Junior Andre has shared an emotional account of the painful years he and sister Princess endured during their mother Katie Price’s struggles with addiction and mental health, admitting the experience shattered his self-esteem and changed their childhood forever.
The siblings appeared in Katie Price: Nothing To Hide, where they reflected on the turbulent period following Katie’s split from her third husband, Kieran Hayler. During those years, Katie battled depression and developed a cocaine addiction, leaving Junior and Princess to take on responsibilities far beyond their age.
At the time, Junior was 13 and Princess was just 10. Alongside caring for themselves, they also helped look after their younger siblings, Jett and Bunny.
Looking back on those difficult years, Junior admitted: “That was probably the most difficult time of my life, our lives.”
Princess echoed his feelings, saying: “I didn’t know what was going on and I couldn’t talk to mum about it because she wasn’t there.”
Junior added: “And when she was there, she wasn’t there, and we as siblings just kind of looked after each other.
“I remember me trying to figure out if food was microwavable to feed us for dinner.”
Princess then recalled one of the most heartbreaking memories from her childhood, revealing that she clung to a blanket sprayed with Katie’s perfume whenever they were apart.
“She’d give me a blanket and spray her perfume on it and that was my attachment to her.
“I used to go home and feel so lonely I would just cuddle the blanket and cry.”
Fighting back tears, Junior admitted: “I missed her so much.”
He also described the night he realised just how serious his mother’s struggles had become.
“I was in her bed waiting for her to come back and I woke up 3.30am to loud noises.
“She came in the room, I’ll never forget the look on her face. She was obviously on stuff and it scared me, I’d never seen my mum like this.
“That’s when I started seeing the same pattern and her falling down the same hole. When she wasn’t in the right headspace she really wasn’t and she wasn’t being a mum.”
Junior said he longed for the loving mother he remembered from his early childhood.
“The mum that I knew from when I was a little boy, the amount of love she gave me was so immense, that’s what I missed so much.
“Mum was on drugs and she couldn’t look after us and that was the reality of it.
“Then I got fed up and clocked this was a very unhealthful environment and I needed to get out.”
At 14, Junior made the decision to move in permanently with his father, Peter Andre, while Princess remained with Katie because she wanted to support her mother.
Princess explained: “I always wanted to be there for her but she didn’t understand that at the time because she was so hooked up in her own problems.”
Junior praised Peter for providing the stability he desperately needed.
“Thank god that my dad was stable because that’s the house that I went to and gained my sanity back while I was wishing and hoping that my mum would come back and turn herself around.”
He admitted the experience left deep emotional scars.
“It made me feel like I wasn’t good enough because she wasn’t fixing herself for me, she wasn’t thinking herself for us – why?”
Katie became visibly emotional while listening to her children’s memories and apologised for the pain they experienced.
“When I hear how the kids saw it, it breaks my heart.
“They were still always looked after by people around me, but that’s not good enough, kids need their mum.
“They need their mum’s love and their mum’s hugs. I thought I was giving that but obviously I wasn’t.
“It must have been horrible for them and I’m just sorry that I put them through that.
“I thought I was doing the best I could with them but what could I have done, I was unwell. I couldn’t even look after myself. I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to die.”
Katie’s downward spiral eventually culminated in her 2021 drink-driving crash, after which she pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. She later entered rehab, where she was diagnosed with ADHD.
Junior believes that turning point ultimately helped save his mother.
“I’m just relieved she’s still here.
“I think trying to end your life must wake you up. She helped herself and she got off the drugs.
“I feel a duty of care to her, she’s such a special gem, she’s my mum and I’ve only got one.
“I feel like I’ve got my mum back. My mum knows she’s crazy but we love her for it and we’ll always be there for her.”
However, he admitted he still hopes Katie will eventually find happiness without depending on romantic relationships.
“I wish she finds more comfort within herself. I want her to start enjoying her own company more.”
Junior also reacted to the revelation that Katie had married businessman Lee Andrews in Dubai shortly after meeting him.
“This is the most silliest, stupidest thing.
“Marrying a guy you don’t even know, this just sums it up, this is my mum, this is what she does.”
The documentary also explores Katie’s relationships following her marriages to Peter Andre, Alex Reid and Kieran Hayler, while examining the personal struggles that shaped one of the most turbulent periods of her life.
