Katie v Peter. Emily Herbert
on her arm. Pete, on the other hand, was frequently seen with the children, taking them for days out and playing with them.
Gradually, the two began to be viewed as two totally different personas in the public eye: raunchy Katie and saintly Pete. This went beyond just how she appeared in the papers, though, as far as Katie was concerned: since meeting Pete, and especially since marrying him, she had transformed her public image from a glamour girl to a role model. A lot of her fans now were young girls, who bought her horse books, and whose mothers would be not be too pleased to see her leading an increasingly wild lifestyle. Soon, Katie’s advisers began to worry that the split would do her commercial harm.
Katie herself had also become concerned about it, albeit somewhat belatedly. She also began to display signs that she was a long way from being over Pete: having point-blank refused to see him, possibly as a tactic to make him see what he was missing, now she was reverting to the other extreme.
‘For weeks, Katie was being a complete cow to Pete, insisting he deal with her through her mother, Amy,’ said a friend. ‘Katie moaned that she relaunched Peter’s career when they got together – and now he is getting all the attention. She is worried fewer people are signing up for her internet fanclub – and thinks their fans have sided with Pete.’ In actual fact, it was a close-cut thing: fascination for Katie remained as strong as ever, but Pete was certainly getting the better press.
But the other theme that was emerging and would continue to do so, even after the divorce, was that Katie wanted Pete back. She might have been putting on a very brave face in public but it was he, totally exasperated by their rows, who was the one who walked out and finally decided to put an end to the marriage. Peter Andre, unlike some of Katie’s previous boyfriends, is a kind and thoughtful man, and, as is so often the case, Katie only realised what she’d lost when it was too late.
Pete was veering between anger and concern. On the one hand, he had to put up with his estranged wife being seen partying all over town, but on the other he could tell Katie was going off the rails, especially after one rather fun night out with Michelle Heaton. In private, too, Katie was urging him to reconsider, not realising that it really was too late.
‘He knew she would be upset but thought their marriage had run its natural course,’ said a friend. ‘He feels really bad about the whole situation as he cares for Katie deeply and hates to see her like this. All her desperate phone calls are really heartbreaking, but he’s determined to stay strong. Deep down, he knows that it’s not right to get back together, no matter how much it’s hurting Katie. In the long term, it’s better for both of them.’
And then, again, there were the children: Pete was an avowed family man and hated being away from them so much, on top of which there was the situation with Harvey. Pete might not have been his biological dad, but he was a father to him in every other way, and access was a grey area. ‘Kate and I have three beautiful children,’ said Pete, at one point. ‘And so, for them, I want to keep things as amicable as possible. I love spending time with the kids – I would see them 24/7 if I could, so I don’t want to get into a public slanging match with Kate. I just want us to be good parents.’
And, as if all that were not enough, both he and Katie were seeing their weight plummet. It was a very uneasy state of affairs.
At least they both had their work. In June, Pete flew to Macau, China, to perform at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) and this helped to cheer him up. ‘The past four weeks have been the worst of my life,’ he told a reporter. ‘It was hell. No matter what happens, you never stop loving someone. Initially, I couldn’t even have thought about work – my head was everywhere. It still is everywhere. But it’s been a month now and I know I’ve got to start pulling myself together. The response I’ve had since being in China has been absolutely amazing. This, and the work I am doing now, is beginning to give me confidence again. Singing has given me something to focus on. I never expected the attention I’ve been getting and I am so glad this is happening. I’ve only been here a couple of days but it’s already turned out better than I ever hoped. Finally, I am beginning to smile again. It’s not like I’m a bundle of joy now, but it’s getting better. I’m even cracking terrible jokes!’
He further revealed that the pair had tried marriage counselling although that, too, hadn’t worked. Despite the shock caused when he walked out, the marriage had been in trouble for some time, and now it was far too late to try to piece it together again. ‘Yes, it was Pete who left Katie – but not [until] after he had done everything in his power to make the marriage work,’ said a friend of Katie. ‘Neither of them take divorce lightly and both wanted their relationship to work for the sake of the kids, if nothing else. So Pete persuaded Kate to give counselling a go once they started having frequent, more hostile rows. He really was willing to try anything, if it might help. Although they both went into it willingly, it was more of a Band-Aid gesture – a desperate final attempt to patch up the marriage and make it work. Pete was devastated that it wasn’t the solution.’
In truth, it was too little, too late.
Still, work continued to be a solace. Katie let it be known that she wanted to compete in the dressage and show-jumping categories in the 2012 Olympics, although how realistic that ambition was it was difficult to say. Behind the scenes, however, despite Pete’s wish to keep matters pleasant for the sake of the children, bitterness was growing. One of the many reasons given for the break-up of the marriage was Katie’s friendship with her married riding teacher Andrew Gould coupled with Pete’s jealousy, but Kate and Andrew were adamant that they were just good friends.
It was, however, her friendship with Andrew that had been a big factor in Pete walking out. A couple of weeks before the split, Katie had gone for a big night out with some of the horsey set, with whom she was socialising increasingly frequently, (another factor in the problems between Pete and herself), and was pictured laughing and enjoying herself. Gould was also in the group, which many people believed was the final straw as far as Pete was concerned.
Gould attempted to defuse the situation. ‘Kate, and I, and all her friends, have always socialised at shows and horse events,’ he said, when it became apparent that his name was about to be made public. ‘It was all harmless stuff and it has been blown out of proportion. We were just out socialising with friends, as we normally would. I don’t see it’s going to change. She’s obviously quite distressed about what’s going on. It’s a time [when] she needs to be alone with her family, so I will respect that. I would say Peter is jealous because we have a close link – as far as horses go. It’s just a horse thing.’
But it was also a sign that the two were growing apart. Pete made no bones about the fact that he was jealous where Katie was concerned, but this was more evidence that the couple were now moving in very different circles and they simply didn’t fit together any more. But this made them both angry and, inevitably, it also made them lash out.
Katie seemed to veer between grief and fury. Indeed, the depth of animosity was revealed by Sol Gilbert, a fitness instructor and friend who was helping her to build up her physique. ‘I’m not going to waste one more second on trying to get him back,’ Kate told him, and added, ‘I feel utterly humiliated – I’m getting caned every day in the papers. Usually stories like this die down, but this keeps on going every day – it’s getting bigger and bigger.’
And it was: public fascination with the two showed no signs of abating. But what Katie couldn’t understand was why the public seemed to be siding with Pete, and not her. Certainly, there was some feeling that she had pushed a basically decent man too far, but another problem was that Katie didn’t seem to realise that the kind of behaviour that had made her a celebrity in the first place was seen by many as inappropriate now that she had three young children, while Pete, the doting father, was gaining all the public support.
As ever, she continued to fight back, working out to get herself into even better shape and she could always confide in her friends. Sol was also able to provide more detail on what had gone wrong. ‘Pete rounded on Katie over her friendship with her riding instructor, Andrew Gould,’ he revealed. ‘It wasn’t true [that she was having an affair], and Katie pleaded with him to believe