Katie Price on how childhood abuse may have led her to modelling: 'You can look but you can't touch'

Former model Katie Price has once again opened up about her tumultuous past – being sexually assaulted as a child and even raped when she was a teenager. Speaking about the initial days of her career, the 39-year-old shared some insights on why she might have turned to a life in the limelight as a glamour model.

The recently-single Price, who has been vocal about her abusive past, went on to shed light on her career choices, suggesting that modelling could have been a way for her to feel empowered.

"Sometimes, I think, did I do the glamour modelling – I don't know if this is true but this is what I say – as a sign of 'yeah, men, you can look at me but you can't have me', as if it's a rebellious... but I don't know," the mother-of-five told host John Bishop in a new episode of his show In Conversation With..., which airs on Thursday (26 October).

Previously, Price had detailed her emotional trauma, revealing on her show how she was sexually assaulted at the age of seven and then suffered rape when she was on the brink of her career.

Despite the troublesome years, though, Price suggests that she didn't feel the need to get professional help.

"I think because I've got a strong family and I'm quite open and talk about things, that we just all dealt with it," she said, immediately adding, "Don't get me wrong, people get affected by things, but that's why I wonder if that's why I like to do the glamour modelling as a, you know, 'up yours to you men, you can look but you can't touch'."

"But I don't know. Maybe," Price said.

This is however, not the first time that the Loose Women star has opened up about her traumatising experience and its impact on her even as an adult.

Speaking on the ITV show in February, the TV personality had revealed, "There was the sexual assault and I was later raped, which I have discussed before and I do believe it led to me dressing provocatively and becoming a model.

"I had been training to be a nurse but the glamour modelling world is aimed at men. They can look but they can't touch. You can say or do what you like in a picture," she had said.