Katie Price is a woman on a mission. After a series of setbacks, the reality TV star is determined to get her life in order. And she says finally wrapping up the renovations at her West Sussex pile, “Mucky Mansion”, will be key to her healing process.
We joined Katie and children Harvey, 20, Princess, 15, Jett, nine, and Bunny, eight, for an exclusive shoot at the 19-room home in Horsham, which she bought from former cabinet office minister Francis Maude for £1.3 million in 2014.
The 44-year-old – who also has a 17-year-old son, Junior – is transforming the property for the second series of Channel 4 show Katie Price ’s Mucky Mansion, which follows her once-uninhabitable house becoming a forever home. At one point, things were so bad Katie couldn’t bear the thought of going back there – but that’s all changed.
“I found it hard to come to the house. I had bad memories of it all,” she says. “I was introduced to someone who wanted to turn it into a wedding venue, but it turned out to be a hoax and he ended up fly-tipping all of my land and made my house derelict inside.
“And then it got burgled and someone turned the shower on, so it leaked and my ceiling collapsed. It looked like a building site, so that’s where it got the name Mucky Mansion.”
After her stint in The Priory in 2019, Katie finally felt ready to deal with the damage. “I got to a point where I could come back to the house but to move into it, I had to change everything,” she says.
“I wanted to bring love back into the house and that’s what I’ve done. The past is the past and the house has got a different feel to it now. There is no bad feeling here any more. It really does feel like a home.”
Katie has recently completed the stable block and brought her horses Wallis and Emma to live there. She tells us she was involved in renovating the house from start to finish.
“It’s all my ideas and my taste,” she says. “I’ve had white carpet everywhere. Everyone said, ‘Why have you got white carpet when you’ve got kids and dogs?’ But I want to keep this house nice and pristine. I think you can see how bonkers my brain really is with some of the rooms.”
In Katie’ office, there are Barbie dolls stuck on one wall, cake sprinkles on a second and pom-poms on a third. Her pink beauty room is just as eccentric, featuring a flower wall and a neon wall.
“When people see it they’ll think, ‘Wow! Is this what goes on in your head?!’”
In series one, viewers saw Katie’s mum Amy, 71, and sister, Sophie, 33, design her garden room. At the time, Amy, who was diagnosed with terminal lung condition idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2017, revealed she wanted it to be a room she could be remembered by.
While Katie wasn’t overly keen on the idea, it’s now become one of the most sentimental spots in the house.
“I have to admit, when I have visitors, they always say they love that room. I do like it because as soon as I walk in, I instantly think of my mum and my sister,” she explains.
“I’d let them design more. I might get them to do a gym for me. I really want to start working out. Because I don’t drive [due to a driving ban], I’m trying to make it a home that I don’t have to leave. I want to turn one of the rooms into a gym and properly kit it out. We can do that for the third series.”
Opening up on her mum’s health, Katie says, “She’s taking each day as it comes. She still nags me every day. The more she nags, the more I know she’s alright!”
Katie’s children are happy with the house, too. Junior, who Katie shares with ex-husband Peter Andre, couldn’t be there but Princess, her daughter with Pete, Jett and Bunny, who she shares with ex-husband Kieran Hayler, and Harvey, her son by ex-footballer Dwight Yorke, looked thrilled as they posed for pictures.
“They all love the house and their bedrooms,” Katie says. “I put white carpet in Bunny’s room. Has it stayed white? No! She just loves her make-up too much.”
Katie plans to pay tribute to her kids by getting tattoos of them all. Last month she unveiled an inking of Princess’ face across her calf following a seven-hour session with Tattoo Fixers star Jay Hutton.
She says, “The reason I started with Princess is she’s got the long curly hair, so hers is the most painful and takes the longest. It’s not because there’s any favouritism! Princess loves it. She was like, ‘I’m your favourite!’ I was like, ‘No, I love you all the same’.”
Beyond mum duties, Katie is getting back into work. “As much as people love or hate me, it’s true that no matter how much I get knocked down, I always end up coming back up,” she says.
“My mind is in the right place. I need to bring the Pricey empire back. I want to bring back the perfumes, the underwear, the swimwear, the pyjama range. And I will do it. I feel in control.”
Katie has been open about her struggles and spoke of her mental health fight in the Channel 4 documentary Katie Price: Trauma And Me. It covered her drink-driving crash while banned in 2021 – for which she could have been jailed, but received a 16-week suspended sentence and two-year ban.
The former glamour model, who previously discussed a suicide attempt and how she lives with PTSD, returned to The Priory in November that year and now has weekly therapy.
“Sometimes you have to experience the lows to be able to enjoy the highs,” she says. “The sessions help. Sometimes I think, ‘I don’t need it this week’, but I still go and it makes me feel better. I’ve nearly finished my community service, so once that’s done, I can start fresh. I don’t want any more drama in my life!”
Katie, who split from her fiancé Carl Woods late last year, adds, “I like being on my own. I’m single and love my own space. I’m just enjoying time with the kids and I want to throw myself into work.
“I’m in the right headspace and I will never, ever go back to my low point. I’m going to shock everyone. I’m going to turn everything around and just be bigger and better than ever. Watch this space. And never underestimate the Pricey.”
Katie Price’s Mucky Mansion is on Tuesday, 10pm, Channel 4
