Katie Price has reportedly been left fuming after being told her currently suspended Instagram account has been deleted, wiping out her 2.6 million followers. The 48-year-old reality star’s account vanished last week, shortly after she finally made contact with her husband Lee Andrews, who she said had phoned her from prison in Dubai to claim he had been arrested on suspicion of espionage.
Lee, who is in his 40s, had been missing for weeks after failing to fly to the UK and join his wife on the Good Morning Britain sofa for a joint interview. Instagram had been everyone’s first port of call in the unfolding saga, where Katie kept her fans up to date on her efforts to find Lee before the social media page was taken down, leaving only an account status error message in its wake. It was apparently yanked due to parent company Meta investigating because she ‘flashed some boob’ and was promoting CBD gummies – including while ‘anxious’ over trying to find Lee – which drew complaints.
According to The Sun, it’s understood that executives at the social media company went through her posts and stories and found no wrongdoing, but despite this she has reportedly been told she will still need to start up a new personal account altogether. The profile for her podcast The Katie Price Show, which Katie co-hosts with sister Sophie, still remains live on Instagram, with 61,300 followers – although it has not been updated in the interim.
‘Katie is furious. It’s absolutely ridiculous that she’s had her account deactivated after spending years building it up and gaining over two and a half million followers,’ a source close to the star told the publication. ‘She was previously told it would be back up and running and now they’re saying she might have to start from scratch and have a brand new account with zero followers.’ The insider also said that it felt ‘like small-minded trolls complaining for the sake of it’ and that Katie’s efforts to ‘stay connected with all her fans is suffering as a consequence’.
It was also previously pointed out that fans ‘don’t follow Katie Price for home decor inspo or cake baking’. It was also previously reported that Katie’s account was expected to be back up and running soon – even within 24 hours – but that did not prove to be the case.
Katie has been radio silent since her account went down, shortly after revealing she had finally spoken to Lee on the phone from Dubai’s Al Awir jail, after he originally told her he had been kidnapped and was tied up in a van – before going missing. ‘I have found him. He is alive, and he is OK. I told him how worried I had been and told him I loved him,’ the media personality confirmed, after claiming his father had put the husband and wife in touch. ‘It was very rushed but he said the authorities out there thought he was a spy.’
She also claimed that he is set for release from custody today. Intense speculation around Lee has persisted ever since Katie revealed their whirlwind romance in January, which saw them tie the knot after a matter of days. He’s been accused of ‘scamming’ his new wife for their entire relationship, alongside other women in his past; he also faces more serious abuse allegations from his ex-girlfriend.
Metro has contacted a rep for Katie Price for comment.
