Katie Price on her ‘relentless’ media coverage: ‘It fascinates me’
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Katie Price has said the constant media coverage about her “fascinates me” and “takes it as a compliment” that people are so invested in her life.
The former glamour model, 48, often hits the headlines, with recent reports focused on her marriage to businessman Lee Andrews, who went “missing” in Dubai earlier this year.
In an interview with the Press Association, Price reflected on the “relentless” press coverage she receives and discussed how it has negatively impacted her mental health in the past.
She said: “I’m not saying I’ve done things the best way – how I react to things and things like that – but I am real.
“I only started when I was 17. I had no media training and literally just lived my life how I thought to live it.”
Price has been in the spotlight for three decades, having first risen to fame under her alter ego Jordan as a page three girl in 1996.
She appeared on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here in 2004 where she met future husband Peter Andre and has since featured on Celebrity Big Brother and Loose Women, as well as starring in several of her own reality series.
Price told PA: “My relationship with the press now is… because everything is on social media, they now have to find stuff for clickbait.
“I don’t remember the last time I bought a newspaper, it’s all online, everything now.”
The star also said she has “moved in with the times” and followed the shift towards digital media and online content, adding: “I don’t know how I’ve done it, but I have.”
Price continued: “I used to have such a good relationship with (the media).
“Then there was a 15-year period where they were just shocking towards me.”
The model has previously opened up about suffering from major mental breakdowns which resulted in severe depression and said her struggles were exacerbated by constant media scrutiny.
Price said: “A lot of journalists don’t care, because that’s their job. They can write what they want, go home and have their life.
“They forget what they write sticks and affects you, affects the family. They were relentless and that didn’t help with my breakdown.”
She added that she “still loves to work with the media” but enjoys the freedom of choosing the opportunities she wishes to pursue, which she says is “much better”.
Price, who has been engaged nine times and married four times, has come under the spotlight since tying the knot with her new husband Andrews.
The star garnered attention last month when she issued a series of appeals on social media asking where Andrews is, saying he went “missing” and she could not contact him.
Price called the online speculation about her husband’s whereabouts a “media circus”.
She added: “It just fascinates me where people are so invested still in me and my life. I take it as a compliment.”
Her latest project sees her headline a new Sky four-part series – titled Katie Price: Nothing To Hide – which is said to provide insight into her “turbulent life lived in the public eye”.
It will be available on Sky and streaming service Now on July 8th.
