Katie Price’s new documentary shows her true colours at last – it’s heartbreaking

This review is based on the first episode of Katie Price: Nothing to Hide.

Like a lot of journalists, I’ve been around for the many ups and downs of Katie Price’s life. Marriages, divorces, driving bans, bankruptcy, more surgeries than she can even remember.

That’s why when it was announced that she was filming a ‘candid and unfiltered’ four-part documentary series, Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, I was dismissive.

Surely, we know everything about this woman already. How can the same person who’s been splashed across newspapers and magazines for 30 years have anything to hide? We’ve all been a fly on the wall of her entire existence.

But as she does so often, Katie has surprised me. Not least by retelling the most turbulent years of her life so sincerely, but by finally adding some context and honesty to her weird and wild antics. As a woman, I found it heartbreaking to watch her unravel.

In the first episode of the Sky Original documentary, Katie, 48, harrowingly reveals an incident which clearly altered her life forever when she was sexually assaulted by a stranger in a park at the age of seven. Her recollection of the incident, which she describes as ‘disgusting’, is devastating viewing.

‘I remember it clear as day, his face, the feelings of what he did,’ she recalls.

‘The police were talking – I don’t know what they asked – but I remember they took my knickers. Through the years there’s been abuse from men against me. Taking advantage of me from a young age for their self-benefit.’

Images of an innocent Katie in her school uniform alongside her story made me tearful. Not just because so many women have had similar terrifying experiences at a young age, but because of the obvious impact it’s had on her relationships with men to this day.

Katie says sexual abuse led to her wanting male attention, but not wanting to be touched. A devastating coping mechanism which has haunted her for years and ultimately led to the inception of Jordan, her Page 3 pre-surgery alter-ego, who she calls ‘ugly, ugly, ugly’.

‘I wanted people to want me. I wanted people to want to f**k me, but the most powerful thing about it is they couldn’t touch me, it’s just a picture,’ she says.

What’s perhaps unsurprising from watching the documentary is that Katie is incapable of being alone and desperately looking for love in all the wrong places.  

‘I’m such a strong person, but when I’ve been in love, I’ve been blind. I’ve always needed a man, always been vulnerable and needy,’ she says.

Katie’s love life is seen as a joke. She’s been married four times and engaged nine. There’s been glossy magazine deals, paternity rows, and more public feuds than I can recall.

Even now, she’s not out of the woods. She recently married suspected conman and AI enthusiast Lee Andrews after knowing him for a week, but that could change by the time this article is published.

It’s not just the lows of her career we’re shown. Katie’s cheeky sense of humour shines through in several witty moments. She digs through her garage while discovering a big box containing artefacts from her relationship with Peter Andre, exclaiming: ‘Oh, that’s not a good one to pick up…’

She also mocks Victoria Beckham when recalling her fears that then-boyfriend Dane Bowers, who was working with the singer at the time, was in love with her.

In a later incident, she broke into his flat and stole the right foot of all of his Nike TN trainers after fearing he had moved on from her with a model after they split. ’Even then he didn’t give me attention and I had his trainers in the boot of my car,’ she laughs.

Of course, some would argue that Katie isn’t a fragile figure; she’s just the UK’s biggest publicity hound and will be for the rest of her life.

But after watching her describe her life in her own words, it’s clear to see she’s a victim.

A victim of sexual abuse, a victim of relationship trauma, and a victim of an industry which has chewed her up and spat her out at the cost of her own sanity.

‘I’ve never had time to reflect, and it’s about time I look at what I’ve really done – I know I’ve hurt people and I know I’ve made mistakes,’ she admits.

Her rollercoaster life has been entertaining banter for us all for decades, but seeing Katie’s striking vulnerability and accountability has been a long time coming.

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide is available on Sky and NOW from July 8.