Katie Price reveals she attempted suicide after battling ‘anxiety, depression and major trauma’

Katie Price has revealed that she attempted suicide after suffering from ‘anxiety, depression and major trauma’ following her horrific 2018 carjacking.

The reality star, 44, admitted she hit rock bottom after she was raped at gunpoint during the ordeal and tried to hang herself, but after passing out she ‘saw her kids faces’ and realised she ‘never wanted it to happen again.’

Katie, who is set to detail her traumatic ordeal in a hard-hitting Channel 4 documentary, previously revealed to MailOnline that she was raped at gunpoint during her 2018 carjacking, which led her to suffer a mental breakdown.

Ordeal: Katie Price has revealed that she attempted suicide after suffering from ‘anxiety, depression and major trauma’ in the wake of her horrific 2018 carjacking

Speaking during the documentary, which airs on Thursday, Katie revealed she came close to taking her own life after reaching rock bottom.

She said: ‘I’ve got anxiety, depression and major trauma and I tried to kill mself. I tried to hang myself. I knocked myself out. I had black eyes, bruises around my neck, I didn’t want to be here.

‘But all I saw was the kids faces and I don’t ever want that to happen again.

‘It was a nightmare. I didn’t give a s**t if I lived or died. I’ve been struggling with my mental health for some time.’

Tough: The reality star admitted after hitting rock bottom she tried to hang herself and passed ut, but after ‘seeing her kids faces’ decided she ‘didn’t want it to happen again’

Katie is mother to sons Harvey, 20, Junior, 17, and Jett, nine, and daughters Princess, 15, and Bunny, eight. 

In the documentary, which was filmed in the aftermath of her car crash in September 2021, Katie also admitted the accident finally helped her realise she needed help, and she checked into rehab.

She said: ‘Getting in the car was a terrible mistake I’m so sorry for. That was a prime example of me having been triggered and not knowing how to handle it, an example of my spiralling out of control because I needed help.’ 

The reality star also said she’ll likely need therapy ‘for the rest of her life,’ after being diagnosed with PTSD.

Ahead of the documentary, Katie revealed that she was raped during a horrifying carjacking in South Africa in 2018. 

She told MailOnline: ‘The experience when I was filming with ITV in South Africa, we had no security, if we had security they would have been able to deal with the six guys that jumped us, held me at gunpoint and raped me.’ 

Awful: Ahead of the documentary, Katie revealed that she was raped during a horrifying carjacking in South Africa in 2018

Katie was thrown out of the vehicle by the attackers, during her journey from Johannesburg to Swaziland in two people carriers with the production crew. 

The vehicles were ransacked of laptops, iPads, passports, cash and jewellery – but the robbers left behind a fortune in camera gear which the crew had stored on board. The attackers were never apprehended.

Katie first discussed her harrowing experience during an episode of Channel 4’s SAS: Celebrity Who Dares Wins in 2020, where she said: ‘Police said it was a miracle they didn’t kill us.’

During her new Channel 4 show, she candidly revealed: ‘I hit severe depression a couple of years ago, depression on top of PTSD, I was suicidal, didn’t want to be here. I tried to kill myself. 

Aftermath: Speaking in an interview with MailOnline, the media personality, 44, recalled the terrifying ordeal which saw her held at gunpoint during filming for her Quest Red reality show

Moving forward: She detailed the traumatic events that led her to reach breaking point and seek treatment for PTSD, in a candid discussion about mental illness

READ RELATED: Inquest into death of Molly Russell, 14, delayed as Meta submits 1,580 pieces of data to coroner

‘I knocked myself out and had black eyes. I had bruises around my neck. I woke up. I didn’t want to be here.’

Her stays at The Priory rehab clinic have been to treat her post traumatic stress disorder as she also added that through therapy she has learnt to deal with her past and recognise what triggers her. 

Katie detailed: ‘I have had my eyes opened about a lot. When you go in The Priory, people assume that it must be for drinks or drugs. 

‘I have never ever been in The Priory for drink, drugs or addiction. I have been in the priory for trauma rehabilitation for PTSD.’

Onscreen: The vehicles were ransacked of laptops, iPads, passports, cash and jewellery – but the robbers left behind a fortune in camera gear which the crew had stored on board – with the incident documented on the show (pictured)

She continued: ‘Because of what people believe, it affects me. There is a stigma that if you go in The Priory, you are a wrong ‘un [one], but that’s not true. 

‘I think people who go in there are brave because they are facing their demons and whatever their problems are to make themselves a better person.

‘Mental health, it doesn’t matter how big or how small that my seem, if it’s big to someone then it’s big to them. It’s just different. Anything can happen.’ 

Speaking about the dark place she experienced with her mental health at the time of last year’s horrific drink-drive crash, Katie explained: ‘I live in the countryside, I had no outlet, I needed to talk to someone and that night I let myself down.’ 

Accident: Speaking about the dark place she experienced with her mental health at the time of last year’s horrific drink-drive crash, Katie explained: ‘I let myself down’ 

‘I am not justifying anything, there was a reason why I got in the car and why my head was like that.

‘Unfortunately, I did get into that place. I would never get into that place again. It happened and it’s real but I have learnt.’

The former glamour model, who still goes to therapy, said: ‘I might be 44 now and have therapy each week, but I wish I would have done this years ago. It would have stopped a lot of things that I might have said or reacted to.

‘I have to accept [certain situations] and not bite back to anything anymore.

‘It’s hard for me to say because I don’t want to sound bitter and I am not bitter. I speak to my therapist now about my situations.’

She added: ‘I think people who go in there are brave because they are facing their demons and whatever their problems are to make themselves a better person’ 

As she deals with her PTSD and past trauma, Katie continued: ‘I feel like I have to protect myself. I don’t put anything on Instagram anymore. I don’t need to justify myself anymore. I don’t owe anything to anyone.

‘I don’t go on Instagram anymore and say, ‘Well this is wrong,’ it crosses my mind and then I countdown, and by the time I am at zero, I am just like ‘Oh forget it.’

‘I feel better and I feel stronger for that. I don’t need to rectify or prove anything to anyone. I know the truth. I have grown up!’

In her latest documentary, Katie discusses what caused her mental health to deteriorate and the step’s that she is taking in her recovery. 

‘There’s a lot in the programme but there is a hell of a lot I haven’t put in there, it’s only 45 minutes but there is enough to know that I have been suffering,’ she said.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for ITV and Quest Red.  

Katie Price: Trauma And Me airs on September 8th at 9PM on Channel 4.  

Learning: The former glamour model, who still goes to therapy, said: ‘I might be 44 now and have therapy each week, but I wish I would have done this years ago’