Katie Price has shared her emotional reaction after watching her children Junior and Princess break down in tears over her past drug use in her new Sky documentary Katie Price: Nothing To Hide. The former glamour model, 48, battled depression and a cocaine addiction following the breakdown of her marriage to third husband Kieran Hayler in the late 2010s. Junior, now 21, and Princess, 19, were just 13 and 10 at the time and recalled having to fend for themselves.
Children Recall Neglected Childhood
In the documentary, Junior said: 'That was probably the most difficult time of my life, our lives.' Princess agreed: 'I didn't know what was going on and I couldn't talk to mum about it because she wasn't there.' Junior added: 'And when she was there, she wasn't there, and we as siblings just kind of looked after each other. I remember me trying to figure out if food was microwavable to feed us for dinner.'
Princess recalled: 'She'd give me a blanket and spray her perfume on it and that was my attachment to her. I used to go home and feel so lonely I would just cuddle the blanket and cry.' Junior added: 'I missed her so much. I was in her bed waiting for her to come back and I woke up 3.30am to loud noises. She came in the room, I'll never forget the look on her face. She was obviously on stuff and it scared me, I'd never seen my mum like this.'
Junior Chose to Live with Father
Junior eventually chose to live with his father Peter Andre at age 14, saying: 'Thank God my dad was stable,' as it helped him 'get his sanity back'. He described the environment as 'a very unhealthful environment' and felt he needed to leave.
Price's Reaction and Apology
Taking to her Instagram Story, Price shared an article about her children's emotional moment with the headline: 'She wasn't a mum: Junior and Princess break down in tears as they open up on Katie Price's darkest days: She couldn't look after us.' She captioned the post: 'People will see my darkest days in my doc out tomorrow.'
Appearing on This Morning on Wednesday, she said she 'never knew' how much her children suffered. She explained: '[It was] awful. They are amazing. And when they done the interview, they said: Mum if we're going to do this, we're going to be brutally honest. I never knew [what they went through] because obviously I wanted to kill myself and I did try. That period of my life, I don't think people realise when I said I had a breakdown, I wanted to die, I didn't want to be here. And so as much as I thought I was being a mum, I wasn't. I was vacant. For young kids like that wanting their mum. I was trying to be the perfect mum and obviously I wasn't. It kills me I put them through that.'
Recovery and Moving Forward
The model attempted suicide in 2021. She got sober after several rehab stints and has had therapy. She added: 'Obviously we've come through the other end and they're like: We've got our mum back but what confused them is that I was such an amazing mum, had the breakdown, didn't have the mum that they needed and wanted. I wasn't mentally there to be able to do it. And it kills me that I put them through that. The kids knowing I wasn't right. I put all my family through it. It's awful but it's real life. It can happen to anyone.'
