Katie Price (born Katrina Amy Alexandria Alexis Infield, 22 May 1978), previously known under the pseudonym Jordan during her early modelling career, is an English celebrity, businesswoman, singer, television personality and former glamour model.
Her time at topless female glamour model pictorial, Page Three, in British tabloid newspaper The Sun, instantly shot Price into the public limelight. She is notoriously dubbed by contemporary critics as being “famous for being famous”, her personal life is often criticised by British tabloids and celebrity-based magazines, and her artificial breasts represent the pinnacle of her pornographic appeal; however Price is often viewed a collective ideal of genuine modern femininity to a widespread audience: particularly to females. Her continual struggle with the British media against her personal life and “rags to riches” story has turned her into an inspirational role model.
Her place in the public’s spotlight has allowed Price to venture into a multitude of different businesses. Since her début as a glamour model, Price has written five adult-fiction novels; four autobiographies; two series of children’s books; and one fashion book as well as branching into fashion with the release of clothing ranges in equestrian wear and baby wear; two fragrances; a haircare range; a tanning range and an eyelash range.
Price has experienced many superfluously-publicised relationships in the eye of the British media and has been married twice: first to singer Peter Andre in 2005 and again to professional fighter Alex Reid in 2010.
1978–93: Early life
Katie Price was born Katrina Amy Alexandria Alexis Infield in Brighton, East Sussex, England to parents Amy (née Charlier) and Ray Infield. In 1982, at the age of four, her parents separated after her father left the family. However, in 1988, her mother married Paul Price, a builder, after which, Price obtained the surname. She has an older brother named Daniel and a maternal half-sister, Sophie, who was born in 1989.
Price attended Blatchington Mill School and although not an academic student, she excelled at sport: swimming for Sussex in regional competitions. During her childhood, she also developed a passion for horses and horse-riding. She was molested by a man in a park’s bushes at the age of seven. She began modelling as a child, and at the age of 13, modelled for a clothing line. However, unknown to Price, the project’s photographer was a convicted paedophile and insisted on shooting her in her underwear.
Price left school in 1994, at the age of 16 and after the suggestion of a friend to have some professional photographs taken, she decided to pursue a modelling career. The pictures were sent to a modelling agency in London and, to her surprise, agencies invited her into their studios for photo shoots and to discuss a contract. It took a few negative responses for Price to have a successful outcome, but when in 1996, she was offered a job at Page Three, a topless female glamour model pictorial in British tabloid newspaper The Sun, Price’s career as a glamour model had begun. She adopted the name Jordan in 1996, and made frequent appearances as a model on both Page Three and in men’s lifestyle magazines.
In July 2010, Price released “Free to Love Again”, a non-album single. About the release, she explained: “I’m not a singer, this is just something that I’m doing for fun. It’s not like I’m worried about getting a chart position or number one, this is purely for fun. Whether people like it or not, I’m doing it.” The single had scare promotion or radio play and was negatively received by contemporary critics. It charted at number sixty on the UK Singles Chart and was only supported by performances on GMTV and at various other London nightclubs. On all occasions, she admitted that she had been lip-synching.
Price released her fifth novel Paradise in July 2010.
Giving a personal insight to her life between the start of 2008 and the summer of 2010, Price released her fourth autobiography titled You Only Live Once in October 2010. The book documents her split from Andre and leads up to her marriage to Alex Reid. Price dedicated the autobiography to Andre, amongst other family members and close friends, in the “hope [that he] find the happiness [he has] always been searching for”. She also thanks him for taking her on a journey of self-discovery.
Price continues to write a regular advice column in OK! magazine.
