Katie Price tells court she confronted ex Kieran Hayler over claims he raped girl, 13, and asked if he'd 'done stuff' after exchanging messages with her trying to get information

Katie Price has told a court she confronted her ex-husband Kieran Hayler, accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, and asked whether he had 'done stuff' with her.

The model and TV personality, 48, began giving her testimony from behind a screen at Lewes Crown Court on Monday afternoon and spoke about how she had exchanged messages with the young alleged victim.

Hayler, 39, is accused of raping the girl, now in her early 20s, on three different occasions and sexually assaulting her in 2016. He denies all charges.

The jury heard earlier in the trial Hayler believes he is being set up by his former wife.

In 2021, the complainant contacted the NSPCC charity which referred her to the police, prompting the investigation.

Hayler was first interviewed by police in January 2022 and denied any of the allegations took place and that anything sexual occurred.

Ms Price today told jurors she could tell the girl was 'afraid' from messages they exchanged.

When asked about messages between her and the complainant, she said: 'I can't remember the exact messages but it was that Kieran had tried to kiss her, that he had done stuff to her.'

Katie Price has arrived at Lewes Crown Court for the trial of ex-husband Kieran Hayler who is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl

Kieran Hayler, 39, is seen arriving at Lewes Crown Court on Monday, October 12 2026 - he denies charges of raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2016

Pressed on what was said, Ms Price told the court: 'Definitely a kiss and that he said he loved her.

'I wanted to get information out of (the complainant) because it’s serious. I could tell that she was, like, afraid.'

Ms Price said she was 'really shocked' by the allegations about her then-husband, telling jurors: 'I was shocked - like, really shocked. It was a different kettle of fish, it's a child.'

She told the court she confronted her husband at the time, asking if he had 'done stuff' with the teenage girl.

Asked by prosecutor Ryan Richter what was his response was, Ms Price said: 'I can't remember his response but his response all the time was, "No, I hadn't".'

She said she did not speak to the girl about the allegations face-to-face, and was asked whether she asked her to report it to the police.

Ms Price added: 'I was going through it myself. I was having a breakdown at that point. I had to go in the Priory.'

Giving evidence to jurors last Tuesday, the complainant told the court that Hayler texted her after the third alleged rape, saying, 'I love you goodnight,' and she replied: 'I love you too.'

Katie Price, seen outside Lewes Crown Court, has been giving evidence at the trial

Mother-of-five Ms Price was married to Hayler between 2013 and 2021

Hayler and Katie Price are pictured together at a London film premiere in November 2015

Katie Price is seen leaving Lewes Crown Court after giving evidence on Monday afternoon

Jurors heard when the trial opened last Monday that Hayler will say Ms Price made up the allegations as part of a campaign against him.

Hayler believes the allegations were 'created' and he was being 'set up' after the breakdown of their marriage.

The alleged victim's mother last week told jurors her daughter liked the way Mr Hayler talked to her, saying: 'She said he told her he didn't have any friends and she could be his best friend.

'She liked the way he spoke to her.'

Asked why she did not tell anybody else about the rape allegations until after Ms Price contacted social services in 2018, the mother said: 'I had to keep her secret and her trust.

'I couldn't tell my husband because I knew what the consequences would be. I didn't want any of this for her.'

The mother has denied she was influenced by Katie Price to come to court and said her daughter was not interested in becoming a celebrity.

In a text message exchange between Ms Price and the girl, the jury heard the reality star offered to make her a 'little star'.

The messages were read out to her mother during her second day in the witness box.

Arlette Piercy, for the defence, asked the mother if she was aware of the messages.

The witness replied: 'My daughter wasn't interested in becoming a star.'

Ms Piercy challenged the mother on what she knew about the allegations and when, asking: 'You didn't believe anything had happened, did you, and you didn't do anything about it did you?'

The mother replied: 'Yes, I did. I believed my daughter.'

Messages sent in May 2017 between the alleged and Price were last week read to the jury, in which Price asked her about rumours regarding Hayler.

The complainant said she did not remember the exchange, but the court was told Price asked her whether Mr Hayler fancied her and if he tried to kiss her.

