LIZ JONES: Like Katie Price I transformed myself with surgery, went bankrupt and dated terrible men. But there's one key difference between us

Daily Mail​

17 hours ago

There are many things you can gift your children: a work ethic, property, generosity, good looks or intelligence. But you can also saddle your offspring with an embarrassing name, the risk of an unnatural attitude towards food and an unhinged belief that you need to keep tinkering with your body to a point where you become unrecognisable.
Oh, and the idea that you must move from one relationship to the next as you are defined only by the opposite sex finding you attractive, plus a chaotic attitude towards money. A belief that big houses and breasts, horses and cars will make you happy and encourage others to love you and value you.
Watching the latest reality show on ITV2 last night, in which Princess, the 18-year-old daughter of Katie Price and Peter Andre, shared insecurities about her looks, made me sad.
Princess had feared her nose and eyes were too big and her lips too thin, when in fact she is absolutely stunning. She talked about the unwanted attention she receives from men, and how, as a child, she 'saw things kids shouldn't'. (Katie was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and even attempted suicide before checking into the Priory private clinic.)
It all confirmed to me that women who are not always stable, who are not wary enough of introducing new men into their children's lives - post Peter Andre, Katie has been involved with a former cage fighter, a reality TV contestant and an apparent sex addict - women who appear to see children as some sort of accessory, do not always make the best parents. (And men are just as guilty of this: the fact Katie called her daughter Princess made me think of Michael Jackson, naming his children Prince, Paris and Blanket.)
'Watching the latest reality show on ITV2 last night, in which Princess, the 18-year-old daughter of Katie Price and Peter Andre, exposed her insecurities about her looks, made me sad,' writes Liz Jones
'Princess had feared her nose and eyes were too big and her lips too thin, when in fact she is absolutely stunning'
Don't get me wrong. I have a huge amount of sympathy for Price, who has faced great struggles. She made her own money, is doubtless hardworking and loves her children. She's also intelligent beneath the slap: I was once pitted against her in a debate at the Cambridge Union: the motion was that women are their own worst enemies when it comes to the glass ceiling. Katie, arguing against, beat me hands down, 400 votes to one.
As her daughter says in the new documentary, there are aspects of the former glamour model's character that are admirable: 'She lives life and doesn't care,' said Princess, who also revealed she is having therapy. 'I love that. I'd love that mindset of 'I don't care' because deep down I do, I'll get to bed and cry about it.'
But, despite this seeming bravado, like Katie I know how it feels to believe you are not good enough. She made her breasts bigger; I had mine made smaller, but our motivation was the same: your body needs to change. I've had collagen in my lips, Botox, a face lift, eyebrow transplant and even, just like Katie, a full set of Turkey teeth.
Just like Katie, I ended up bankrupt, in large part because I believed a big house, horses, things, would render me loveable. I started drinking when I lost my house. I made terrible choices with men: I married a serial cheater, dated a drug addict. My first proper boyfriend was violent. I had unprotected sex with all of them. I even stole my cheating husband's sperm in the belief that having a child would make him stick with me, love me.
In the end, I was always too underweight (I suffered from anorexia nervosa from the age of 11) to be able to ovulate. With hindsight, I am grateful any future children I might have had were spared the indignity of me watching them myopically at mealtimes – eating disorders can be hereditary, and anyway I never learned to cook or have any food in the house.
A workaholic, I'd never have put children first.
'Don't get me wrong. I have a huge amount of sympathy for Price, who has faced great struggles. She made her own money, is doubtless hardworking and loves her children.' Pictured: Katie Price in 2005
'But, despite her seeming bravado, like Katie I know how it feels to believe you are not good enough.' Pictured: Katie Price last year
When I had my breast reduction aged 29, the surgeon warned me before I went under the anaesthetic that I would never be able to breastfeed, as the nipples would be removed, then reattached. 'Who cares?' There, right there, was the moment I realised I would always put myself first.
I sincerely hope that Katie's children – she also has Harvey, 22, from footballer Dwight Yorke; Junior, 20, with Andre and Bunny, 10, and Jett, 11, from her third marriage to former stripper Kieran Hayler – want none of the limelight and the chaos.
Wouldn't it be great if Princess eschews any accusations of being a nepo baby, changes her name and trains to be a vet or nurse - anything other than earning easy money from airing her dirty laundry in public (another trait me and the Price family have in common). We don't want to see another tragedy play out in the public eye.
Of course, being the child of a chaotic parent can sometimes mean you are determined not to follow in their footsteps.
My sister-in-law was an alcoholic who died while her two daughters were young, but that has only made my nieces determined to live stable, happy lives. Their own children are testimony to the fact the cycle can be broken.
I hope that Princess – and Katie herself – finds similar happiness.