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| Katie Price |
Life and career
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. Her maternal grandmother was Jewish and her other grandparents on both sides were Anglican. In 1982, at the age of four, her parents separated when her father left the family. In 1988, her mother married builder Paul Price, after which, Price obtained the surname. She has an older brother named Daniel and a maternal half-sister, Sophie, who was born in 1989.
Katie 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 six. She began modelling as a child, and at the age of 13 modeled for a clothing line. However, unknown to Price, the project's photographer was a convicted paedophile and insisted on shooting her in her underwear.
1994–96: Career beginnings
Katie 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.
1997–2003: Success as a model and branching into other areas
In 1996, when she was eighteen, Price's fame grew to new heights when she had breast enhancement surgery; increasing her natural 32B/C to a 32D. Unhappy with her breasts from an early age and despite her family's objections, she went ahead with the procedure because she felt that as a glamour model, she did not look "as sexy or as womanly" as other models. She would later have many enhancements, as well as reductions, on her breasts. She told a reporter, "Some people may be famous for creating a pencil sharpener. I'm famous for my tits." However, The Sun later barred Katie Price from Page Three after announcing that they would only hire "all natural" models. However, she would continue modelling and has graced such covers like FHM, Maxim, Nuts, Loaded, Vogue, British Elle and the British edition of Playboy.
In an attempt to cross over from modelling to other areas, Katie Price auditioned for a part on the UK television remake of the American-series Baywatch in 1998, guest presented The Big Breakfast and played herself in an episode of Dream Team.
During the 2001 British General Election, Jordan ran as a candidate in Stretford and Urmston under her real name using the slogan: 'For a Bigger and Betta Future'. As part of her comical election campaign, she promised free breast implants, more nudist beaches, and a ban on parking tickets. In the end, Jordan won 713 votes, 1.8% of the votes cast.
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| Katie Price |
2004–05: I'm a Celebrity, Peter Andre, Eurovision and further business ventures
Price's celebrity soon brought her to television; she was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! between the months of January and February in 2004, a reality television series where a group of celebrities live together in a jungle environment with few luxuries. It was there that she met Peter Andre whom she would eventually marry and later divorce.
Katie Price made a cameo appearance playing herself in an episode of the television drama series Footballers' Wives in March 2004 and also appeared in the programme Jordan Gets Even for Five.
Katie Price appeared on Top Gear's "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" in May 2004. She completed the lap in one minute and fifty-two seconds.
Katie Price released the first of four autobiographies Being Jordan in May 2004. Initially turned down by the mainstream publishing houses after demanding a £1 million advance, she was eventually signed up by small independent publisher John Blake, a former tabloid journalist, for £10,000 plus royalties. In a departure from industry norms, she conducted a 10-day book signing tour which provoked enough interest – contrary to expectations and almost exclusively female – to propel her to first position in the Nielsen BookScan hardback sales chart and to sell 97,090 copies in one year; and over 1,000,000 as of January 2007.
She appeared in the documentaries Jordan: Living With a Dream (Channel 4) and the series When Jordan Met Peter (ITV), Jordan & Peter: Laid Bare (ITV2) and Jordan & Peter: Marriage and Mayhem (ITV2).
Katie Price was one of the contestants in the selection process of finding a representative for the United Kingdom at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. The selection process, named Making Your Mind Up, was broadcast live on television in March 2005. Price sang a song titled "Not Just Anybody" wearing a skin-tight pink catsuit. She came in second place behind winner Javine.
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| Katie Price |
2006–07: Book releases, A Whole New World and Katie & Peter
Her second autobiography, A Whole New World, was published in January 2006. It reached number two in the hardback general category and sold 198,105 copies by 1 April 2006.
Her first ghost-written novel, Angel, about a young woman who becomes a model, was published in July 2006, and sold 300,000 copies in six weeks.
Katie Price, with Peter Andre, released A Whole New World, a duet album, in November 2006. All sales of the album went to their chosen charities affiliated with the many health conditions of her eldest son, Harvey. The album debuted at number twenty on the UK Albums Chart and achieved platinum status.
In 2006 Katie Price signed a £300,000 advance with Random House for Katie Price's Perfect Ponies, a series of children's books, with the first 6 released in 2007. Three more books have been released throughout 2008. A title from that series, My Pony Care Book, was nominated for the WH Smith's Children's Book of the Year. In 2008, she released a new children's book series entitled Mermaids & Pirates, with six in the series. Four more are expected for release in April 2008.
Katie & Peter: Unleashed began on Friday 19 October 2007 at 9 pm on ITV2. A new series titled, Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter Down Under aired on ITV2 on 27 March 2008 at 9 pm running for 13 weeks. Katie & Peter: Stateside began on Thursday 16 April 2009 on ITV2 and followed the family as they relocate to Malibu, California for three months, where Andre recorded his new album.
Her second ghost-written novel, Crystal, about a young woman's efforts to become a singer, sold 159,407 copies during the first three months after its release in June 2007. All four books were ghost-written by Rebecca Farnworth.
2008–09: Business ventures, split from Peter Andre, What Katie Did Next and return to I'm a Celebrity
In February 2008, Price's third autobiography, Pushed to the Limit, was released. In July 2008, Price released her third novel, Angel Uncovered. In July 2009, Katie Price released a novel entitled Sapphire which was number 1 on the hardback fiction chart for four consecutive weeks and sold 42,215 copies in its first two weeks in the UK alone.
After three and a half years of marriage, Katie Price and Andre separated in May 2009 after Andre's decision to leave her. They were officially divorced on 8 September 2009, two days before what would have been their fourth wedding anniversary.
A series aired in August/September 2009 called What Katie Did Next (now called Katie), which showed Price's life/career after her split and eventual divorce from Andre. Price released a fashion/how-to manual in October 2009 called Standing Out.
In November 2009, Katie Price made a return visit to I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Presenters Ant & Dec insinuated during the broadcast that the surprise of Price's return had been ruined by the media. Whilst in the jungle, the public repeatedly voted Price to undertake each and every "Bush Tucker Trial" challenge. After it had been announced that Price had been selected for her seventh consecutive trial, she decided to quit the show and left one week after her arrival.
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| Katie Price |
In July 2010, Katie 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 scarce 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. Katie 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.
Katie Price continues to write a regular advice column in OK! magazine. In January 2011, it was reported in the Daily Mirror that Katie Price was separating from Reid.
