The BBC have refused to apologise for paying Katie Price to take part in a documentary about her disabled son, Harvey – filming her amid her legal struggles that saw her convicted for drink-driving while un-insured and disqualified.
A backlash has been unleashed against the Corporation over their decision to make a documentary titled Katie Price : What Harvey Did Next which follows the troubled 43-year-old’s 19-year-old son as he is enrolled at a specialist college for people with learning difficulties.
The documentary is steeped in controversy, however, as it was filmed when Katie was facing court over drink-driving after she flipped her BMW X5 into a hedge close to her ‘Mucky Mansion’ home in West Sussex at 6am last September.
Katie herself avoided jail after pleading guilty to her crimes and after she followed a court order to complete a treatment course which saw her check into the Priory for a period of time after the shocking crash incident.
Sentenced last December, Katie was slapped with a 16-week suspended sentence, 100 hours' community work and a two-year driving ban.
But there has been growing unhappiness about the fact that Katie continues to land high-profile TV work despite her criminal conviction – with reports over the weekend suggesting BBC staff are also frustrated that she has been given a platform by the Corporation.
The Mail on Sunday reported that one furious BBC employee had complained: “The commissioning of this show has gone down like a lead balloon among some staff. They can't believe Katie is being paid and given airtime after she could have killed someone.”
While TV fans have also complained, with one taking to Twitter to say: “Can someone please explain to me why the BBC is giving this p***head junkie, drunk driver, any airtime at all?”
Asked for comment on the backlash, a BBC spokesperson told the Mirror: "Katie Price: What Harvey Did Next is a documentary that aims to explore and shine a light on a side of disability that is not often shown.
“The film highlights the experiences of Harvey Price, who lives with a range of complex medical and behavioural conditions, as he enters a new phase of adulthood and the difficult decisions that he and his Mum make along the way as he enrols at college.
"This film is very much focused on Harvey, and we believe that his is an important story to tell. This BBC programme does address Katie Price’s arrest, following her car accident, in the context of how Harvey’s life would be impacted if something had happened to his Mum."
When asked, the BBC also refused to reveal how much of License Fee payer’s money was used to pay Katie for her inclusion in the show – which is set to air on BBC One tonight at 9pm.
The documentary was commissioned after a prior show, titled Katie Price: Harvey And Me, proved to be a hit in January 2021, pulling in five million viewers and attracting an audience of the lucrative 16-to-24 target age group.
The BBC was also slammed by fans earlier this year after they confirmed Katie wouldn’t be edited out of an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs The World which airs on BBC Three and the offending episode appeared on screens two weeks ago – and just weeks after the star was sentenced for her guilty verdict.
A spokesperson told the Mirror ahead of the episode airing: “The show was filmed well in advance early last year.”
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