like him.”
Oh wow, Amy’s seal of approval!
What I like is, if he comes round mine, he naturally just puts washing on or puts a cup in the sink or makes the bed. He helps, unlike other men. I think where he had to look after himself from a young age, from playing football, he’s grown up like that. I love his house, it’s immaculate – until I go there! He’s got one room, he calls it “the Kate room”, and he just shuts the door on my stuff.
In the book, you talk about your cosmetic surgery. When have you been happiest with how you look?
I’m not content now, I’m having more surgery next week. My mum says I’ve got body dysmorphia.
Do you think you have?
I don’t know, but I don’t ever look in the mirror and think I look good. I never have done. So, there’s obviously an underlying issue.
When you reflect on your different looks over the years…
I looked ugly when I was younger – I hate it. I think I look better as I’ve got older, but it don’t mean to say I’m not gonna have surgery. I’m 46 and I’m just going smaller with my boobs because I’ve been going to the gym, being more healthy. I want smaller ones.
Do you still want to look like a Bratz doll?
Yeah, love it! I obviously joke with the Bratz doll because I know I’ll never look like a doll – I’d look like a f**king freak! But I just say it because I like the big lips, the lashes…
Do the kids ever worry about you having so much surgery?
No, they’re fine. I just think they’re used to me doing it. It’s the norm for them. I don’t even tell anyone now, not even my mum, because she just moans at me. The kids are just like, “Oh, it’s just you, isn’t it, Mum?” Junior always says, “Mum, you’re beautiful, you don’t need anything. You’re stunning anyway.” But they know that’s just me.
What if they wanted to get something done?
They don’t want it and, if they did, I can only support it. But I would tell Princess to wait till she was 21. I was 18, which is too young.
You’re releasing a single. Would you ever collaborate with Junior?
I would love to, but he’s too cool. You know what? Princess and Junior should do something, they’re so good at singing. I don’t know who’s better.
We reckon you’d be a good backing singer…
F**king backing singer? F**k off! [Laughs] No, they’re too cool for that. I’ll do it on my own, with Harvey on the keyboard.
You say you’re recreating your empire. What does that look like to you?
Back to how it was – back to my press calls, the perfume, the make-up, the underwear, the swimwear, the magazine shoots. OnlyFans, which I love doing. Obviously, the life coaching. I love doing my TV – I’ve got lots of TV coming up. Everyone wants me to do reality again. I like doing all my documentary-based stuff, as well, which I’ve started.
You’ve been in showbiz for 30 years. How would you like to be remembered?
The perfect little package. No! The girl that tried. I’m living proof you can live your dreams because all my dreams did come true. I always wanted a house with a swimming pool, kids, horses, a fairy-tale marriage – I had it all. I’ve lived my dreams and not many people can say that. I’ve ticked every box of my dreams. Now, from here, the world is my oyster, and I do what I want to do.
Finally, our shoot has a “phoenix from the flames” vibe. Seems appropriate, right?
Yeah. I’ve survived so much in my f**king time. Jesus. They say I’m a cat with nine lives, I’ve got more than that!
This Is Me: The High Life. The Dark Days. The Full Story by Katie Price (John Blake) is out 18 July