Katie Price and Kerry Katona, who are embarking on a tour together this weekend, have been friends for years after having both appeared on I’m A Celebrity back in 2004

Katie Price and Kerry Katona have been friends for years (Image: PA)

Long-time pals Katie Price and Kerry Katona have known each other from more than two decades. As well as being “best friends,” the two reality TV stars have worked together on several projects over the years since they first met.

Katie, 47, and Kerry, 44, are now launching a tour together tonight as their latest joint venture. They are expected to share stories from their lives and it’s been promised that audiences will be able to ask them questions during the shows.

An Evening with Katie and Kerry opens at Marine Hall in Fleetwood this evening. The tour is then scheduled to visit venues in a host of places like Lincoln, Swansea and Oldham, before concluding in Camberley in November.

Ahead of the nationwide tour, we’ve taken a look back at their friendship. Katie and Kerry have given insights into their relationship in the years since they first became pals, and there’s also been much speculation about them too.

Katie Price (left) and Kerry Katona (right) have known each other for years after appearing together on I’m A Celebrity in 2004(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The friendship between former glamour model Katie and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry, who both launched their careers in the 1990s, is said to date back to 2004. They appeared as campmates on I’m A Celebrity that year, as did singer Peter Andre, whom Katie went on to marry.

Kerry ended up winning the ITV show and remained close with Katie after they had left the jungle. She was even a bridesmaid at Katie’s wedding to her now ex-husband Peter in 2005 alongside Michelle Heaton and Sarah Harding.

There is however said to have been tension years later, with the pals reportedly embroiled in what was described as a “feud”. As previously reported, Katie was said to have called Kerry a “druggie” in 2007. According to the Daily Mail, Kerry, who has spokenly candidly about past drug use, later said that she had been in “denial” about having an “addiction” and began “slagging” Katie off after she had expressed concern.

The pair, pictured in 2018, have remained pals since being campmates on the show(Image: Getty Images)

Katie was said to have later been chosen as a bridesmaid for Kerry’s wedding to the late George Kay in 2014, whom she married following her split from Mark Croft. Kerry later said that she “wasn’t best pleased” when her pal dropped out on the day of the nuptials, though she assured that Katie did attend the wedding, just not as part of the bridal party.

As previously reported, she wrote about the experience in her memoir Kerry Katona: Whole Again, writing: “The morning wasn’t without its issues, Katie Price was supposed to be a bridesmaid but she pulled out as I was getting ready.” Kerry said she couldn’t remember the reason why but acknowledged that Katie had just given birth to her daughter Bunny, now 11, weeks prior. She also described herself as having been a “bridezilla”.

A few years later, it was reported that Katie and Kerry had “really become close again”. It was suggested that issues in their respective relationships with now exes Kieran Hayler and George had led them to bury the hatchet.

A source told the Sun in 2017: “Kerry and Katie drifted apart after their time in the jungle but have always kept in touch in a very loose way. […] They both live near each other in Sussex so it’s easy for them to see each other and they have become a regular fixture in each other’s lives again.”

The pals, whose children are said to be close friends, have since shared updates on their friendship. Kerry ruled out being a bridesmaid at Katie’s wedding to Carl Woods, which never went ahead, in 2022. She said that whilst they weren’t “bosom buddies,” they remained on good terms.

The pals, pictured with Kerry’s daughter Lilly-Sue McFadden, have also worked together on projects over the years(Image: Instagram / @kerrykatona7)

Kerry told the Daily Star: “I highly doubt [I’d be a bridesmaid] – I wish her all the best – but I’ve never met Carl. People have this impression that me and Katie are like bosom buddies, I live up north she lives down south. […] We may send the odd text every now and then but that’s about it.”

The following year, Katie hit out at rumours of a rift. As reported at the time, she Katie wrote on Instagram in 2023: “[Me and Kerry] will be friends forever nobody will tarnish our friendship, we will always support each other and if we really need help we are there for each other.”

Later that year, the pals were thought to have welcomed in the New Year together at Kerry’s home. Katie teased at the time that she was “single” after splitting from Carl and they were joined by some of their respective kids.

Since then, Katie and Kerry have appeared to be close, with the former sharing her pride over her pal at the end of last year. It came following Kerry’s split from her fiancé Ryan Mahoney, with her later praising Katie for her support amid working on a pantomime together. She said: “I want to say thank you to Katie because she has been an absolute lifesaver through all of this heartbreak and it’s been a massive distraction for me.” She went on to say: “The one thing I am learning is that I will never put my happiness in anybody’s hands ever again.”

Katie shared Kerry’s message on her on Instagram page and expressed her pride in the caption. She wrote about her pal: “I’m so proud of you and your strength.” She added that they had “so much” to look forward to as a “duo”.

Kerry revealed that Katie had been staying with her amid the pantomime production, sharing in her column for New! magazine, as reported by OK! at the time: “I’m feeling really grateful for Katie being here recently, I’ve been having a tough time since splitting from Ryan. It’s all felt overwhelming but she’s been supporting me throughout. It’s so nice to have someone who is in the industry and understands what I’m going through.”

Katie and Kerry are now embarking on a joint tour together (Image: PA)

They were then said to have spent Christmas together at Kerry’s home in Cheshire. Kerry shared a photo of them beside her five children and Katie’s eldest child Harvey Price, writing: “Merry Xmas from the Katona and Price household.”

More recently, in April this year, Kerry dismissed a rumour that the pals have a romantic relationship. Addressing claims that they were dating, she wrote in her New! column: “There’s a joke article going around Facebook that Katie Price and I are in a relationship, which I just want to confirm is definitely, definitely not true! I have no idea where it has come from but it’s quite hilarious, I’ve heard it all now.”

She teased: “We are good friends, but I’m not sure we’d work so well together romantically. Plus, I’ve never been with a woman before. Although with the way my dating life is currently going, maybe it’s something to try out …”

Two months later, a source told the Mirror that they have had a “rocky” relationship in the past but “always” come back together in the end. The source said: “Katie and Kerry have fallen out many times before – there has been the odd feud – but they always come back together.”