Katie Price Sent "I Will Make You a Little Star" Messages to Teen Who Accused Ex-Husband Kieran Hayler of Rape, Court Hears

Katie Price contacted a teenage girl who allegedly was raped by her then-husband, Kieran Hayler, and told the youngster she would "make you a little star," a jury at Lewes Crown Court has been told. The messages, exchanged when the complainant was fourteen years old, were shown to jurors as part of the prosecution's case against Hayler, who is on trial accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Hayler, a former television personality and the ex-husband of Price, denies every charge against him. The allegations relate to a girl who was thirteen at the time of the alleged offences in 2016 in West Sussex. She is not a member of either Hayler's or Price's extended families, the court has heard.

According to the messages presented in court, Price wrote to the teenager saying she had been told that Hayler and the girl had kissed and that he had "tried it on" with her. Price framed her questions as an attempt to establish the truth, telling the girl: "I'm only asking as this is a serious allegation."

The teenager responded by describing the matter as "just a flirt thing" and insisted that "nothing happened." In one of the messages read to the jury, Price asked directly: "Did he kiss you? I won't bring up anymore just want truth. I will make you a little star."

Price also enquired whether Hayler had ever expressed that he liked or fancied the girl. The complainant replied: "Yes, but I took it as a joke." The exchange forms part of the evidence being weighed by the jury as the trial continues.

Under cross-examination, the complainant, who is now an adult, was asked why she had told Price that nothing had happened. She explained that she had been "trying to brush it off." When questioned about her understanding of Price's remark that she would make her "a little star," the woman said she could not recall reacting to it. "I don't think I said anything. I think I just ignored it," she told the court.

The trial has also heard about messages exchanged directly between the complainant and Hayler. Jurors were told that after the third alleged rape, Hayler sent her a text saying "I love you goodnight," to which she replied: "I love you too." The complainant said she later deleted these messages after Hayler allegedly instructed her to get rid of them. Asked directly whether she was the one who deleted them, she answered: "Yes, I did. Kieran Hayler was asking to delete my messages." She described the messages as "deleted, long gone, years ago."

Arlette Piercy, defending Hayler, put it to the complainant that the alleged rapes and the sexual assault never took place at all. The woman rejected that suggestion firmly, telling the jury: "I would never make it up." Piercy also stated that it was not accepted on Hayler's behalf that the "I love you" texts had ever been sent to the complainant at any point.

The court has heard that Hayler was married to Price at the time the allegations are said to have occurred. Their relationship later broke down in 2018, and the couple divorced in 2021. Hayler's defence case includes the suggestion that his ex-wife "launched a campaign" against him when the marriage ended, and that the allegations formed part of that campaign, the jury was told.

The case has already generated several days of testimony at Lewes Crown Court, with earlier hearings told that Hayler urged the girl not to tell anyone and, separately, that he told her to "take it to her grave." Hayler has consistently denied all wrongdoing since the charges were first brought. In December 2025, reporting on the case noted his denial of raping a thirteen-year-old girl.

The current trial centres on the reliability of the complainant's account and the context surrounding the messages now being scrutinised in court. Defence lawyers are seeking to undermine the prosecution's case by pointing to the teenager's initial denials in her exchanges with Price and to the deletion of messages between her and Hayler. Prosecutors, meanwhile, are relying on the woman's testimony that she was attempting to minimise the situation and that she never fabricated the allegations.

The involvement of a high-profile figure such as Price, a well-known model, television personality and author, adds a layer of media interest to proceedings that might otherwise have attracted little public attention. Price has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in relation to the messages, which were presented as evidence of communications surrounding the alleged offences rather than as part of any case against her.

Legal commentators note that messages sent between alleged victims and third parties can cut both ways in sexual offence trials. Prosecutors may use them to demonstrate a consistent account or to show that a complainant was attempting to downplay events out of fear or confusion. Defence teams, conversely, may seize on apparent inconsistencies or reassurances as evidence that no serious allegation was being made at the time. In this trial, the jury will have to decide what weight to give to the teenager's replies to Price, including her characterisation of the contact with Hayler as "just a flirt thing."

The case also highlights the challenges facing complainants in historical sexual offence proceedings, particularly when they are children or teenagers at the time of the alleged events. The passage of years, the deletion of messages and the pressure of cross-examination all form part of the evidential picture. The complainant's insistence that she "would never make it up" directly addresses the central question the jury must resolve: whether her account is truthful and reliable.

Hayler's trial continues at Lewes Crown Court, with further evidence expected to be heard in the coming days. Additional reporting on the case has been provided by PA Media.