Katie Price: ‘Carl’s my new Pete – this marriage is for keeps’

She’s not stopped gushing about toyboy Carl Woods since they began dating at the start of the summer, saying she’d be “lost without him”. She’s also credited him with nursing her back to health, after she agonisingly broke both her feet while on holiday in Turkey in July.

Revealing how her relationship is forging ahead, Katie last week teased fans that a pregnancy was on the cards, as she revealed on her YouTube channel that she had bought an ovulation kit to “test the waters”.

Having previously sparked engagement rumours last month when she told fans former Love Island star Carl was the man she wants to “spend the rest of my life with”, Katie, 42, added fuel to the fire when reports surfaced she was calling herself “K Woods” after getting a new number plate bearing that name for her mobility scooter.

It appears that after just three months of dating, Carl has now cemented his place in the mum-of-five’s family. Last week, she shared a video of her disabled son Harvey, 18 – whose biological father is former footballer Dwight Yorke – saying he wanted Carl, 31, to be his dad, making him her fifth partner in 10 years to play the role of father figure.

As Closer reported last week, the former glamour model – who went on a downward spiral following her split from third husband Kieran Hayler in 2018 – is seeking treatment at The Priory facility in a bid to prove to Carl she’s serious about their future together.

Now insiders reveal Katie is crediting Carl with transforming her life, with pals saying he shares a lot of similarities with her first husband Peter Andre, whom she has previously referred to as the “love of her life”. The pair were married for almost four years but the real reason for their split in 2009 remains unknown.

A source says, “Katie is having a really hard time and the only reason she’s stayed so positive is because of Carl’s support. Katie’s mates think he’s the closest thing to Pete – he already had fame in his own right before meeting her and has his own money and business. She can see them getting married and thinks it would be for keeps this time because he’s like her new Pete. She hopes she can repeat that fairy tale they had together before things went wrong.”

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Relationship expert Jo Barnett thinks it’s highly likely Katie will be heading up the aisle, but says she is concerned for her.

Jo says, “It wouldn’t be surprising given Katie’s record of multiple engagements and whirlwind relationships if she did marry Carl. Her quick engagements are likely a result of her enjoying the attention and the hype around it.

“She seems to value her own worth on whether or not she is with a man. She can’t be on her own and is addicted to the feeling of being loved. Looking at Katie’s history, it’s clear she isn’t one for steady relationships and is happy to get engaged and married quickly. Carl will, of course, know her track record and so no doubt that’s crossed his mind. He may be feeling the pressure too, particularly as she’s been dropping hints wearing an engagement ring in photos on social media. Katie comes with a hectic household and frantic personal life, so Carl should really make sure he’s willing to take that on before proposing.”

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After splitting with first husband Peter – with whom she has Junior, 15, and Princess, 13 – she tied the knot with cage fighter Alex Reid just five months after her divorce. They split in 2011 and she subsequently got engaged to model Leandro Penna in April 2012, before splitting from him and getting engaged to third husband Kieran Hayler later that year, after only dating for six weeks.

Kieran and Katie – who are parents to Jett, seven, andBunny, six – split after five years of marriage in 2018. Before their divorce was finalised, she got engaged to on-off boyfriend Kris Boyson last summer, after less than a year of dating – they then split five months later. But pals say Carl is the most grounded of Jordan’s men.

The source says, “Carl is a good guy. He’s got his own money, career, and genuinely wants to take care of her. He’s great with the kids; he’s not trying to fill any shoes, but he just makes them and Katie so happy. He’s not seeking fame as he’s already had a taste of it. People might be sceptical given what’s happened in the past and her choice in men, but Carl isn’t the same old, same old. He really is a different kettle of fish.”

In August, Kieran expressed his wish that Carl would be “here to stay”, adding, “It would be great for them to have a stable man on that side – or no man… It can affect the kids with different people in and out of their lives.”

In a recent video filmed by her mum, Princess referred to Carl as “stepdad”, while, in separate footage, Bunny showed off a card she’d made, saying “I love you, Carl”.

However, psychotherapist Kate Medlin tells Closer that Katie’s string of relationships could potentially prove to be emotionally difficult for her kids.

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Kate says, “It’s a lot for children to process. Their experience is that these parental figures are quite short-lived, and therefore their attachments could be made accordingly because, unconsciously or otherwise, they know they might not be around for very long. If Katie is presenting it to them as ‘This one’s not going anywhere’, then of course consciously they’re thinking, ‘OK, so maybe this one will last’. But their experience from very young children, really since Peter, is that there’s been a stream of father figures in their mum’s life, which in some cases can cause attachment or abandonment issues.

“Their sensitivity may be higher to that. They need to explore what they’re feeling, instead of worrying about what their mum’s feeling. Hopefully, if Katie works through her issues with the right professional support, she can change her pattern for her and her kids. And, hopefully, this relationship will be successful and provide stability for her and her family.”

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