SHE'S the legendary glamour girl who went down in jungle history, munching kangaroo anus and somehow falling in love.
In fact, Katie Price is the only star to have taken part in I'm A Celebrity twice.
So she's the perfect candidate to call out the celebs she believes have been bending the rules and using sneaky tactics for airtime in this year's series of the hit ITV reality show.
Katie first headed into the jungle in 2004, winning over the public and Pete Andre's hearts as she became his Mysterious Girl.
She did it all again five years later - but quit on her ninth day, eventually raking in a whopping £2,083 per hour for her stint.
Now, 20 years on from her first appearance, Katie's ready to spill the (rice and) beans on her appearances in an explosive exclusive interview with The Sun.
While this year's I'm A Celeb campmates have been dubbed the most likeable bunch ever by fans, Katie warns it’s only when you leave the jungle that you “realise how two-faced people are”.
Despite insisting she "couldn't even even name everyone I was in the jungle with," she adds: “Kim Woodburn had to pop at me a couple of times, but that's just Kim for you.
"I know John Lydon didn't like me.
"He was awful about me, but he wasn't like it to my face, so you get a lot of two-faced people and I only realised that when I came out.”
And while this year's campmates, as always, are vowing to be 'friends for life', Katie's experience of her own alumni is a little different.
"I could not even name everyone I was in the jungle with," she says. "I wouldn’t have a clue.”
There are always some lesser-known stars who go into I'm A Celeb, like GK Barry and Dean McCollough from this year's batch.
But Katie - who was paid £400,000 for her first I'm A Celeb stint - insists she didn't go into the show with a game plan.
She says: "I was at the height of my career. I was winning awards, like Cover Girl of the Decade from Loaded magazine, I was doing FHM, Esquire, GQ and I had my calendars out too.
“I was at the top of my game even when I went in there.
"I was popular and definitely didn’t go in there to revamp any career because as far as I was aware, I was the top-notch then.”
Pete, on the other hand, was keen to bag a recording contract and spent much of the time penning and performing new tracks including controversial hit Insania.
At the time, Sex Pistols frontman John - who was in the jungle with them - moaned: "Please don't let them sing those dreadful songs though, it's awful. It really is very, very bad innit."
Katie’s response is telling and diplomatic when asked for her verdict on the track: “It worked at the time. You can only say well done to Pete for that.”
But it's not just singing that gets you airtime in the I'm A Celeb jungle, according to Katie.
Editing has a massive sway in who [producers] want to put across in a good light or bad light…or who they want to work with after the show
Katie Price
The jungle ‘diary room’ - the Bush Telegraph - is another sure-fire way of making sure your face is seen.
She says: “People know that if you’re going to go in the hut, you’ll get more airtime.
"I’m just not one of those people and never went in unless I was asked to.”
In this year's I'm A Celeb, there have been some very emotional chats with the campmates - including frontrunner Danny Jones opening up about his estranged father.
And while Katie insists there is “absolutely no prompting for conversations” by producers, she confesses they do hold the keys to how someone is perceived by the voting public.
Katie says: “When I was in there with [DJ] Mike Read, he was so funny but apparently, he didn’t really get any airtime.
“We were so shocked when he went, it was like ‘How can he be going? He’s one of the most entertaining people here.’
“I do think a lot of it is editing, it’s how the producers want to show people.
"They show the people they want the public to vote for and then they will offer them jobs as presenters and other shows.
“Editing has a massive sway in who they want to put across in a good light or bad light…or who they want to work with after the show.”
[This year's cast] have definitely got makeup. Some of the women are wearing make-up and I reckon they have put that in their contract.
Katie Price
Katie could have benefitted from this ‘editing’ for her second jungle stint, when she was voted to do seven Bushtucker trials in a row - earning 42 out of a possible 67 stars and putting this year’s “wimpy” DJ Dean McCullough to shame.
After swearing on her kids' lives she would walk if she was voted for her seventh Bushtucker trial, Katie quit the jungle on Day 9 - but not before producers tried to get involved.
She recalls: “Producers, my mum, I had to speak to all of them. They were trying everything to get me to stay.
"They were saying, ‘You’re doing really well’ and while they didn’t say ‘You’re going to win’, they insinuated I was in for a chance of being in the top spot.
“I just thought, ‘Everyone hates me, that's why they’re voting for me’. I was cold, wet and exhausted from the challenges. I’d just had enough and once I swore on my kids’ lives there was no going back.
“Everyone was trying to convince me to stay and were saying I shouldn't be leaving but I told them, ‘I don't care’. I’m very strong-willed.”
In total, Katie faced 10 Bushtucker Trials.
She admitted they “were all dreadful” but distances herself from being labelled ‘brave’, adding: “You just get on with it, as Coleen Rooney has done.
“I remember having many cockroaches spinning around on me and a big huntsman spider on my face. I hate spiders but in your head, you have to have an inner strength.
“It's a show at the end of the day, isn't it? So nothing's going to kill you, is it? The worst bit is just the fear of the unknown, of what's coming up.”
Few could forget the model’s eating challenges that saw her scoff “daunting” undesirables, like squelchy fish eyes, juicy witchetty grubs and crunchy cockroaches.
But Katie’s least favourite by far was a hairy slice of Kangaroos anus - dubbed “chewing bum” for comic effect - but how was it?
“They smell bad, they taste bad, the texture's bad,” she says. “It is all vile. There's not one thing I can say was fine to taste. It was all disgusting.”
Yet, she’s not in favour of a ban for the trial, as regularly called for by PETA, who this year said using animals in “tired, tacky, and cruel stunts - must end" insisting some of the unsavoury treats are “delicacies” for some.
