Katie Price team respond to ‘Signed’ winner Amy Willerton claims

OHMYGOSSIP — Kate Price’s representatives have responded to accusations by Amy Willerton, the winner of her TV modelling competition, that her life has changed for the worse since the show.

Willerton claimed in a tabloid interview (March 4) that several of her prizes for winning Sky Living’s Signed By Katie Price, including a ­modelling contract and use of a Range Rover, failed to materialise.

“I never expected overnight fame, but I don’t believe the promises from Katie or her team were kept,” she told the Sunday Mirror. “I gave up my job, was encouraged to turn down a place at university and had to put my life on hold.”

Price’s Blacksheep Management has since said that it was only able to concentrate fully on Willerton’s career after she was revealed as the Signed By Katie Price winner on December 6, at which point she apparently refused to work with them on an exclusive basis, as all contestants were told they would be required to do.

“Amy is beautiful and bright and will doubtless have a number of opportunities,” a statement read. “However, it was made clear to her that if she wanted to work with us she would need to do so on an exclusive basis and that we would not try to make quick money from her but build her a long and sustainable career.

“The point was not to recreate Kate – which would frankly be impossible – but rather to develop Amy into a long-term brand in her own right. Clearly this is not something that will happen overnight and would take considerable time and effort on our behalf… Naturally, with Amy refusing to agree such, it undermined our ability to manage her in the way envisaged. This was Amy’s choice.”

Blacksheep said that it had spent “considerable time and money clearing up a couple of reputational issues” concerning Willerton before her career was launched “in good faith” on an agreed date in January.

“Raising her profile higher before these were dealt with would have exposed Amy to potential harm and as an agency we will not do that,” the company explained. “We need to make clear that we won’t disclose these issues which are no more than many young girls face when they are still a little immature.”

Blacksheep insisted that there had been “no broken promises to Amy” regarding her prizes, saying that Willerton had been unable to insure the car they provided and appeared to deem their choice of a luxury holiday, a five-star villa in Marbella, “below her”.

The release said that Willerton’s decision to speak to the press was “disappointing but unfortunately not surprising”, as Price and her team believed she had “changed from the girl we all met during the filming of Kate’s show”.

“Had she wanted to commit and allow us to manage her in line with the long-term vision that we had planned for her, then she would have been a success,” they suggested.

“Unfortunately she has people around her that think they know better. She has taken the short-term option of doing a story to slag off Kate, that’s fine – it is what a lot of people do to get five minutes of fame, but it is not the way to build a long-term career.”

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