Katie Price has told how she would like her son Harvey to meet his half brother, who is the child of her ex-boyfriend and Harvey’s biological father Dwight Yorke.
The former glamour model, 42, has told Dwight the ‘door is always open’ with regards to having a relationship with his now 18-year-old son.
The mother of five also shared her hopes that Dwight, 49, will see the documentary about their son set to air later this month and change his mind about reaching out.
Motherly love: Katie Price has told how she would like her son Harvey to meet his half brother, who is the child of her ex-boyfriend and Harvey’s biological father Dwight Yorke
Katie told the Sun: ‘His dad has never stuck up for him. It’s a weird one – I don’t know why and I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to be in touch.
‘I would love Dwight to watch the documentary and reach out to Harvey. I’ve always said the door is open for Dwight when he wants to get in touch.
‘At the end of the day Harvey has done nothing wrong, he’s innocent and deserves to know his dad and meet his half-brother.
Katie argued Harvey shouldn’t be ‘deprived’ of a relationship with his half-brother and questioned if the boy, who was born in 2007, even knows Harvey exists.
Always open: The former glamour model, 42, has told Dwight the ‘door is always open’ with regards to having a relationship with his now 18-year-old son
Katie and Dwight dated for 18 months and she welcomed their son Harvey in 2002, however he initially denied he was Harvey’s father demanded a paternity test.
In July, Katie slammed her ex Dwight for not getting in touch while their son Harvey had been fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.
Harvey was rushed to intensive care after having trouble breathing. He experienced extreme chest-pains and a soaring temperature and was thought to be at risk of organ failure.
She revealed that Harvey ‘could have died’ however his father still failed to reach out to her after he was rushed to hospital last week.
Support: In July, Katie slammed her ex Dwight for not getting in touch while their son Harvey had been fighting for his life in the intensive care unit
‘He doesn’t deserve this’: Katie and Dwight dated for 18 months and she welcomed their son Harvey in 2002, however he initially denied he was Harvey’s father demanded a paternity test
Speaking to New magazine, she said: ‘Whether you want to be in your son’s life or not, you still created him and he’s still your son.
‘If you know your son is in intensive care and there’s a chance he could die, as a human being with feelings you should get in contact.’
It comes following news that Katie recently made the ‘heartbreaking’ decision to put her Harvey into full-time care.
The TV personality said she will send Harvey, who suffers from a number of health conditions, to a residential college where he can lead a more independent life and learn new skills.
Heartbreaking: Harvey’s father, retired footballer Dwight is absent from his son’s life (Katie pictured with Dwight in 2001)
Harvey will live in the facility until he’s 25 and Katie believes the move is vital for his well-being because she can no longer restrain the at 6ft2in and 29 stone teen if he has a mood swing – and fears he could be sectioned if she doesn’t act now.
Harvey was born with septo-optic dysplasia – a condition that means the development of his optic nerve was unpredictable.
The teenager is also on the autistic spectrum, is partially blind, gains weight easily because he suffers from Prader–Willi syndrome, and finds mobility difficult.
Katie has spent six months visiting colleges for children with autism and learning disabilities in order to find the best place for Harvey, and is hoping he’ll be able to start at their top choice later this year.
But the mother-of-five is finding it hard to ‘let go’ as she has an ‘incredible bond’ with her eldest son.
Katie is also mother to son Junior, 15, and daughter Princess, 13, with her ex-husband Peter Andre, 47, and son Jett, seven, and daughter Bunny, six, with former spouse Kieran Hayler, 33.
Harvey’s autism means he can have violent outbursts, such as head butting walls and smashing iPads, if he hears loud noises or slamming doors.
And Katie said she made the decision to place Harvey in full-time care for fear of him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act if he lashed out in public and was deemed a risk to society.
The star added Harvey’s weight means she can no longer calm him down on her own.
Katie added her four other children will miss Harvey when he is not around at weekends.
The teenager is supposed to start at his residential college in September, but Katie isn’t sure if he will amid the ongoing global health crisis.
Katie said the main focus is to bring Harvey’s weight down, saying she needs ‘to get him the help he deserves because he will die if he doesn’t exercise’.
She added Harvey’s breathing has got worse in recent months, but says he will be able to go swimming and work out with trained specialists at the college.
Katie recalled seeing eight doctors crowding around him in the resuscitation room and said she was ‘terrified’ by the horrific ordeal. He was discharged after 10 days.
Following her announcement, Katie received a flood of support from Twitter users.
One wrote: ‘As I’ve said before, in all my time working in hospitals, Katie Price was the most knowledgable and passionate advocate for their child that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Horrendously abused but that’s never stopped her learning, growing, and fighting.’
