It’s the photograph that has sparked utter dread for those who know and love Katie Price.
Dressed in a pair of sheer, brown lace leggings with her tattooed midriff on display, two friends were clinging to her as she left a showbusiness party in the Hertfordshire town of Hoddesdon.
Katie, the 47-year-old glamour model previously known as Jordan, looked gaunt and unstable on her feet as she made her way back to a waiting car on Saturday night.

While those close to Katie are the first to admit that she ‘loves attention’ and will often dress to shock, the photos have prompted a friend to remark to me: ‘She’s dying in front of our eyes, it’s absolutely devastating.’
It might seem an overly dramatic comment – after all, this is the woman who has survived decades of drama as a result of her past struggles with severe mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and multiple suicide attempts.
But sources close to her say that ‘this time it seems different’.
Katie only attended The Only Way Is Essex star Yazmin Oukhellou’s shop opening on Hoddesdon High Street for 20 minutes, before being pictured on the arms of her friends, wearing long, black hair extensions, black stiletto-heeled sandals, and a pair of oversized sunglasses.

Dressed in a pair of sheer, brown lace leggings with her tattooed midriff on display, a gaunt Katie Price is seen leaving a showbusiness party with two friends clinging on to her arms

‘We’ve never seen Katie quite like this before and it’s very worrying,’ says one pal. ‘She has been seen in some shocking states but here she doesn’t even look like her. She looks like a different person.
‘Look at her tiny legs, it’s such a painful sight. It looks like she is disappearing in front of us. We just want her to be okay.’
Indeed, Katie looked a shadow of her former self – who I have seen in person on several occasions over the years since her 23rd birthday party at London’s Home House members club back in 2001.
Though she was loud, brash and rather rude, back then Katie was well put together as she hosted her bash in conjunction with showbiz magazine, OK! Her infamous augmented breasts were on display, of course, but overall she seemed happy and certainly let her hair down.
I would also see her regularly at London’s Chinawhite nightclub where she would be flanked by her former manager Dave Reed, usually howling with laughter. She was always small but usually looked very healthy.
Even when I saw her in the wake of her devastating split from her beloved first husband Peter Andre, she didn’t appear as vulnerable as she did last weekend.
Life has been ‘a lot’ for Katie, say those who have worked with her over the years. She started out as an 18-year-old Page 3 model back in 1996, under the pseudonym Jordan – and quickly became a cultural phenomenon.
She went on to date singer Dane Bowers, then former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke, the father of her oldest child, Harvey, who was born with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), a rare genetic condition that causes slow development and obesity.
After ridding herself of her alter-ego Jordan, Katie met Peter while appearing on I’m A Celebrity in 2004 and they married two years later. The couple had two children together – Princess, 18, and Junior, 20 – before splitting in 2009.
Since then, she has been declared bankrupt twice and narrowly escaped prison when she was caught drink driving.
So perhaps it’s not so surprising that sources close to Katie’s family say that her children are concerned about their mother.

‘We’ve never seen Katie quite like this before and it’s very worrying,’ says one pal. ‘Look at her tiny legs, it’s such a painful sight. It looks like she is disappearing in front of us.’

Katie with her then husband, singer Peter Andre, and their children, Princess and Junior, who now live with their father and his new family

Princess and Junior moved in with their father Peter some seven years ago, where they enjoyed a more calm upbringing with him and his doctor wife Emily. Still, they always maintained a close relationship with their mum.
‘They will have seen this picture,’ said one associate. ‘They see everything; imagine seeing your mother looking like that. They worry about her at the best of times but here she just looks so terribly vulnerable.
‘They love their mother so much, and of course their lives haven’t always been easy because of her choices. This is heartbreaking for them.’
Meanwhile, Katie’s other two children with her stripper ex Kieran Hayler are now living with her, leaving some of Katie’s friends surprised that she went out for the evening without them.
They went to live with their father in 2018, but last month were returned to her after he was charged with allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl – another factor contributing to Katie’s fragile mental state.
Today, many are wondering whether Katie’s frail physique is down to weight loss jabs – some who know her say that they are sure she is taking the drugs.
However, when asked about it during a podcast interview, Katie claimed that she had gained weight in the past due to her ‘IVF journey’.
‘If you look at old pictures of me, even after I’ve had babies, I just shrink back,’ she insisted. ‘I’ve always been tiny, and I think because the past sort of three years, I’ve been bigger, but they’re the reasons why.’
Others say that the reason for Katie’s worrying look is something even simpler; she just loves to be talked – and written – about.
They say that she is not content unless she is in the public eye, and this is now a way to achieve it.
‘It’s sad, if only Katie would go home, shut the front door and live a quiet life away from the limelight,’ said one friend.
‘But she won’t, she never will, she is addicted to attention and to having her photo taken – and that will never change.’