Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I hit rock bottom but I’m happier now, I’ve just got to deal with the 3 exes...
She has always told her fans to “never underestimate the Pricey”. But the past 12 months have packed so hard a punch, even Katie Price began to wonder if she would bounce back.
There was the car-jacking in South Africa, her mum Amy’s terminal lung disease diagnosis, the revenge porn allegations from ex Alex Reid, her third marriage split, and reports that she had turned to cocaine to “numb the pain”.
Now Katie, 40, admits she has been suffering “mental health problems” after her ex-husband Kieran Hayler, 31, left her feeling “manipulated”, “frightened” and questioning her sanity.
But with the help of new man Kris Boyson, 29, there’s just one thing, or three, Katie feels is standing in the way of her getting back on top – her ex-husbands.
Despite Peter Andre, 45, caring for their children Junior, 13, and Princess, 11, she had harsh words for him, Alex, 42, and Kieran.
“These past few months it’s like there is someone out there trying to destroy me and put me down as much as they can. I couldn’t have hit rock bottom any more than I have,” says Katie.
“Now I know I’m in a happy place. I just need to deal with the three exes. My mum calls them the bitches in my life. Once the bitches are out of my life then my life can pick up again, but it’s so draining.”
She even sends them a message: “Leave me alone and let me get on with my life. I don’t interfere in your life so just let me get on with mine.”
Relations have been fiery at times with Peter since their split in 2009.
In February she had to deny allegations from second husband Alex, who she divorced after 11 months in 2011, that she had shown X-rated videos of him to people.
But Kieran, who she wed in 2013, has caused the most recent pain.
Having taken him back after he cheated with two friends, Katie got rid of him last month after she claimed he cheated with their nanny and probably a 19-year-old Co-op worker.
Now she says it was “frightening” how he was able to manipulate her into giving him extra chances – and his diagnosis as a “sex addict” is no longer washing with her.
With her break-up about to be documented in the latest series of her show Katie Price: My Crazy Life, the mum of five says: “You can’t be diagnosed as having a sex addiction. He goes on about weekly [therapy] meetings. He went about four times.
“He just went to Brighton for an hour and probably sh*gged the 19-year-old in the Co-op that he was seeing on the way back.
“I asked him, didn’t it not ever cross your mind when you are unzipping your trousers that this is wrong? But he says no.”
She adds it was almost like he was two people, the doting dad, and the one who could lie to her face. In the first episode, he even calls her a “mug”, but convinces her to stay. “I’ve been having mental health problems all through this show,” she admits. “It was mental abuse what he did to me. He’s controlled me and manipulated me. I started wondering, ‘Am I going nuts?’ I just wanted to sleep. I was depressed.”
Katie, who has Bunny, four, and Jett, five, with Kieran, admits everything has changed since he left.
She has even tidied her house, which left fans aghast last year on Through the Keyhole with many calling it “filthy”. She insists she was just a “hoarder”.
She’s also feeling stronger
– partly down to Kris, a life coach, personal trainer and weight loss specialist who is helping her disabled eldest Harvey, 16, the son of ex-footballer Dwight Yorke, who has been told to get healthy or he could die. It was the way Kris engaged with him that melted her heart.
“He’s definitely come into my life at the right time,” she says.
Katie denies claims she wants to rush into marriage. “I’ve learnt never to get married quick, don’t just have babies, get to know someone first and enjoy your life,” she laughs.
She’s focusing on getting Harvey’s Law passed when she returns to Parliament in December to make online bullying a crime. Katie explains: “Just because Harvey doesn’t understand, I do. I’ll defend him.”
Nothing’s going to keep her down. She says: “You know once you hit rock bottom where is there to go. You’re not going to go to the centre of the earth. You’ve got to go up.”
Kieran’s and Peter’s representatives had no comment.
Alex said: “I hope one day she’ll be able to live her life without mentioning me for publicity.”
Katie Price: My Crazy Life, Quest Red from Monday July 16, 10pm.