Junior and Princess Andre, the children of former glamour model Katie Price, have tearfully opened up about how their mother's cocaine use affected their childhood in a new Sky documentary series. Junior, 21, and Princess, 19, described feeling lonely and unloved as Price struggled with substance abuse, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Childhood Memories of Neglect
Junior recalled a specific incident when he was around 14 or 15: "I remember missing her so much. This one time in particular, I was in her bed waiting for her to come back, and I woke up probably 3:30am to some loud noises, and I see her come in the room, and I'll never forget the look on her face, she was obviously on stuff, right? I could see it in her eyes, and I was.. it scared me, because I've never seen my mum look like that. She's there, but she's not there, you know."
He added: "She wasn't in the right headspace, she really wasn't. And she wasn't being a mum, she wasn't being the mum that I knew from when I was a little boy. The amount of love she gave me was so immense that that's what I missed so much. Mum was on drugs, and she could not look after us, and that is the reality of it. She couldn't."
Junior eventually left the home: "I clocked on that this was a very unhealthy environment, and I needed to get out. I did leave. I think I was about 14 or 15. Thank God that my dad was stable, because that's the house that I went to and gained my sanity back, you know. While I was wishing and hoping that my mum would come back and turn herself around. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough, because she wasn't fixing herself for me."
Princess's Emotional Attachment
Princess shared a poignant memory: "She'd give me a blanket, and she sprayed all her perfume on it, and that was like that was my, my attachment to Mum. So I remember after school I used to go home and just feel so like lonely in a way. I used to just cuddle to the blanket and just cry."
She added: "I stayed. I always wanted to be there for her, and I always wanted to show her that, like, she has me, she has us, but she didn't understand that at the time, because she was so hooked up in her own problems." The siblings revealed they were forced to prepare microwave meals and "look after each other".
Katie Price's Candid Confession
In the documentary, Katie Price, 48, speaks candidly about her past drug use, which began roughly a decade after her separation from Peter Andre in 2009. She said: "It was the only thing that blocked everything out. It will take out that pain, it will take out any worry, it will take out the noise." She was regularly using cocaine, staying out late, and failing to put her family first.
Reflecting on her children's accounts, she said: "When I hear what the kids, how they saw it, it breaks my heart. But they were still always looked after, I still had people around me looking after them, like helping me. But that's not good enough. Kids need their mum, kids need their mum's love, their mum's hugs, and I thought I was given that, but obviously I wasn't. It must have been horrible for them, horrible for them, and I'm just sorry to them that I put them through that and thought I was doing the best I could with them, but what could I have done?"
She added: "I was unwell. I couldn't even look after myself. I was more than rock bottom. I didn't want to be. I wanted to die. I felt worthless, suicidal thoughts all the time."
Car Crash and Recovery
In September 2021, after a night of drug-taking and drinking, Price crashed her car while in a suicidal state. At the scene, she told her mother she "wanted to be out of it". She recalled: "I remember when they put me in a cell it was like peace. Peace and quiet. I found that quite comforting. It is quite sad to think that." She attributes six weeks at The Priory following this episode with rescuing her life and enabling her to care for herself more effectively. Her relationship with Junior and Princess has since strengthened.
Family Reactions to Her Marriage
The documentary also covers Price's 30-year career, from glamour model earning six-figure sums to being declared bankrupt. She is currently married to Dubai businessman Lee Andrews, whom she wed in January after knowing him for only weeks. Her stepfather Paul Price recalled: "I said what's she going to Dubai for? 'To see a bloke'. I said 'what's the catch?' And then we find out she's getting married. I said 'you're off your head'. And then the geezer is in the paper pretending to be a millionaire." Asked if he was angry, he replied: "100 percent." Junior added: "This is the most silliest stupidest thing, marrying a guy she doesn't even know. This is my mum, this is what she does."
Her mother Amy Price concluded: "In some ways, she's still like a child. But she's a good daughter. I hope she really does find someone to love and be happy."
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a four-part Sky Original series, will be available on Sky and streaming service NOW on 8 July.