In one message, Price wrote: 'I won't say anything and I promise I'll protect you. I'm only asking as this is a serious allegation to say.'

The girl, then aged 14, replied: 'It was just a flirt thing and he knew it was wrong. Nothing happened.'

Price replied: 'I won't bring up any more, just want truth. I will make you a little star.'

Former reality TV star Hayler met Ms Price in 2012 and proposed on Christmas Day. They married at a luxury Caribbean resort the following year.

In a previous statement, Sussex Police said: 'We can confirm Kieran Hayler, of Northchapel, West Sussex, has been charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl.

'The offences are alleged to have occurred at an address in West Sussex between June 1 and October 13, 2016.

'The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has received support from specially trained officers as our enquiries continue.'

A representative for Hayler has previously said: 'Kieran Hayler strongly denies the allegations made against him in their entirety.

'Mr Hayler is fully engaged and has been co-operating with the police throughout the investigation and will continue to do so.

'He looks forward to his name being cleared, believing in the judicial system to do so.'

The alleged victim is not part of Hayler or Ms Price’s extended families.

Hayler denies rape and sexual assault. The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.

Poundland could disappear from the High Street within days as Andy Burnham asks questions over how its owners handled a sales process.

Thousands of nervous staff are waiting to hear what will happen to the discount retailer after it filed a notice to appoint administrators with the High Court today.

This will give the business, bought by US investment firm Gordon Brothers for less than £1 last year, some breathing room – ten days – to find a rescue deal. AlixPartners is poised to take over a potential insolvency process.

But the Poundland brand and its 600 shops will not be sold as a whole, leading to a carve-up of the 36-year old retailer, meaning jobs are at risk at any shops that are not bought.

And on Thursday night, the Prime Minister said he is ready to demand answers from owners amid a 'deeply worrying time' for staff and their families.

Burnham told The Telegraph: 'We want to see jobs protected. If there was a potential owner to avoid this that hasn’t been accepted, then the Business Secretary and I want to know why that is the case.'

Battle for survival: The fate of Poundland's near 12,000 staff hangs in the balance.

It would mark the biggest high street collapse since Debenhams closed its doors in 2021 with the loss of 12,000 jobs.

Job losses could hit 600 shops and a distribution centre in Makerfield, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s constituency, which employs around 270 people.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds also said he was ‘very much concerned’ and would push for answers as workers and bosses seethe over its failure to find a buyer.

He told The Telegraph: ‘If it is true that it was not necessary to put the business into administration then the present owners will have to account for that.’

Why has Poundland struggled?

Chains like Poundland are battling shoppers with constrained budgets while costs, such as employing people, have increased – following Government moves to hike wages and employer National Insurance contributions. Savvier shoppers are looking for cheaper online alternatives, including Amazon, Temu and TikTok Shop.

Former owners, the Warsaw-listed Pepco Group, made some wrong moves that did not go down well with its customers, including putting Pepco clothing in its shops.

Its most recent woes stem back to last year, when it narrowly avoided collapsing into administration. The chain was sold in June 2025 to US firm Gordon Brothers for a nominal €1 amid 'challenging trading conditions'.

By November 2025, around 100 Poundland shops had been shut or earmarked for closure. Two months later, as part of its radical turnaround plan, Poundland had shut 149 stores with 2,200 job losses.

But this year, Poundland bosses insisted it was turning a corner, pointing to like-for-like sales growth of 3.3 per cent in the three months to September 26.

Poundland's managing director Barry Williams said earlier this month: 'Our recovery plan is working, thanks to our investment in simple low pricing and new ranges, powered by our new in-house teams.'

Why is there a dispute between Poundland’s owners and its bosses?

Both shop workers’ union Usdaw and Poundland’s management have accused Gordon Brothers of mishandling a sales process, which it kicked off at the beginning of September.

The union met with the minister for the future of work, Kate Dearden, on Wednesday, amid warnings of what would be the biggest High Street collapse in years.

Three directors, appointed less than a fortnight ago, this week walked out following a dramatic dispute with owners Gordon Brothers.

Hours later the retailer’s management hit out at the owners, calling the process ‘unexpected, unwanted and avoidable’.

