What started as a celebrity love story in 2004 has since become renowned as one of the most toxic divorces in showbiz history.
And last week, Peter Andre’s four-year marriage to Katie Price was once again in the spotlight as her mum, Amy Price, blasted the singer in her new autobiography.
The bombshell book, The Last Word, is released on Wednesday and shockingly details a roster of allegations against Pete, 50, who Amy claims was “manipulative”, “passive aggressive” and fame hungry during his relationship with Katie, 45. The 71-year-old – who is tragically suffering from terminal illness idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – scathingly paints Pete as the ironic “handsome prince”, and her daughter as the “sacrificial lamb” who was taken to slaughter for the price of Pete’s fame.
Now a source tells Closer that Pete – who has been married to doctor Emily MacDonagh since 2015 – is furious over Amy’s accusations.
The insider says, “He is absolutely livid about some of the things which have been said about him. They are unfair and untrue and he feels like he is being used to sell books.
“But this is his life and it has caused him a lot of upset. Peter knows the truth. He knows what he is and what he isn’t. After all he has done for Katie and the kids over the years, he thinks he deserves to be treated with a bit more respect than this.”
The former couple, who share children Junior, 18, and Princess, 16, together, first met in the I’m A Celebrity! jungle in 2004.
But while millions watched on as the smitten pair appeared to fall head over heels in love with each other, Amy alleges that Pete’s management team knew from before he entered the jungle that a relationship with Katie – aka Jordan – who was the UK’s most popular glamour model at the time, would guarantee a huge career boost for him.
Pete and Katie were married in a fairy-tale-themed wedding at the glamorous Highclere Castle in 2005, with Katie wearing a huge pink ball gown and entering in a pink pumpkin pulled by white horses. The couple both sported huge diamond rings – a spectacle Amy has slammed as “grotesque”.
But she claims that it was after the wedding that she began to have suspicions over the dynamics of their marriage – describing how her daughter was besotted with Pete. She writes, “The more insecure she became, Pete seemed increasingly repulsed by her vulnerability and cut deeper with his insults and passive- aggressive mood swings.
“True, he did not beat her black and blue, but his anger manifested in itself in other ways. It chipped away at her self-esteem until she was a shell of her former self."
After their split in 2009, things turned toxic between Pete and Katie. The glamour model described her as a "fat sweaty freak", while the Mysterious Girl singer reportedly blasted Katie as a "despicable mother" after alleging that he had discovered she had been teaching swear words to their children.
Over the years, the battle raged on and in a 2019 Twitter rant, which has since been deleted Katie accused Pete of being "cruel" and using their children as an "emotional weapon". But since meeting Emily and welcoming two more children, Amelia, nine and six-year-old Theo, Peter has stayed resolutely silent about Katie for the sake of their kids.
Last week, Katie's other ex-husband, Kieran Hayler – who Amy claimed once kissed and texted hr suggestively afterwards – cryptically hit out at the claims, sharing a post on Instagram titled "Signs you have a toxic mother-in-law".
And now – despite Pete's vow of silence over the mother of his children – the source says Amy's words have tested his resolve and tempted him to hit back.
The insider says, "Part of him wants to speak out and have his say because there are a lot of things he's never said. If he were to really reveal some of the things that went on in his marriage to Katie, he thinks people would be really shocked. He could write two books on it! But that's not his style. He's not interested in throwing stones and hurting people and he's certainly not interested in digging through his past relationship with Katie."
There's no doubt Katie has had an incredibly tough few years. In 2017, Amy was diagnosed with her lung condition and given a life expectancy and given a life expectancy of two to five years. At the time, Katie was also divorcing Kieran – who she shares Jett, nine, and eight-year-old Bunny with – after he admitted to cheating on her with her best friend.
A year later, Katie revealed was raped at gun point after a car-jacking in South Africa. In 2019 she was declared bankrupt and in 2021, she admitted she had tried to kill herself ahead of her stint at The Priory rehabilitation centre following her drink-driving crash.
And now the insider says Pete has been left hurt as he feels he has reached out to his ex-wife throughout her dramas.
The source adds, "What really hurts Peter is that he's actually gone out of his way in the last couple of years to make it be known that he's for Katie if she ever needed anyone to talk to.
"He knows she has been through a really rough time, and it's not something he likes to see because, at the end of the day, she is the mother of his kids and always will be.
"But this book has really put any chance of them being able to remain civil in the future in serious doubt."