
As we waited for Kerry Katona and Katie Price to enter the stage, there was palpable excitement in the room.
People were laughing and chattering and I think we all had a similar sense of the unexpected – when encountered by the Pricey, you do not know what is going to happen. The evening could go off in one of a million directions.
What we did not expect though was that, only a few minutes in, Katie Price would make a very shocking confession: that she had been raped at the age of 18 by a well-known celebrity.
She made the accusation in her trademark matter-of-fact way, so much so that I looked in shock and confusion at my sister, asking her if we already knew this. ‘I don’t think so?’ she mouthed.
After the event, I immediately Googled ‘Katie Price + rape + [name of celebrity]’.
Nothing had ever been reported.
I realised then just how powerful Katie’s statement really was.
I am not surprised she has taken this moment to speak about the allegations. The tour, as Katie and Kerry explained up front and a theme they returned to throughout the show, is speaking their truth.
The show was peppered with dozens of examples of how and when the girls have lost control of their own stories.
Whether headlines that they swear were made up, hatchet jobs by journalists with a vendetta or having stories sold on them by friends, family members and partners, both Kerry and Katie’s lives under the spotlight have been documented in great detail in a way they had no control over.
Now, they say, they are taking back control.
Learn more about rape in the UK
- According to Rape Crisis, 6.5million women in England and Wales have been raped or sexually assaulted, but 5 in 6 women don’t report rape
- The number of sexual offences in England and Wales reached a record high of 193,566 in in the year ending March 2022
- UCL research found that rape offences have the highest not guilty plea rate of any offence (85%) and this has been the case consistently for 15 years
- ONS data reveals almost half of all rapes are perpetrated by a woman’s partner or ex-partner, and End Violence Against Women have said that the victim knows the perpetrator in 85% of cases
- The ONS also found that more than 1 in 5 victims were unconscious or asleep when they were raped
So when they spun the ‘conversation wheel’ at the start of the show – a sort of topic Wheel Of Fortune that allocates a conversation theme to the girls – and it came up as ‘Childhood’, we knew we were going to hear some of those truths.
Kerry spoke at length about her cocaine abuse, how her mother gave her speed at the age of 14, telling her it was sherbert, and how her mum even sold stories on her own daughter.
But while the former Atomic Kitten star seemed as though she had genuinely moved past a lot of what happened to her and talked in mostly motivational quotes, the same could not be said for Katie.

Unwell and curled up under a blanket, shivering while blowing her nose and sucking on Strepsils, Katie kicked off with a pre-amble about how her childhood was happy and normal.
‘My parents were loving, regular parents. I had a loving childhood,’ she said. But then the conversation quickly took a dark turn.
‘I was raped age seven,’ She said. ‘I was raped again at 12, by a man in the park.’
And then came the most shocking confession: ‘Then I was raped at 18 by [redacted]. You all know who he is, don’t you?’ she turned and asked the crowd.
There was no audience outburst, no gasps – just silent shock.
What to do if you’ve been raped
If you have been the victim of rape, either recently or historically, and are looking for help, support is out there.
- If you have recently been raped and you are still at risk, ring 999 and ask for the police. Otherwise, the first step is to go somewhere you are safe.
- If you want to report your rape to the police, ring 999 or the police non-emergency line on 101. An Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) will often be on hand to help you through reporting and even after you have made a statement, you can still decide to withdraw from the criminal justice process at any time.
- If you plan on going to the police, if possible, do not wash your clothes or shower, bathe or brush your teeth. If you do get changed, keep the clothes you were wearing in a plastic bag. These steps will help to preserve any DNA evidence your attacker may have left on your body or clothes.
- If you don’t want to contact the police, Rape Crisis suggest talking to someone you trust about what has happened; or you can ring one of the UK’s many rape and sexual assault helplines.
- Anyone aged 16+ can contact Rape Crisis’s 24/7 Support Line by calling 0808 500 2222 or starting an online chat.
- If you have been injured, you’re best advised to go to your nearest A&E to seek medical treatment. If you are uninjured, you can go to your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). The NHS has information on where to find your nearest centre here.
- If your rape is historic, you can still access support, including from the police – there is no time limit on reporting and your account can still be used as evidence.
Read more here.
Katie then said of the rape aged seven that it hadn’t changed her, that she was ‘fine’. Kerry interrupted and disputed that version of events suggesting Katie’s trauma has come out in many ways since then.
Indeed, Katie went on to describe how those early traumatic experiences of rape, coupled with subsequent relationships – some of which she claims were abusive, where she was beaten and verbally abused – left her with worsening mental health issues that continued to spiral.
She admitted she felt worthless and ugly and that some of the men she dated reinforced that by telling her so. Despite her many surgeries, she says, she has never felt pretty.
In documenting her mental health turmoil, Katie went on to say how things came to a head and she eventually tried to take her own life in a toilet cubicle.

When she woke up after passing out, her face was covered in bruises, her phone down the toilet. It was a wake-up call. She knew she had to get help.
I’d gone to see Katie and Kerry expecting to see a bawdy, funny, chaotic and irreverent evening with plenty of nostalgic laughs.
What I saw in reality was a raw, unfiltered look at what it means for early trauma, family and relational difficulties, substance abuse, domestic abuse and much, much more to clash with fame, talent, charisma and the searing spotlight of the public eye.
Learn more about domestic abuse in the UK
- One in 4 women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives
- ONS research revealed that, in 2023, the police recorded a domestic abuse offence approximately every 40 seconds
- Yet Crime Survey for England & Wales data for the year ending March 2023 found only 18.9% of women who experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months reported the abuse to the police
- According to Refuge, 84% of victims in domestic abuse cases are female, with 93% of defendants being male
- Safe Lives reports that disabled women are twice as likely to experience domestic abuse as non-disabled women, and typically experience domestic abuse for a longer period of time before accessing support
- Refuge has also found that, on average, it takes seven attempts before a woman is able to leave for good.
Not to mention a particularly ferocious tabloid and paparazzi era that was unforgiving, and in some way continues to be unforgiving, on both women.
At the end, after one of Katie’s rallying speeches, she looked dead into the eyes of the audience and said: ‘Don’t Mess With The Pricey’. The audience cheered.
Kerry hugged her fiercely and you got the feeling, Katie is going to be ok. I certainly hope so.
It was arresting to see how she could flip from talking about something uplifting or funny to such traumatic topics.
But I came away with renewed respect for both incredible performers and great professionals, and also a deep sympathy for what both have been through in their professional and personal lives.
And in the case of Katie, of course, a deep sense of horror and compassion for her that she has not only been subjected to these rapes, but hasn’t been able to see justice served on the perpetrators.
I hope that, one day, justice will finally be served on that man and that Katie will get the peace she deserves.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk.
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