Katie Price's reasons for ditching court hearing: 'Dealing with serious stuff'

Katie Price, who was declared bankrupt a second time, has maintained that she pays her taxes.

The 45-year-old former model filed for bankruptcy a second time due to an outstanding tax debt of over £750,000. She owes HM Revenue and Customs £761,994.05 and was already declared bankrupt in 2019.

Judge Sebastian Prentis of the Insolvency and Companies Court stated during a brief hearing held in London's Rolls Building that Katie had been declared bankrupt because she had not replied to HMRC on the debt.

He said: “There has been no response from the debtor. The papers are in order. There is substantial debt due from Ms Price to HMRC and therefore I will make a bankruptcy order.”

While doing a podcast live, Katie learned that she had been declared bankrupt once more. She gave a reason for missing court after learning of the incident while appearing on the Straight to the Comments podcast.

"I know I had court, last week or the week before, but because of what’s going on in my life, I’ve actually been signed off. I’m dealing with serious stuff. You know, there’s all different kinds of bankruptcies - I think they just use the word bankruptcy," she explained.

Katie added: "But nobody knows the ins and outs of everything - and trust me, I don’t get away with stuff either like you can’t. Tax you can’t ever run away from, you have to pay. Don’t think I sit here and don’t pay stuff, because I do."

In August 2023, Katie told Michelle Visage that she was "fed up" with being threatened with legal action and that she would go to prison to be "done with it all" while discussing her financial struggles.

Price revealed her bankruptcy to the TV personality during an interview for her Rule Breakers podcast.

She also mentioned that she had visited the court "more times than I've had hot dinners" lately and that she would "genuinely" not care if she went to jail.

Price admitted to having mental health issues recently and said that individuals shouldn't be "ashamed" of being declared bankrupt on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show in March 2023.

In October 2020, Price also apologised in a court hearing, noting: “I just haven’t been able to deal with these issues or in the right mental state to understand everything that has been going on."