KYLLONEN, Hanna

From A Whole New World to You Only Live Once – The Narrative Construction and Deconstruction of ‘Katie and Peter’ in Jordan’s Autobiographies.

 

This paper examines how glamour model Jordan and pop star Peter Andre are narratively constructed as a celebrity couple in Jordan’s two autobiographies A Whole New World (2006) and Pushed to the Limit (2008), and how their coupledom is deconstructed through the discourse of break-up and divorce in You Only Live Once (2010). Jordan and Andre became a celebrity power couple ‘Katie and Peter’ represented through their marriage and family life and jointly managed by CAN Associates. ‘Katie and Peter’ became a brand which required Jordan to change her celebrity persona from ‘trashy’ Jordan to ‘domestic’ Katie Price. This paper analyses how Jordan’s autobiographies represent ‘Katie and Peter’ through descriptions of married life, including marriage difficulties, postnatal depression and mother/fatherhood. Katie Price is described almost entirely through her relationship with Andre and as a consequence Jordan’s autobiographies imply a loss of identity and rebellion against management and coupledom. The paper examines how the emphasis on togetherness causes the narrative to become a joint story of ‘Katie and Peter’ which works well for promotional purposes but also turns the autobiographies into representations of a ‘passive autobiographical self’ which limits Jordan’s agency. Jordan is seen to struggle with ‘performing Katie Price’ and oscillates between Jordan and Katie with Jordan’s full return represented alongside the end of the marriage in You Only Live Once. The paper analyses the dissolution of Jordan’s celebrity persona in favour of becoming a part of the celebrity couple ‘Katie and Peter’ and her subsequent rebellion against this image as represented narratively in her three autobiographies.

Dr. Hanna Kyllönen is an Associate Tutor at the University of Sussex