It’s a day in the life of Katie Price and Harvey

It may seem like Katie Price has lived in the public eye. She initially found fame as a glamour model under the name Jordan, before finding new fans on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, where viewers saw the beginnings of her romance with Peter Andre.

Since then, she’s gone on to write six autobiographies, appear in more reality shows and has continued to be a tabloid favourite. But there’s one aspect of her life she’s preferred to keep largely private, and that’s what it’s like to bring up her eldest son Harvey.

In Katie Price: Harvey and Me though, the celebrity is giving viewers a new insight into their relationship, and the challenges they both face as Harvey turns 18.

Her son was born in 2002, and it soon became obvious to his young mother that he wasn’t responding in the same way as the other infants at her mum-and-babies group. Within weeks, Harvey was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, Septo Optic Dysplasia. For him it brings with it partial blindness, Prader-Willi syndrome, autism, learning and behavioural difficulties.

Katie says: “Being a parent of a child with complex needs, as Harvey has, presents daily challenges.

“Simple day to day things that other people take for granted can take all day.

“Every day presents a new challenge, no two days are the same.

“We have learnt and grown together, and together we have built our private world, a bond between mother and son which goes deeper than most – we are unbreakable.”

But as her son enters adulthood, Katie is facing some new and very difficult decisions regarding his future, ranging from where he will be treated when he can no longer go to Great Ormond Street to what level of independence he might be able to achieve.

She says: “Now he is 18, I have to start making vital decisions that will impact Harvey’s future that are different for most other parents.

“Harvey isn’t about to go to uni, travel the world on a gap year, or take his driving test. Harvey’s never even had a beer!

“Harvey is now an adult, and this is the most important time of his life, making the vital decisions, safeguarding his future and ensuring he has the tools for life that will give him the equal rights to live his life to the fullest.”

As the documentary discovers though, it’s not just Harvey who will be affected by these decisions.

Katie has always kept her son close to her, but now she needs to consider letting him go, and deal with her how own identity will change if he is no longer front and centre of her life. As well as sharing her own story, Katie also meets other families to find out more about what life can be like for disabled young adults and their parents.

She says: “For the first time I will be taking you behind the closed doors of mine and Harvey’s world. Experience a day in the life and what the future will look like for him and me. This is how we roll in Katie Price: Harvey and Me.”

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