Katie, Peter, and a tale of sad banalityBy Deborah Orr
The rebranding exercise has faltered. When Jordan signed up to I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, in 2004, she had an agenda. The idea was to display her personality, alongside the implanted breasts that had previously been her main claim to fame. Goodbye Jordan, hello Katie Price. The glamour model arrived on the show as a bimbo with a reputation as a drunken poor mother, and left with an aura of mild complexity (relatively speaking) and a boyfriend.
One marriage, two children, loads of books, a brief pop career, millions of quid and hundreds of reality show moments later, and Jordan appears to be back. Her husband, Peter Andre, has ended their marriage, fed up with the way that his wife goes out to nightclubs and flirts with other men. She never, apparently, has sex with him any more, because she's too tired from practising her dressage.
The problem is that nobody believes them. Their plea for "privacy at this difficult time" has been greeted with derision. Their troubles are dismissed as a publicity stunt. But I believe them. What I see are two fragile and messed-up adults whose family life has collapsed under the weight of its pathetic contradictions. The sad banality of Mr and Mrs Andre has been revealed for the first time. No wonder so many people prefer to buy into "reality".
Independent
