Katie Price accused her former husband Kieran Hayler’s barrister of discrimination and insisted, “I won’t have anybody call me a liar” during a tense exchange at his rape trial.
Hayler, 39, denies three charges of rape and one count of sexual assault involving a 13-year-old girl in West Sussex in 2016.
While being cross-examined at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex this morning, the reality star told Hayler’s barrister, Arlette Piercy: “What he did was completely wrong.
“He’s a wrong’un. I know he did things with the complainant because I saw the messages.”
She continued: “You shouldn’t be turning this case against me. This hearing is about what he allegedly did to a child, not about me.”
The confrontation intensified when Ms Price asked Ms Piercy whether she was accusing her of lying. The barrister replied: “I am.”
An angry Ms Price responded: “I don’t need to be here. You can see in black and white that something happened.
“I will not let anyone call me a liar.”
Katie Price accused her ex-husband Kieran Hayler’s lawyer of trying to shift the focus of the rape trial onto her after she was branded a “liar” during a tense courtroom exchange
Kieran Hayler arrives at Lewes Crown Court for his trial
Kieran Hayler and Katie Price pictured together at a London film premiere in November 2015
After Ms Piercy referred to periods involving “cocaine and booze benders”, Ms Price accused her of discrimination.
“Everyone knows I self-medicated with cocaine after Kieran introduced me to it,” she said.
“You are wrong, and you are trying to discriminate against me. The press know about my journey. I ended up in therapy and attempted to take my own life twice.”
She added: “You are not going to slander my name. I don’t care whether you are a barrister — you are not going to speak about me like that.”
Ms Price then said: “I don’t need to sit here as though this is a therapy session.”
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard that Hayler believes his former wife is attempting to frame him.
The alleged victim contacted the NSPCC in 2021. The charity subsequently referred the matter to police, leading to an investigation.
Hayler was first questioned by police in January 2022. He denied the allegations and said no sexual activity had taken place.
Ms Price, a reality television star, has also rejected claims that she acted out of anger or revenge towards her former husband.
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Giving evidence from behind a screen earlier this week, the television personality denied she held any animosity towards 39-year-old Hayler after he had an affair with their nanny.
Jurors heard Ms Price had chosen the nanny because she ‘wasn’t very attractive’ and a ‘little bit overweight’, in the hope that Hayler would not cheat on her.
But despite her intervention, Ms Price said her ex-husband had a ten-month affair with the nanny.
Katie Price arrives ahead of the trial of Kieran Hayler at Lewes Crown Court today
At Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday, Hayler’s lawyer, Arlette Piercy, put it to Ms Price: ‘You are angry and vengeful towards the defendant Kieran Hayler – you have evidenced a vendetta against him over a number of years.’
Ms Price responded: ‘That is not true.’
When challenged by Ms Piercy on her view of her ex-husband, Ms Price said: ‘I don’t have any venom against Kieran, it was amicable when we split.’
Ms Piercy then asked Ms Price: ‘You chose the nanny. It’s accepted at a later stage he had an affair with her.
‘You chose her because she wasn’t very attractive and she was a little bit overweight.’
Ms Price replied: ‘Absolutely, there was a reason for that so he wouldn’t cheat on me again but he did.’
The court previously heard that Ms Price messaged the teenage girl allegedly raped by her then-husband saying she had heard that Hayler and the girl had kissed and he had ‘tried it on’ with her, adding later: ‘I will make you a little star.’
Asked in cross-examination by Ms Piercy about her use on occasion of the phrase ‘little star’, she said: ‘That’s a figure of speech.’
Asked what did she mean, she added: ‘I don’t know, when she was 13 there’s no agenda or nothing behind it.
‘It’s just a figure of speech.’
On Monday, she told the court she was ‘really shocked’ by the allegations.
Ms Price told jurors: ‘I was shocked… like really shocked. It was a different kettle of fish, it’s a child.’
Hayler denies the charges and suggests his ex-wife had ‘launched a campaign’ against him when their marriage ended and the allegations form part of this, the court has heard.
He was married to Ms Price at the time of the allegations, before the couple’s relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021.
The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.
The trial continues.