This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Few people would have expected Katie Price to be the subject of one of the great TV documentaries about parenting.<\/p>\n

But Harvey and Me, broadcast on BBC1 last January, was a supremely touching show about the mother-son relationship. Now she has done it again with the follow-up: Katie Price: What Harvey Did Next. Price is the former Page Three model known as Jordan, turned best-selling novelist, reality show star, entrepreneur, thrice-married mother of five and scandal magnet. Harvey, her oldest child, is autistic. He also has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic condition resulting in obesity (he weighs around 28 stone) and septo-optic dysplasia, a disorder that affects sight and the development of the brain (he has the cognitive understanding of a seven-year-old). Price and Harvey make for a wonderful team \u2013 sweet, funny, sweary, shocking and loving.<\/p>\n

When Harvey was born she was told he would not be able to walk, talk or see. Now at 19, he can do all three and at the beginning of the programme is heading off to a college for young adults with special needs. There are no miracles \u2013 he still has violent outbursts, refuses to attend classes, and sometimes pines for Price. But it\u2019s a remarkable achievement nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Price, who is at home in Sussex when we Zoom, tells me that Harvey has been the one constant in her topsy-turvy adulthood. \u201cI\u2019m 44 this year, and Harvey has been with me through the whole rollercoaster. He has been the most consistent person in my life who has seen me laugh and cry, sad and happy. He doesn\u2019t judge it and he doesn\u2019t question it. All he wants is for me to be there for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s been another rollercoaster of a week-end. We speak a couple of days after she has been headline news again. The Sun reported that she was facing a possible five-year jail sentence after breaching a court-imposed ban and sending an abusive text to the new fianc\u00e9e of her third husband, Kieran Hayler. She says she can\u2019t tell me what really happened because of legal restrictions, but insists it wasn\u2019t quite as reported. Anyway, today, she\u2019s here to talk about Harvey. I tell her that as the father of an autistic child, I marvel at her relationship with him. \u201cWhatever people think of me, whether they love me or hate me, you can\u2019t fake that relationship. I know I\u2019m a good mum and he\u2019s a credit to me. No one can take that away from me. Not a lot of people would cope like I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price says caring has always come naturally to her. \u201cA lot of people are afraid to approach anyone with special needs or in a wheelchair. They don\u2019t know how to act. It can be daunting. You just have to talk to people like you do in the street.\u201d She\u2019s right. She never patronises Harvey or his friends. \u201cI think I\u2019ve got a special gift \u2013 if someone was having a meltdown, I know I\u2019d be able to cope and calm them down.\u201d Has she ever considered going into the caring professions? \u201cAll the time. I would say I was a carer. That\u2019s why I was training to be a nurse when I left school. I would train to be a para- medic now if I could find time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Price is extraordinarily patient with Harvey, and he pays her back with the purest love. They have call and response routines. \u201cHip-hip,\u201d Harvey says. \u201cHooray!\u201d Price responds. She takes him train-spotting at stations and shows enthusiasm even though it bores her silly. Harvey has an infectious enthusiasm for life (\u201cHow awesome is this, Mum!\u201d) and a winning politeness. She adores him and makes sure he knows it. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of you, Price!\u201d she tells him. When he\u2019s being a typical adolescent slob, she embraces his normality. \u201cYou\u2019re just a messy teenager, Pricycles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Price clearly loves all her children, but she knows her relationship with Harvey is special \u2013 not simply because of his needs, but because the other four have fathers in their life. Does Harvey ever see his dad? \u201cNo. My mum has tried to be in contact. But he\u2019s just not interested.\u201d She doesn\u2019t mention former footballer Dwight Yorke by name. \u201cI\u2019d love to know if he\u2019s seen the documentaries. He\u2019s seen Harvey about nine times in his life.\u201d Price says Yorke doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s missing out on. \u201cYou can have so much fun with Harv. He has so much banter. I don\u2019t get it.\u201d Yorke should be so proud of what his son has achieved, she says. Were her former husbands Peter Andre, Alex Reid and Kieran Hayler good with Harvey? At the time, she says, but ultimately, she claims they let him down. \u201cWhen they\u2019re with me they make out, \u2018I\u2019ll adopt him, I\u2019ll do this and that\u2019, but as soon as you split they don\u2019t want to know.<\/p>\n
Explaining that to Harvey has been very difficult because he has emotions and he\u2019s not silly. Imagine how upsetting it is for him because he probably doesn\u2019t know why they don\u2019t want to see him. How do you explain that to a child?\u201d Andre has previously disputed Price\u2019s version of events and said of his bond with her son: \u201cHarvey will always be special to me\u201d. She admits that her relationship with Harvey has caused friction with the men in her life. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018You spend more time cuddling Harvey than you do me\u2019. Sometimes they get a bit jealous of my relationship with Harv. It\u2019s tough luck, because Harvey\u2019s only got me.\u201d<\/p>\n
What makes the new documentary so compelling is that while Harvey tries to adjust to his new life, Price is struggling in his absence. While his going to college offers her new freedoms, it also provides her with the opportunity to self destruct. One day she drives under the influence and has a terrible accident, only avoiding a jail sentence by agreeing to treatment for addiction at the Priory rehab clinic. Price is ashamed. She says she had been under huge stress, and again insists she can\u2019t provide details for legal reasons. But she suggests that much of it is related to hounding by the tabloids. She knows some will argue she has spent her life invading her own privacy, so how can she expect journalists to respect it, but she says that does not give the press licence to stalk her.<\/p>\n
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Suddenly she looks surprisingly vulnerable. \u201cThe media are constantly trolling me. It\u2019s unfair. But they\u2019re goading and goading me. It\u2019s as if they want me to go and kill myself. The way they are goading me is so disgusting.\u201d It\u2019s a shocking thing to say, but I think she means it. \u201cThe paparazzi are outside my house, following me in cars. If I was a normal woman, I\u2019d call the police and say, \u2018I\u2019m being followed by three men in a car and I\u2019m scared, can you help me?\u2019 They\u2019d go and arrest those guys for stalking. But when I say I\u2019m Katie Price they say, \u2018You\u2019re in the public eye, there\u2019s nothing we can do\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
A couple of years ago, she says, she reached a terrible low. \u201cI tried to kill myself before I ended up in the Priory. The only reason I didn\u2019t was because of my children. So, if my kids weren\u2019t here I wouldn\u2019t be here today. Fact. The kids saved me.\u201d Price is a fascinating character. Instantly recognisable as the brash, flash celeb of tabloid legend, yet so much more nuanced. As for the future, she is hoping that Harvey settles down at college. He is already hugely loved there, has made good friends, and has smashed up his TV and computer. The latter is a good sign, she says; it means he\u2019s started to think of college as home. Price knows he is dangerously obese, but she says she\u2019s trying her best. \u201cIf it was easy to get him to eat well and exercise I\u2019d have done it. It\u2019s not easy, trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As it is, she says, she is unbelievably proud of what Harvey has achieved. \u201cThe fact that he\u2019s got to college and has adapted to the change is amazing.\u201d People ask her what she thinks he will be doing in five years, and she says it\u2019s impossible to answer.<\/p>\n
The smile is back on her face now. \u201cI\u2019m just delighted that he\u2019s happy, alive and able to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katie Price: What Harvey did next airs on BBC One tonight at 9pm. If you\u2019re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide<\/a>. Check out our Documentaries<\/a> hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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