And as for the claim celebs receive secret luxuries in the jungle, Katie insists that’s not the case and the closest she got was a make-shift perfume.
She said: “You get eco-friendly toiletries, which don’t smell of anything, but they used to have Femfresh in the toilet and I used to spray myself with that because I'm obsessed with perfume.”
However, Katie suspects some members of this year’s camp may have been allowed to bend the rules - although she wasn't naming names.
She said: “They have definitely got makeup. Some of the women are wearing make-up and I reckon they have put that in their contract.
“It’s a shame because when you do a show like that, it's nice just to let yourself breathe and get to know yourself in a different way.”
Both times when leaving the jungle, Katie didn’t miss the experience - branding it “horrible” but also challenging in a good way.
She says: “It’s not normal, is it? To have cockroaches all over you or mealworms or fish guts but that is part of the fun of doing the jungle.”
On dealing with hunger, Katie says “you have no choice” and believes viewers don’t appreciate that it takes hours to boil the rice and beans before consumption.
“Some people get ‘hangry’,” she adds. “Put it this way, when you come out of the jungle, you appreciate every mouthful of food.”
As for her first meal of freedom, Katie scoffed a bacon and egg fry-up at the show’s canteen before picking up a McDonald’s en-route back to her hotel.
Despite all of this, Katie would “absolutely love” for her and Peter's kids Junior, 19 and Princess, 17, to go on the show - but also has a counter-pitch for TV producers.
She says: “They want to do it and I think that'd be great to do it. They are the only kids that have come from the show so it would be quite iconic for them to do it.
“Give them the worst challenges! Then they would get to know, if their mum did they could do it.
“Actually, why don’t they do a show of me and the family in the jungle? Forget I’m A Celeb, we’ll do our own. There’s enough of us.
“I think [my son] Harvey would go crazy because he doesn’t even like flies going near him, let alone bugs or anything else but I’d love his reactions.”
You get a lot of two-faced people [in the jungle] and I only realised that when I came out.
Katie Price
If Princess and Junior were to go down under - fame may not be the only thing they could find, as two decades ago it was the location where Katie and Pete fell in love.
Katie’s time in the jungle remains a treasured memory - however, she no longer has her belongings from it after they were stolen when her house got burgled in 2020.
“It’s sad because I keep everything,” she says. “I have all my press outfits from everything I’ve ever done. I’m a hoarder, I’ve even kept my kids’ baby tags, their belly button things and their drawings.
“It’s a shame they stole my I’m A Celebrity belongings because that was a memory from those days. If it ever comes up for sale anywhere I will know who’s nicked it.”
Now Katie’s looking to the future and believes she’s on the brink of breaking through yet again, this time as a musician and says it’s her dream gig.
“I’m getting to do all my music stuff now, it’s only taken 30 years,” she quips.
“Not that I'm trying to be a pop star. I'm just doing what I've always loved to do and now I've got the opportunity to go on stage and do it, so I'm not going to turn it down.”
Asked her favourite hits to perform, Katie says power ballads and Whitney Houston but admits: “I’m not saying I sound like her, but I like to sing her songs.”
For someone recently declared bankrupt for a second time just four months ago, after being unable to pay a £750,000 tax bill, she seems surprisingly optimistic and calm.
“I’m a changed person now,” Katie says. “I’m at peace with myself and just want to be at peace with everyone. Life’s too short when you’ve gone through what I’ve gone through.”
She continues: “I’ve had ups and downs, now I’m back on the up. I feel like I’ve started my career again but with the knowledge and experience I’ve gained from 30 years.”
"So I’d say watch this space because the Pricey is back.”
We take a look back at the highs and lows of Katie Price's relationship history.
1996-1998: Katie got engaged to Gladiators star Warren Furman - aka Ace - with a £3,000 ring. But their relationship didn't make it as far as 'I do'.
1998-2000: Katie described Dane Bowers as 'the love of her life' but she broke up with the singer when he allegedly cheated on her.
2001: Footballer Dwight Yorke is the father of Katie's eldest child Harvey. He has had very little to do with Harvey throughout his life.
2002: Rebounding from Dwight, Katie famously had one night of passion with Pop Idol star Gareth Gates, allegedly taking his virginity.
2002-2004: Katie was dating Scott Sullivan when she entered the jungle for I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!. He threatened to "punch Peter's lights out" when chemistry blossomed between her and Peter Andre.
2004-2009: The jungle romance resulted in Katie marrying Aussie pop star Peter. They had two kids, Junior and Princess, before their bitter split in 2009.
2010-2011: Fresh from her break-up with Peter, Katie enjoyed a whirlwind relationship and marriage with cage fighter Alex Reid. They split 20 months after their Las Vegas wedding.
2011: Katie briefly dated model Danny Cipriani... but it ended as quickly as it begun.
2011-2012: They didn't speak the same language, but Katie got engaged to Argentinian model Leandro Penna in 2011. He later fled home to South America.
2012-2018: Wedding bells rang once more after Katie met Kieran Hayler in 2013. They had two kids together, Jett and Bunny, before their break-up and divorce.
2018-2019: Katie moved on quickly with Kris Boyson. They had an on-off romance for one year and even got engaged. They split for good in 2019.
2019: Katie was linked to Charles Drury during her on-off relationship with Kris. Charles, who also dated Lauren Goodger, has always denied being in "official relationship" with her.
2020-2023: Car salesman Carl Woods took a shining to Katie in 2020. Their relationship was up and down for three years. They broke up for a final time last year.
2024-present: After weeks of rumours, Katie confirmed her relationship with Married At First Sight star JJ Slater in February this year.
