Katie Price denies vendetta against ex-husband Kieran Hayler at rape trial

Katie Price told Lewes Crown Court she holds no animosity towards ex-husband Kieran Hayler, who faces three rape charges involving a 13-year-old girl.

Price rejects 'angry and vengeful' claim in Hayler rape trial

Katie Price has told a court she harbours no ill will towards her former husband Kieran Hayler, who stands trial accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, The Independent reports.

Giving evidence from behind a screen at Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday, Price denied suggestions from Hayler's defence lawyer that she had pursued a years-long vendetta against him.

Arlette Piercy, representing Hayler, put it directly to Price: "You are angry and vengeful towards the defendant Kieran Hayler, you have evidenced a vendetta against him over a number of years." Price responded: "That is not true."

When pressed further on her feelings towards her ex-husband, Price told the court: "I don't have any venom against Kieran, it was amicable when we split."

Hayler, 39, faces three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, alleged to have taken place in West Sussex in 2016. He was married to Price at the time. The couple's relationship broke down in 2018 and they divorced in 2021. The alleged victim is not a member of either family's extended circle.

Nanny affair and deliberate hire

During cross-examination, Piercy raised the matter of a nanny employed by the couple with whom Hayler subsequently had a ten-month affair. Price acknowledged she had specifically chosen the employee because she "wasn't very attractive" and was "a little bit overweight", in the hope it would reduce the risk of infidelity.

"Absolutely, there was a reason for that so he wouldn't cheat on me again but he did," Price told jurors.

'Little star' message questioned

The court heard that Price had previously messaged the teenage girl allegedly assaulted by Hayler, saying she had heard he had "tried it on" with her and adding: "I will make you a little star."

When Piercy asked about that phrase in cross-examination, Price described it as "a figure of speech", adding: "When she was 13 there's no agenda or nothing behind it."

Later in her evidence, Price said she could not recall the full message exchange and that it was the "first time I've seen these." She said the messages were "quite triggering because he was doing all this behind my back" and that she had "blocked" them out through therapy. She told the court she had spent time at the Priory rehabilitation centre "because of the damage he'd done to me."

'A different kettle of fish'

On Monday, Price told jurors she had been "really shocked" when the allegations first came to her attention. "I was shocked… like really shocked. It was a different kettle of fish, it's a child," she said.

She recalled confronting Hayler at the time and asking whether he had "done stuff" with the girl. She said his consistent response was denial. Price added she did not speak to the girl face to face about the alleged abuse and, when asked whether she had encouraged the girl to go to police, said: "I was going through it myself. I was having a breakdown at that point."

Claim of media contact denied

Piercy also asked Price whether she had been following press coverage of the trial. Price replied that she had not, saying she had "been handcuffed to Suella Braverman all week" — a reference to the Channel 4 programme Celebrity Handcuffed. She also denied receiving updates from someone sitting in the public gallery.

Hayler denies all charges. His defence position, as previously outlined to the court, is that Price launched a campaign against him when their marriage ended and that the allegations form part of that campaign.

Source: The Independent