Katie Price’s ex Kieran Hayler has told a jury he falsely described himself as a sex addict as part of a publicity strategy after an affair while married to the media personality became public.
The 39-year-old is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl in West Sussex in 2016.
During cross-examination on Friday, prosecutor Ryan Richter suggested Hayler was “practised at having affairs” and referred to previous interviews in which he described himself as having a sex addiction.
Hayler replied: “I have used that description, yes, but it’s not correct.”
Hayler told jurors that he, Price and her management team had “created a narrative” following his affair to generate headlines and get income from the publicity.
He said it was also to save Price the “embarrassment” that he had cheated on her with their nanny.
The prosecutor referred him to a newspaper interview in which he said he had been unable to help cheating because of his sex addiction.
Asked why he had made those comments, Hayler replied: “Kate decided that’s what we’re going to run with.”
He told Lewes Crown Court: “It was just made-up publicity.”