Katie Price, Nothing to Hide: Changed My Mind... But Not in the Way You Might Think

Last night I binged Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, and I'll admit, I went into it with a completely different perspective than I would have done a year ago.

Like a lot of people who grew up in the 90s, Katie Price has always been impossible to ignore. Whether you knew her as Jordan, followed her reality shows, or simply caught the headlines in the supermarket queue, it felt as though she was everywhere.

And if I'm honest, over the years I've probably done what many people have done.

I've rolled my eyes at the mention of her name.

Another headline.

Another relationship.

Another surgery.

Another bankruptcy.

Another dramatic story splashed across the tabloids.

Then last year, Katie Price and Kerry Katona came to Nottingham with their "An Evening With..." tour.

Exactly the sort of live event we love at Trinder & Trinder Productions.

I almost didn't go.

Not because I wasn't curious, but because I'd read all the stories beforehand. Reports that the tour was a disaster. Headlines about late starts. Reviews suggesting it was all a bit of a car crash.

Still, curiosity got the better of me.

And I'm so glad it did.

Never judge an event by the headlines

From the moment Katie and Kerry walked on stage, something struck me.

They weren't pretending to be perfect.

There was no polished PR script. No carefully rehearsed media training.

Just two women who have lived incredibly public lives, laughing with each other, finishing each other's stories and being remarkably honest about the mistakes they've made.

Their friendship felt genuine.

Their chemistry was effortless.

There were funny moments, emotional moments and plenty of occasions where the audience laughed because they recognised something human in both of them.

Then something happened that completely changed the way I think about headlines.

During the interval, one audience member had to be escorted out as she'd become the most drunk I've seen anyone.... and I grew up in the 90's and the age of Hooch.

It took time.

As Katie and Kerry came back on stage, they apologised for the delay and explained that it wasn't actually their fault they'd started late.

I'd read the reviews beforehand.

I'd seen the criticism.

And suddenly I realised how easily the story might become:

"Katie Price and Kerry Katona are late again."

The reality?

It wasn't their fault at all.

It made me wonder how many other stories we'd accepted over the years without ever questioning them.

Then I watched the documentary...

Watching Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, I found myself thinking exactly the same thing.

Do I suddenly believe Katie Price is a saint?

No.

I don't think she'd claim to be one either.

She openly talks about poor decisions, failed relationships and the consequences of her own actions.

But what the documentary reminded me is that there is often a huge difference between what happened and the version of events that sells newspapers.

Growing up in the 90s, so many of us absorbed those headlines without really questioning them.

Katie wasn't just a celebrity.

She became Britain's favourite headline.

And headlines rarely deal in nuance.

They deal in drama.

Watching the documentary, there were several moments where I found myself remembering stories I'd half-heard years ago, only to realise the reality was far more complicated than the version I'd read at the time.

It doesn't excuse every decision she's ever made.

But it does remind us that people are rarely as one-dimensional as the media sometimes makes them appear.

That's why I love "In Conversation With..." events

One of the reasons Katie and Kerry's show stayed with me is because it reinforced something I've believed for a long time.

There is no substitute for hearing someone's story in their own words.

Whether it's Katie Price.

Sam McAlister talking about the Prince Andrew interview.

Carol Ann Lee discussing the Pendle Witches.

Or one of the other many fascinating guests we've welcomed to the stage.

When someone sits down in front of a live audience, there are no dramatic newspaper headlines, no social media algorithms deciding which clip goes viral and no tabloid editor choosing the most sensational quote.

There's simply a conversation.

You see the pauses.

The emotion.

The humour.

The bits that don't make the headlines.

Sometimes you leave liking someone more.

Sometimes less.

But almost always, you leave understanding them better.

And if there's one lesson we've learned from running Trinder & Trinder Productions, it's this: The most interesting stories are almost always the ones that begin after the headlines end.