Katie Price (Jordon)

Katie Price (Jordon)

Katie Price (born Katie Infield, May 22, 1978) is better known by the name “Jordon,” nationally recognized in the United Kingdom for her larger than life, surgically enhanced breasts, her audacious and revealing outfit choices, and her party-girl attitude. Originally backlit by the limelight as a “Page 3 Girl” in the UK’s daily paper, The Sun, Price is more than just a pare of implants: she is a multimillionaire glamour model, television personality, starring in several reality shows in England, such as “I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!,” a magazine columnist, a businesswoman, and an author whose personal life is regularly featured in British tabloids and celebrity-based magazines.

Early Life

Price was born in Newport, Wales and grew up in the seaside town of Brighton in East Sussex, England. She has an English mother, and a Jewish maternal grandmother. Price has an older brother called Daniel and a younger sister, Sophie. She took her surname after her mother remarried following the split from her biological father when she was a child.

She began modeling at the suggestion of a friend who urged her to get some professional photographs done for promotion purposes. The pictures were sent to a modeling agency in London, and the agency invited her into their studios for a photo shoot and to discuss a contract. Within weeks she began appearing on "Page 3" of the The Sun newspaper (topless modeling), which is known for having nude pictorials of models in their daily editions. It was at this time that she assumed the name '"Jordan."

Career: Model, Reality-Television Star, and Author?

As Price’s star started to rise, she split from her electrician boyfriend and became involved with several celebrities and sports stars, including footballers Teddy Sheringham and Dwight Yorke, and a more serious relationship with the television show, “Gladiator’s” 'Ace' (real name Warren Foreman). Despite Price’s declaration of love for the “Gladiator” star, the relationship was short-livedg, apparently due to Warren's severe jealousy of all the male attention Price would receive.

In an attempt to cross over from modeling to other areas of entertainment, Price tried out for a part on the television series “Baywatch” in 1998; however, she was turned down and her efforts were unsuccessful.

Although she was already a well-established model, with frequent appearances on “Page 3” and in men's lifestyle magazines to her credit, Price decided to get breast implants. Friends, photographers with whom she had worked, and even her parents were against the idea. Nevertheless, the operation went ahead, and her cup size increased from a B-cup to a D-cup. Regarding the operation, Price stated that she "always felt that I looked flat-chested when I stood next to other girls on the glamour circuit." Her choice to have the surgery done was a definitive factor in her retirement from “Page 3,” which had recently decided on a "natural beauty" policy, requiring all its models to be "silicone-free."

Price, credited as “Jordon,” appeared in six volumes of Playboy's Book of Lingerie from 1997 to 1999. Price (also as Jordon) has also graced the covers of FHM, Maxim, Front, Zoo, Sky, Esquire, Loaded and Ice magazines.

In 2002, she was shooting a cover to run in Playboy when Hugh Hefner invited her to spend three weeks at his mansion. Price was given the cover of Playboy's September 2002 issue: thanks to that pictorial, fans could get a glimpse of her now FF breasts, after a total of three implant operations

She appeared at a number of promotional events for the similarly named “Jordan Grand Prix Formula One” team during this time, during a period when they were heavily promoting themselves to the youth market.

During the June 7, 2001 British General Election, Price ran as a candidate in Stretford and Urmston under her real name using the slogan, “For a Bigger and Betta Future.” As part of her election campaign, which was intended to bring a little fun into a dull election, she promised free breast implants, increases on nudist beaches, and a ban on parking tickets. In the end, Price won 713 votes which equalled 1.8% of the vote.

In early 2004, Price appeared on the reality television series “I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!,” alternately falling out with John Lydon and flirting in the jungle with singer Peter Andre. Price appeared on “Top Gear's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” on May 23, 2004. She completed the lap in 1 minute and 52 seconds. She also made a cameo appearance playing herself in an episode of the television drama series “Footballers' Wives.”

She has appeared in the documentaries Jordan: Living Without Fame (Channel 4), Jordan: The Truth About Me, Jordan: Model Mum, Jordan: You Don't Even Know Me (BBC Choice) and the series When Jordan Met Peter (ITV1), Jordan and Peter: Laid Bare (ITV2), Jordan and Peter: Marriage and Mayhem (ITV2) and Jordan Gets Even (Five).

Under the name Katie Price, she was one of the acts competing for the right to represent the United Kingdom at the “Eurovision Song Contest 2005,” to be held in Ukraine. On March 5, 2005, singing a song titled “Not Just Anybody,” she came in second place in the pre-selection show “Making Your Mind Up,” behind Javine. The other contestants were the 1996 UK entrant Gina G, as well as Andy Scott-Lee, and the group Tricolore. She has constantly claimed she has a recording contract, though many in the music industry apparently connected with Price deny this rumor.

