Alana Percival, who dated Katie Price’s controversial husband Lee Andrews for nine months last year, says she ‘understands’ what the former glamour model is going through and will be there for her if needed. The fitness coach, who previously claimed that Andrews had proposed to her in an almost identical way to Price, told the Mirror, “I will always be there for Katie if it all goes tits up, because I know exactly how Lee pulls you in, so I do understand. She does need to be very careful.”
Public Opinion Shift
Percival believes the tide of public opinion has turned since she first spoke out against Andrews. “Look at me. I've gone from being a bitter ex to the best person ever that outed Lee Andrews. And then Katie's gone from being, 'Oh, poor Kate, why are people not staying out of her business?' to 'What the hell are you doing?!'”
Shared Experiences
The 32-year-old admits that, like Price—who recently said her husband ‘completes her in every way’—she also lost friends due to her troubled relationship with Andrews. “They were trying to tell me what to do, and I literally told them to f*** off. I don't know what kind of weird magic spell he’s cast on her—but I get it. As much as you want to leave, you get dragged back in every time.”
Percival added, “I do believe in the sisterhood because at the end of the day, unfortunately, our brains sometimes sort of see things in a certain way… As much as I despise us having something in common, I see similarities between me and Kate, because we've both been through quite a lot, and I think she's just been... swayed.” She noted, “You get so addicted to the chaos, the quiet becomes very uncomfortable.”
Past Trauma and Manipulation
Percival revealed that before meeting Andrews, she had a tough life, losing her long-term boyfriend—with whom she moved to Dubai—when she was 22. She claims Andrews would use information she shared about her late partner to ‘mirror’ his behavior. “We were together for 13 years—he was probably the first person that I actually loved. But then Lee when I met him would mirror that person a lot, as I had told him a lot about that person that died, and our life together. I told Lee that he used to leave me flowers, and that he used to leave me notes and what they said—and he’d do the same thing. I trusted Lee, you know, Lee took down my defences. He even bought me a horse and called it my ex-partner's name.”
Katie Price's Current Situation
Reflecting on Price's situation, Percival said, “You start finding out the real truth about him. It’s the same with Katie. Except she doesn’t live with him—when they’re together, it’s honeymoon period, again and again and again. We lived together, so that honeymoon period finished, you know. Reality kicks in.”
Moving On with LoveTok
Despite the turbulent relationship, Percival is moving on and says she’s in the midst of a ‘long healing process’. Part of that is taking part in a new virtual dating show, LoveTok, created by former Celebs Go Dating expert Nadia Essex, launching live online on Monday, 29 June. “After a lot of healing, I just felt like it would be nice to actually get to know people, and build some trust. Who knows, I could actually meet someone that I feel a connection with.”
Percival hasn’t given up on love. “I definitely hope to still find The One. Obviously, I have been through a lot, but I try to turn everything into a positive. I don't stay down for very long.” She now has firmer boundaries. “I hadn’t been in a relationship for like four years before Lee, so it felt like, 'Oh wow, okay, maybe this is what I actually deserve. Now, I know better.”
Excited about dating online in front of a huge audience—the LoveTok account already has over 1 million followers—she’s also nervous about trolls. “There's 98% positivity on my Instagram right now, but the 2%... I do get a lot of trolls, asking if I'm a man, because I’m always training and I have a deep voice! But I have very thick skin. My dad has called me Alan since I was about 10, so I was always that little boy that he never had. I've been a tom boy my whole life, I've done motocross. I've never been girly. I am just me. So, I’ll just ignore any haters.”
LoveTok Concept
Explaining the show, Essex said, “Given the recent scandals with dating shows—hearing that women have gone on a TV show and not been safe, I thought, something has got to be done. So I created the world's first social media dating show, so it's 100% safe. Everybody is in their own live-stream dates. Each Monday we start with a brand new main dater, who will go on four dates with different people Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, that I've obviously match-made for them, and the date with the most likes on the Friday wins.” Percival will kick off Week 2 of the show, followed by LoveTok Late, an after-show where experts discuss dates. LoveTok launches on TikTok on Monday 29 June at 8pm, with catch-ups on YouTube.
