Reality TV star and pop culture icon Katie Price received the Gold Medal of Honourary Patronage from Dublin University Philosophical Society (the Phil) yesterday. Price discussed the media, her anti-bullying campaign, the changing landscape of celebrity and her own life experiences while addressing the Phil in a questions and answers format.
ITV cameras were present at the event, filming for a new documentary on Price that’s airing in early December. After they had set up, Price entered the room to a standing ovation.
The first subject of discussion was the media, and Price’s tumultuous relationship with it. Understandably, the relationship between Price and the media continues to be a controversial subject – a subject, like most other items of controversy, that she has no problem addressing. She described having a good relationship with the press in her days as a page three model, but explained how that relationship deteriorated over the years.
Yesterday, Price said: “They literally write rubbish”, adding: “I have about six guys chasing me with a camera.”
Next she spoke about the evolution of the reality TV genre. Price said that when she did shows like Big Brother there was no mental health support for stars. She added that the invention of social media has changed the game for celebrities, saying that nowadays “everyone’s a catfish”.
Price also discussed her recent move into her move into politics: she’s a campaigner for the criminalisation of online hate speech after the well-documented online abuse of her son Harvey. Harvey, she said, has received racist and ableist abuse.
Price also explained some of the day-to-day difficulties of looking after her eldest son, explaining that he needs medication six times a day to survive. She also said, however, that “I never ask for sympathy”. She also expressed support for carers, articulating her view that carers “need someone to care for them too”.
One student asked Price if she ever considered giving up her media career. She was categorical in her opposition to such a move, explaining that even if she left the spotlight, the paparazzi would continue to hound her to find out where she went. But she brandished her award and said she can now “rub it in” the faces of the paparazzi – a move predictably greeted by thunderous applause from the crowd.
She concluded by setting out her stall for the future: Price said she’s “rebuilding her empire”. She went on to tell all the eager ears in the audience not to give up, and reiterated this point several times.
A large cohort of students waited afterwards for photos, and Price was very accommodating. I will admit to having to Wikipedia her last night to make sure I had all my facts before I went to see her, only really knowing what I’d heard at the end of tabloid-style vox-pops, and yet walking away I found her to be a captivating speaker with some very interesting things to say about the culture that created her and that she, in her own way, defined.