In the summer of 2005, Price was one of many guest hosts of the first series of “The Friday Night Project” and later appeared on the cover of Loaded magazine with Carmen Electra.

That same year, Price declared that she would soon be retiring her “Jordan” image. In May 2004, she published her autobiography, Being Jordan, to surprisingly positive reviews, and it became a massive best-seller and the 4th best-selling autobiography of all time in the United Kingdom – it sold 500,000 by 2007. Jordan: A Whole New World, her second autobiography, was released January 2006 and sold nearly 400,000 copies in one year.

In December 2005, she released the best selling fitness DVD, The Jordan Workout featuring 'The Juice Master' Jason Vale.

In April 2006, Price appeared in a photo shoot for American Vogue by David Bailey as part of the magazine's Shape issue.

In summer of 2006, she announced she was planning to flaunt her talents across the Atlantic and appeared on American television channel E! Entertainment Television. She was only given a controversial five minutes of interviewing time and faced mixed reactions from American audiences. She also published a novel called Angel, a work of fiction, which hit best-selling lists across the country.

In November of 2006, Price launched The Katie Price Lingerie Collection in conjunction with Panache available exclusively at Asda stores nationwide.

Also in 2006, the 'Jordan At Asda ' jewelry range was launched, as well as a follow-up jewelry deal with Argos.

Jordan and her husband, Peter Andre released a duet album on November 27, 2006 titled A Whole New World (in one song she sings the song, “A Whole New World” which was originally written for the Disney cartoon Aladdin) with all proceedings going to their chosen charities due to the poor health conditions of Jordan's son Harvey. The album debuted at #20 in the UK album chart. The album went gold in two weeks selling 100,000 copies. That same month she also appeared on the front cover of British Elle magazine.

Price continues to write a regular advice column in OK! magazine and has previously contributed to More and The Sun.

A chat show, “The Jordan and Peter Show” has recently been commissioned and will be screened on ITV in 2007 as part of a six figure exclusive, "gold handcuffs" deal with the network.

In 2007, Price has announced that she will release her first children’s book, launch her own signature scent and start writing her biopic.

Personal Life

When Price signed a contract and became a “Page 3” sensation, she changed her name to "Jordan" shortly thereafter. As her popularity grew, her relationship with the electrician she was dating began to decline and the couple parted in 1997. Other dalliances included football (soccer) star Teddy Sheringham and show-jumper Oliver Skeete.

Jordan had a much publicized relationship with Dane Bowers of the boy band Another Level. She was reported to have aborted his baby after discovering he had cheated on her.

On May 27, 2002, Price gave birth to a baby boy, whom she named Harvey Daniel; choosing the name Harvey after her grandfather, and Daniel after her brother. Harvey's father is the Sunderland footballer Dwight Yorke, although just as during her previous pregnancy, the relationship ended before the child was born. He is partially blind, autistic and suffers from other health problems.

Price said that she intended to have the birth shown live over the Internet, but changed her mind later and decided to keep it private. Harvey was born at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, his birth being induced as he was two weeks overdue. He was found to be blind, having a condition known as septo-optic dysplasia, meaning that his optic nerve hadn't developed correctly. Harvey has had multiple stays in hospital including most recently on New Years Eve following an accident at their home. Many believe that his birth defects are attributed to Price’s hard partying lifestyle when she was pregnant with him; however, these are just unsubstantiated rumors.

That same year, Price was treated for cancer. She had a leiomyosarcoma on her finger, this being a rare form of malignant tumor which attacks smooth muscle tissue and can spread around the body. She had it removed at Nuffield Hospital.

Despite her health scares, Price managed to keep the British press happy in 2002 with the revelation that she had embarked on a secret sexual relationship with Gareth Gates (the then 17 year old pop-star of Pop Idol fame), whilst she was 4 months pregnant with her son Harvey.

Price's relationship with Andre seemed to have resurrected both of their careers. Price's antics in the jungle on the show, "I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here," meant that she was rarely out of the British press on any given day.

In February 2005, Price announced that she was 5 months pregnant, with Peter André's child. Price gave birth by Caesarean section to her second child, a 5lb 13oz boy named Junior Savva Andre, on 13 June 2005. On September 10, 2005, she married André at Highclere Castle, Hampshire. In July 2006, it was announced that she had suffered a miscarriage - she was three and a half months pregnant.

In November 2006, she and her husband released a CD of duets to raise money for various charities. In the November 6th edition of OK magazine it was revealed that Jordan is expecting her third child, which is due in summer 2007. She claims that she knows it is a girl by the way she feels.

In early January 2007, Jordan’s manager confirmed that her son, Harvey Price, was badly burned in an accident at her home on New Year’s Eve. The 4-year-old was badly burned on his leg and it was unknown as to what caused the accident. He was later released with a large bandage around his leg.