Katie Price declared bankrupt at High Court
Katie Price has been declared bankrupt in a hearing at the High Court, which was told she had failed to stick to a plan to repay her debts.
The former model and reality TV star was not present at the London hearing.
Last year, Price, 41, came to an arrangement with her creditors for a repayment plan known as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).
But the insolvency practitioner overseeing her IVA said she had failed to keep to the terms of the agreement.
Now that she’s been made bankrupt, the Official Receiver will take control of her financial affairs and property.
Price, who lives in West Sussex, found fame in the 1990s as a glamour model under the name Jordan and was once said to be worth more than £40m.
The life and times of Katie Price
As Jordan, she was famed for her breast enlargement surgery and was a frequent face on the front of lads’ magazines.
Modelling wasn’t the only string to her bow. In 2001, she stood as an MP, offering free breast implants on the NHS – but that wasn’t enough to persuade voters.
She branched out into publishing, with books such as Being Jordan, and dabbled in fashion. She appeared in TV shows such as Footballers’ Wives and starred in the 2004 series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
It was on the ITV jungle show that she met her future husband, the pop star Peter Andre. After they split, she went on to marry Alex Reid in 2010, and then Kieran Hayler in 2013. She and Hayler are reported to be planning to divorce.
Price was crowned the winner of Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, and she has been praised for her work as an anti-bullying campaigner, which began when her son Harvey was targeted for his disabilities.
But it has been a difficult couple of years for the star. She went into rehabilitation last year to tackle drug and alcohol abuse, and earlier this year was convicted of driving while nearly twice the legal alcohol limit.
In the summer, she admitted shouting a “tirade of abuse” at her ex-husband’s new partner in a school playground and was fined £415.
Last month, she was one of three celebrities who had Instagram posts advertising diet products banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
She is now seen on the reality show My Crazy Life on the Quest Red channel and has a clothing range named after her daughters Princess and Bunny.
What is bankruptcy?
Someone can file for bankruptcy as a way of escaping overwhelming debt. An Official Receiver takes charge of their finances and assets, such as their house, and may use them to pay off their debts.
The bankrupt person will be under certain restrictions, eg not being able to apply for credit of more than £500 without telling the lender about their bankruptcy. It usually ends after a year, after which most debts are written off and they can make a fresh start.
As well as voluntarily filing for bankruptcy, a person can be made bankrupt if they have not paid their debts.
An Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) – which freezes someone’s debts and allows them to pay them back over a set period – is one alternative to bankruptcy. But one route to being made bankrupt is if a person has broken the terms of their IVA, as the High Court heard that Price had done. BBC News
