Katie
A lot of people are scared of my mum because she can be quite full-on. She’s a very protective, loving mum who’ll do anything for her kids and mine. She’s the person I turn to first if I’ve got a problem because I know she’ll do everything in her power to get it sorted.
My entire family is really brainy [Price has a brother, Daniel, 46, and a sister, Sophie, 31]. I’m the Del Boy of the family. My mum says it’s because I don’t listen. I’m more of an instinct girl; everything goes in one ear and out the other. The number of times she’s said, “You’re not having another boob job, you’re beautiful as you are.” I know she’s right but at the time you don’t think like that. Now I don’t tell her what I’ve done until I’ve woken up because I know she’ll call the surgeon. In the past, she’s gone, “If you operate on my daughter I’m reporting you to the GMC.” She’s like that with all of us.
My childhood was all about fresh air and staying healthy. Mum is an exquisite swimmer. She trained with Sharron Davies and almost made the Olympic team. She still does her cardio class every morning, even though she needs oxygen now [Amy was diagnosed with the incurable lung condition pulmonary fibrosis in 2017]. She puts on a massive show of strength but her illness is slowing her down. She has joined a choir to open up her lungs. She’s not giving in without a fight.
We’ve both got tough exteriors, neither of us show anyone what’s going on inside. I had a breakdown last year. I kept saying, “I’m fine, Mum”, then the next minute I’d be crying. She drove me to the Priory. I was an in-patient for five weeks and it was the best thing I ever did. I was told I had severe post-traumatic stress disorder. I think the trigger was getting held up at gunpoint in South Africa in 2018. Things were done to me in front of my kids, my friend was knocked unconscious, blood everywhere. I don’t know how we survived it. At the same time, my two exes were ganging up on me, the media was picking on me. It got to the point where I just wanted to sleep and I was self-medicating to block everything out.
What happened to me as a child was part of it too [Katie was sexually assaulted aged six. The perpetrator was never caught]. They say that’s why I’m weak with men. I just pick tossers, don’t I? My mum has embarrassed me so many times. She’ll turn up at my house and say to the latest boyfriend: “Have you got a job? Or are you just going to ponce off my daughter?” She is ruthless and it turns out she’s always right.
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In the Priory they helped me to find a safe place in my head. I had to go way, way back to my childhood to find it, and it’s me aged nine, kissing the muzzle of a horse. I had such a great upbringing, and that’s what I want for my kids. I’m still after the fairytale, you know?
With Carl [Woods, her boyfriend], Mum’s already told him not to mess me around and so far he’s passed the tosser test. He’s got his own money, he’s not interested in fame and hates anything to do with Jordan [her model alter ego]. I loved it all and I don’t regret anything. I was 17 when cameras started filming me falling out of clubs. I enjoyed doing reality [TV], that was me expressing myself. I don’t know what it’s like to live a normal life.
Because we know we’re losing Mum, nothing goes unsaid. I know everything about her and she knows everything about me. I miss holding her and giving her a cuddle, but there’s a lot of banter on our family Zooms too, because if we didn’t muck about we’d never get through it. She knows that out of everyone, I’ll be the one who cares for her at the end. And I do listen to my mum now because I’ve grown up. That rebellious little devil is still in me, but I’ve learnt to suppress her.
Amy
Kate was horse-mad and sporty growing up. I never thought she was much of an extrovert, but she wanted to be different and she was so determined. When she was 14 we went round the modelling agencies in London but they all said she was too short. So she sent pictures to a glamour agency and at 17 ended up in The Sun for a week. I hated the topless modelling with a passion but my mum and dad thought it was fantastic. My mum had performed as a mermaid in the 1940s, with long curly hair covering her breasts. She said: “I did it, Kate. You can do it.” After that, there was no stopping her.
What we didn’t understand was why she had all the breast surgeries, because she didn’t need them. At 17 a photographer told her she needed to be bigger. I was so angry. I phoned the surgeon and said: “You can’t do this, you need my permission.” When she was 18 she phoned on her way down to the operating theatre, so it was too late to stop it. She thought it was the only way she’d be successful.
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I’ve disagreed with every procedure she’s ever had. She doesn’t tell me now because she knows I’ll go ballistic. Maybe she does it because she doesn’t feel she’s attractive enough, or maybe it’s body dysmorphia. Part of the problem is she gets her surgeries free, so someone is always capitalising on her name.
Kate’s had so much trauma in her life. After she was held at gunpoint in South Africa, she was quite matter of fact. It’s only later you think she’s not OK, she just does a really good job of hiding her feelings. She has started to understand what she’s been through, compounded by growing up in the media. She has been slated so viciously it’s got to get to you in the end. In the old days, the tabloids made stories up but they forgot it was my daughter in the middle of it all.
She’s a homely person really. Carl seems a good egg — so far — but Kate’s got involved with some terrible men. It’s the same pattern over and over. They all start off saying, “I love your daughter, I’ll look after her,” then they live off her. Then there’s the hangers-on and the freeloaders. I spot them a mile off and I’ll call them out, but Kate’s got such a big heart and she’s so generous, she can’t see what they’re doing.
Lockdown has been good for all of us. We’ve spent loads of time chatting on Zoom. She knows I want her to be happy and settled, and to continue to work for the good of others. She’s petitioning for Harvey’s Law [named after Katie’s disabled son], which would make online trolling a criminal offence, but there also has to be a register of offenders. Kate loves being a mum to all five of her kids. She’s patient, loving and wants the best for everyone. When Harvey was born blind, we went, OK, what does he need? And she got down to it. I’m so proud of her. When you’ve got one like Harvey, raising a kid without a disability is a doddle. She’d love another baby. I imagine she’s practising like mad right now.
pulmonaryfibrosistrust.org, actionpf.org; the song There by Ben Drake will be released next week with all proceeds going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust, lnk.to/bcc-there
Strange habits
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Katie on Amy
If I open a new book or a magazine, she goes, give it here! We all love the smell of new stuff
Amy on Katie
Sniffing new books — we’re the same