Government adviser David Bickerton is set to ask ‘fairly basic questions of senior people around Poundland’ in order to ‘establish what the situation is,’ on behalf of the business secretary, the Financial Times reported.

What does a notice to appoint administrators mean?

‘Filing a notice of intention isn’t administration itself,’ explains Julie Palmer, managing partner at real estate advisory group BTG.

Instead, it effectively keeps the wolves from the door for up to ten business days of protection and helps the firm preserve cash.

She added: ‘If an appointment follows, the administrators take control of the company from the directors. Their first duty is to try to rescue it as a going concern.

'If that isn’t possible, they aim for a better result for creditors than liquidation would give. In practice that usually means a sale, either of the whole business or in parts. For staff and customers, stores normally keep trading while that happens, but the risk is that the business is broken up, with stronger stores sold and weaker ones closed.’

Who could buy the shops?

Owner Gordon Brothers rejected a takeover offer from Irish real estate firm Martin Property Group – despite management and unions arguing this was the best deal on the table.

This would have been for the whole business, including its brand and full store estate.

But now it seems like other major retailers, especially those with grand expansion plans, could pick up some shops from Poundland.

The owner of The Range, Homebase and Wilko – known as Britain’s ‘Del Boy Billionaire’ – is thought to be interested. Chris Dawson, 74, who runs CDS Superstores, acquired the Wilko brand out of administration in 2023.

Dawson got his nickname, the 'Del Boy billionaire', via the press as a reference to his yellow Lamborghini Urus, which has a personalised number plate 'DE11 BOY', a homage to the character Del Boy Trotter from the classic TV show Only Fools and Horses.

Dawson started his career as a market trader, before founding The Range and scaling it to a major high street chain. He has since acquired Wilko and Homebase out of administration.

Chris Dawson, 74, runs CDS Superstores, which owns The Range, Homebase and Wilko

Poundstretcher owner Fortress is also understood to be looking at buying shops. The rival discount retailer runs more than 300 shops in the UK.

Supermarket Lidl also hopes to be able to snap up some of its stores if the retailer fails to sell the whole company. The discounter is pushing ahead with a major expansion mission.

TG Jones owner is also understood to be interested in buying parts of the Poundland business.

The private equity group owns Britain's WH Smith shops, now known as TG Jones stores and previously bought ailing accessories chain Claire's, Hobbycraft and The Original Factory Shop.

All Claire's standalone shops in the UK and Ireland stopped trading earlier this year after its financial woes saw it fall into administration twice in a year.

Are shops open and will staff be paid?

Poundland shops are currently open and operating business as usual.

But Poundland's managing director Barry Williams wrote a letter to around 12,000, accusing the retailer’s owner of limiting the chain's access to funding.

This has effectively prevented bosses from making routine payments, with suppliers now worried they will not be paid on time this week, according to Sky News.

But sources close to the crisis talks insisted that this should not prevent staff from being paid at the end of the month.

Williams told staff: 'I'm disappointed to have to tell you that Gordon Brothers have given instructions that restricts our access to funds that we would, in normal circumstances expect to access fully under our existing loan agreement.'

Gordon Brothers are accused of breaching the terms of an asset-based lending facility by failing to submit a budget to the shareholders on time despite an agreed grace period – with the business now outperforming those forecasts, Sky News reported.

Julie Palmer, managing partner at real estate advisory group BTG, says that in this situation, ‘existing commitments such as payroll and supplier invoices can still be met from cash already available‘.

But bosses cannot ‘draw further funds to cover anything beyond that,’ she says, which poses a problem as retailers typically draw from these loans in the autumn to buy Christmas stock - before repaying from festive sales in December and January.

She added: ‘If a lender has concerns about longer-term viability, it may simply be unwilling to increase its exposure by funding that stock build, particularly when it can’t be sure who will own the business, or what shape it will be in, by the time the money needs to come back.

‘That leaves management with very little room to manoeuvre. It limits their ability to buy stock or take on new commitments, and puts directors in a difficult position, because they must be confident the company can meet its liabilities before taking on new ones. Once credit insurers pull back and suppliers start asking for payment up front, the squeeze tightens quickly.’