Katie Price has opened up about her battle with cocaine in her new documentary Nothing to Hide, revealing the extent of her drug use and the emotional toll it took on her family. The former glamour model, 48, has been candid about her struggles, with her children Princess, 19, and Junior, 21, sharing how they felt 'lonely' and unloved during her addiction.
Children Recall Painful Memories
In an emotional interview for the documentary, Junior recalled a distressing night when he was 11 years old. '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 said.
Princess cried as she added: '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.'
Katie's Reflection and Regret
Reflecting on her drug use, which escalated after her split from Peter Andre in 2009 and during her troubled marriage to Kieran Hayler, Katie said: '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?'
Car Crash and Rehab
In September 2021, after a night of taking drugs and drinking, Katie crashed her car. She was banned from driving for two years and handed a 16-week suspended jail sentence for drink-driving. That same month, she checked into The Priory Clinic for five weeks to tackle her addiction. 'It got to a point where I had a major breakdown, ended up in The Priory twice, five weeks at a time, and then I self medicated on coke,' she said.
She explained how her head was 'so numb' and she turned to drugs to escape: 'Because my head was so numb with stuff, my reaction was 'oh just another thing, just another thing,' which wasn't normal to act. So that's why I turned to something to escape from that, and mine ended up being the coke. This is why I can't go back to my house, the times I've done coke there, all the parties there.'
Writing a 'Goodbye' Letter to Cocaine
Katie recalled writing a 'goodbye' letter to the drug. 'People around me were doing stories that weren't true and I was trying to get up for air and then being knocked down. It does get to you in the end. I thought, 'Oh my God, I can't do this'. I didn't know how to deal with everything. I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to shut things out,' she explained.
'I went to the doctor - I don't know how I found the strength - and said, 'I'm doing this cocaine. It's taking over. I can't cope with it.'' She later revealed she had penned a goodbye letter to the drugs to say they would 'never get the better of her' again.
Frank offers confidential advice about drugs and addiction (email frank@talktofrank.com, message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600) or the NHS has information about getting help.
