Will Carl be the man to finally break Pete’s spell over Jordan?
As the mum of five throws herself into her dream of a whirlwind marriage and babies, pals wonder whether she’s now over the ex she previously called the love of her life
After already discussing marriage and babies, despite being together for just four months, Jordan and toyboy Carl Woods’ whirlwind romance has been getting more serious by the day.
The former glamour model – real name Katie Price – was pictured at an airport on the way to the Maldives last week with a suitcase labelled “Katie Woods”, after revealing, “I’ll change my name from Katie Price to Katie Woods – I’ve never done that before!”
Just last week, Jordan – who is currently wheelchairbound after breaking both her feet on a previous holiday – also posted a picture of the couple in bed on Instagram, writing, “I love how my @carljwoods is amazingly loving, affectionate everywhere we go, how protective, controlling, understanding, loyal, so kind, so generous he is! NOBODY HAS EVER MADE ME FEEL LIKE
THIS ! #forever #babies #marriage #onlyhaseyesforme #onlyhaveeyesforhim #nobodywillgetinourway”.
And as Closer went to press, friends admitted they wouldn’t be surprised if Jordan, 44 – who married third husband Kieran Hayler after just six weeks together – would tie the knot during her holiday with Carl, 31. A source says, “Katie’s made it clear she sees a long-term future with Carl, so her pals think a quickie wedding on the beach wouldn’t be out of the question.”
OBSESSION
The couple – who’ve been dating since July – already have matching tattoos of each other’s faces on their arms, and have set up a YouTube channel called The Adventures Of Katie And Carl. On their show last week, Jordan also revealed, “We do want a baby and we’re not being careful” before taking a pregnancy test that turned out to be negative, much to Carl’s dismay.
Now pals say Jordan is convinced that she’s in the first relationship that can finally cure her obsession with first husband Peter Andre, to whom she was married from 2005 to 2009, and previously dubbed “the love of my life”.
The pair met on I’m A Celeb!, and went on to have children Junior, now 15, and Princess, 13, as well as getting tribute tattoos and starring in hit reality show Katie & Peter. Jordan and Pete were reportedly on frosty terms in the wake of their split – with Jordan making various digs in the press, including calling him “short” and “fat”, though last year they finally seemed to heal their rift. Since their split in 2009 – which Jordan has said was down to their relationship being in the spotlight – she has continued to speak about her feelings towards her ex.
In 2017, Jordan was seen on her reality show being urged by Kieran – with whom she shares son Jett, seven, and daughter Bunny, six – to throw out her “shrine” to Pete, which included their wedding trinkets such as her tiara, their speeches, dried flowers and the hair extensions she wore, but she refused.
And in an interview last year, Kieran revealed she was still hung up on Pete, saying, “He was the love of her life and no one can compete with that. There’s always someone else to blame. How many more years can she blame things on her and Pete not working out?”
Earlier this year on her YouTube channel, she showed off some cherished items and said, “I was with Pete in these days, I was happy… In love.” And she said in a recent interview, “I
would have stayed married to the first one. I believe in getting married and staying with them forever.” The source says, “Katie’s really settled with Carl. They’re serious about planning for their future together with marriage and babies – everything she once had with Pete and has longed for since. Katie is saying she feels just as happy, even more so, than she was when she was with Pete. She knows already that she’ll have the happy-everafter with Carl and that it’ll be forever this time.”
DRESS REHEARSALS
Jordan has made it clear that her new relationship is different from her previous romances, saying earlier this month, “People say I’ve been like this with exes but, no, they were just dress rehearsals.
This is the real thing. They’re exes for a reason.”
Now psychotherapist Noel McDermott tells Closer Carl may help Jordan get over
Pete – who has moved on to have Amelia, six, and Theo, three, with new wife Emily MacDonagh – for good, but that there are dangers in trying to recreate a past relationship.
He says, “When we’ve suffered heartbreak, an easy option can be to try to replicate the relationship we’ve lost. The feeling of ‘being in love’ is like a high – it can make you feel amazing and like you have moved on. Love hormones are great to mask the pain of heartache, but only temporarily. Unless you deal with the emotions you had previously, they’ll always return.
“Katie has thrown herself into this relationship at a worrying pace. It seems she’s trying to mask her pain from past relationships in the hope that Carl will cure her. It may make her feel better in the short-term, but she needs to address her feelings rather than try to cover them up or replace a past love with another.
“I believe it’s far too soon for her to think about marriage, babies and this being ‘the real thing’. Being in a wheelchair, after having broken both her feet, may be exacerbating these feelings too, as she’ll be at her most vulnerable.”
Meanwhile, her pal and former X Factor contestant Sam Bailey – who was at Jordan’s vow renewal to Kieran in 2015 – says she deserves some luck in love at last. Sam, 43, says, “Our Katie is very insecure, because of previous relationships and people who have cheated on her. She’s not been lucky with guys, really. She’s made mistakes, like everybody has, but you only have to look at her children to know she’s a good mum. They’re lovely, grounded kids – you can’t help but love them.”
❛ SHE KNOWS SHE’LL GET HER HAPPY-EVER-AFTER WITH CARL…
AND THAT IT’LL BE FOREVER ❜
HEARTBREAK
And insiders add that since being with Carl, Jordan seems to have made far fewer references to Pete, but pals are warning her not to rush things with Carl and make him a replacement. The source adds, “Katie has stopped talking about Pete and her other exes so much since being with Carl, and really seems to be moving on. She seems happier than ever, but her friends are worried she may just be hoping Carl is a Pete replica, and trying to replace what she had with him.”