Stated another: ‘Katie Price has tried for 18 years. I can’t believe some of the horrible comments people have made when they have no clue how it is to be a primary carer for a child with such complex disabilities. Her decision to put Harvey into an assisted living scheme deffo wasn’t easy.’
Fears: Katie said the main focus is to bring Harvey’s weight down, saying she needs ‘to get him the help he deserves because he will die if he doesn’t exercise’
Support: Following her announcement, Katie received a flood of support from Twitter users
‘So much can be said about Katie Price, honestly,’ wrote a third, ‘but one thing I will never doubt is that she is a doting mother who LOVES her children. I don’t even follow her LIKE THAT & it’s blatant to see.’
Katie made the decision to put Harvey in part-time care in April 2019.
She admitted on her show that she ‘had no option’ but to send Harvey, who was 16 at the time, to the care centre, as she admitted it’s ‘selfish’ of her to keep him at home.
Katie said: ‘I don’t want him to go, but the doctors and my mum say it is the best thing for him.’
Out and about: Following the announcement, Katie and her partner Carl Woods were spotted taking their dogs to the groomers in Essex on Monday
The star then explained to the camera: ‘What they can offer Harvey that I can’t, is daily exercise, a food plan, he can’t go into the cupboards and eat. He’ll socialise with his friends, it’s more freedom for him.’
But Harvey had to move back home in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the last six months, the teenager’s behaviour has got progressively worse.
She told The Sun in November: ‘He’ll smash things up if you say no. I’ve had to re-plaster my walls because he’ll bash holes in them with his head.
Essential trip: Former glamour model Katie, who has cared for Harvey since birth, covered her face with a mask on the outing and wore a Gucci tracksuit and red fur gilet
‘He knows what nice things taste of. I’ll give him sweet potato chips instead of real fries but he knows the difference.’
She continued: ‘It’s not what he eats in the day, it’s what he eats when I don’t see him. I’ve tried hiding food but he’ll find it.’
Katie went on to say that anyone in the house daren’t leave leftover food lying around as Harvey is ‘really quick’ and will be sure to eat it.
Continuing to outline her struggle with Harvey’s insatiable appetite, Katie previously explained to the publication how she’s taken drastic steps to try and reduce his eating and has even started to padlock the fridge.
Tough: Describing his condition as a ‘cruel and horrible illness’, the reality star described how her son is constantly hungry and will lose his temper if he doesn’t get his food
Katie also said that Harvey, who now wears 7XL clothes, doesn’t understand why she wants him to lose weight.
The worried mum explained how he gets breathless and sweaty just walking up the stairs and that she agonises over his increasing weight, because now the weight is on, the ‘damage’ has already been done.
It comes as Katie emotionally declared her son Harvey is ‘not a thing to poke fun at’ as she said being a mum to a disabled son is a ‘badge of honour’ on Instagram on Thursday.
She has previously said that one of the hardest parts about Harvey’s condition has been having others blame her for her son’s disability, which she has explained was a ‘one-in-a-million chance’.
She has said: ‘It’s no one’s fault… That’s why it’s still so upsetting when people say it’s my fault. It’s not.
‘I did go out. I was single, I was going out. But they’d get pictures of me coming out of the club looking drunk even though I was driving.
‘I had lots of speculation with his problems, and I was blamed for my partying. I wasn’t drinking at all.’
In 2019, Katie expressed her worries over Harvey saying she hopes she outlives him, because he wouldn’t be able to cope without her.
Speaking candidly about her relationship with her son, , the former glamour model, said that she worries how Harvey would take care of himself.
Katie told The Sun that she worries how Harvey would cope on his own due to his complex medical needs.
She said: ‘I know it’s horrible to say, but I wish he’d go before me because he wouldn’t cope without me.
‘He’d be so heartbroken and wouldn’t understand where I’d gone.’
Back in 2013, Katie told The Guardian that she would never put her son in care and called residential homes ‘evil’.
She said: ‘He’ll always live at home. He’s not leaving me. There are a lot of evil people out there’.
She also said she doesn’t want her other children to end up taking care of Harvey when they are older because she thinks it’s her job.
But Katie has understandably had a change of heart about care homes after learning what would be best for her son.
And no doubt she has already seen him thriving being in residential care five days a week.
Promoting her new BBC documentary Katie Price: Harvey and Me on BBC One, Katie wrote: ‘I wanted to share what really goes on behind closed doors.
‘Harvey isn’t a thing to poke fun at, he’s my son, he overcomes mountains and obstacles everyday that other people take for granted. Being a single parent of a disabled child is a badge of honour for me!’
Katie’s show Katie Price: Harvey and Me airs on BBC1 on January 25 at 8.30pm.