Katie Price has revealed her eldest son Harvey is 'coming home for good' this week, after she struggled to secure him a place at a residential college amid cuts to council funding and her bankruptcy.
The former glamour model, 47, explained that the 23-year-old will begin 'independent living' in a new place that is nearer to her home in Sussex, after previously lamenting the long distance between them.
Harvey is blind, autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia, a learning disability and is one of the 2,000 people in the UK with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder.
He had been living at £350,000-a-year specialist institution National Star since 2021, but amid cuts to funding and Katie's financial woes, he was withdrawn last year.
Since then, she has had a difficult time trying find him a new place, with one care home calling him 'too difficult' and the West Sussex County Council slashing his funding.
But, speaking on her podcast, The Katie Price Show, last week, the mother-of-five revealed that Harvey is now leaving his college and heading out into the 'real world'.
Katie Price has revealed her eldest son Harvey is 'coming home for good' this week, after she struggled to secure him a place at a residential college amid cuts to council funding and her bankruptcy
The former glamour model, 47, explained that the 23-year-old will begin 'independent living' in a new place that is nearer to her home in Sussex, after previously lamenting the long distance between them
Harvey is blind, autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia, a learning disability and is one of the 2,000 people in the UK with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder
Katie said: 'Harvey is doing the countdown for his new place. He's got his leavers ceremony where they give out certificates and then it's the "real world" Mr Harvey Price.'
She explained that he was going first to a temporary accommodation, before beginning his new placement in Littlehampton in October.
She said: 'I've found him a place in Southampton which is temporary. It's got five other adults in it.
'Then he moves to his place in October, which is Littlehampton, which will be nearer to me. He's going from college to independent living.'
The TV personality also took to her Facebook page to reveal her excitement over the move, sharing a sweet photo of her and Harvey cuddling during a visit to see him at college.
She captioned the heartwarming snap: 'Reunited with my baby bear. Harvey's coming home for good in 12 days'.
While on Tuesday, she shared another shot of her giving him a kiss and gushed: 'Love you so much Harv, not long now' with the hashtags '#soproudofyou #familytime # newbeginningsahead'.
Katie got candid on her podcast as she detailed what a difficult undertaking it had been trying to get Harvey into a new institution for months on end, since she was forced to withdraw him from National Star.
Since then, she has had a difficult time trying find him a new place, with one care home calling him 'too difficult' and the West Sussex County Council slashing his funding (pictured in 2018)
But, speaking on her podcast, The Katie Price Show , last week, the mother-of-five revealed that Harvey is now leaving his college and heading out into the 'real world'
The TV personality also took to her Facebook page to reveal her excitement over the move, sharing a sweet photo of her and Harvey cuddling during a visit to see him at college
On Tuesday, she shared another shot of her giving him a kiss and gushed: 'Love you so much Harv, not long now' with the hashtags '#soproudofyou #familytime # newbeginningsahead'
Though he later returned to school, she was hit by another hurdle in February when he lost a place at a care home for being 'too difficult'.
At the time she explained how Harvey had lost his place weeks before the move after management changed and they determined that they couldn't cater for his needs.
Reflecting on the tough journey, she said: 'We worked months and months for that and he was told four-and-a-half weeks before that he couldn’t go there, and Harvey has been doing the countdown.
'Well it’s stressful because you want the right thing for your child and it is a lot of time and effort to go back and do more meetings, more forms, it is very time-consuming because you want the best for your child.'
Katie has also frequently stressed the challenges of Harvey being placed a long distance away from her and admitted that he often became upset and wanted to return home.
In April, she detailed their 'difficult and upsetting' journey back to the college, after Harvey became so distraught at having to return that he lashed out in the car.
Taking to Snapchat after the move, she admitted she was 'heartbroken' to see her son so upset, telling her followers she hoped to be able to move him to a branch closer to her new family home in Sussex after leaving her Mucky Mansion.
She said: 'Now that was very difficult, it was really upsetting. Harvey just did not want to go back to college. I'm surprised I've still got a car left. He was literally gonna go for the car.
Katie got candid on her podcast as she detailed what a difficult undertaking it had been trying to get Harvey into a new institution for months on end, since she was forced to withdraw him from National Star (pictured in May)
Katie has also frequently stressed the challenges of Harvey being placed a long distance away from her and admitted that he often became upset and wanted to return home
'It is so sad when your son just doesn't wanna go to college and just wants to be with you all the time.
'That's why I can't wait for him to come home near us but the place we have got for him is not ready yet, maybe in May. So yeah, it is heartbreaking.'
In July last year, she revealed that the local authority had cut Harvey's funding because he has 'no healthcare issues', with an assessor concluding that he 'only needs social care'.
Katie - who was declared bankrupt for a second time last year over an unpaid tax bill worth more than £750,000 - has been trying to secure funding to extend Harvey's time at National Star for another year.
Speaking on her The Katie Price Show podcast last year, the reality star admitted : 'I'm having a nightmare at the minute.
'We were looking for him to stay at his college another year or if not a placement, but [the local authority] haven't accepted it.
'They've given me three months that he has to find somewhere else by July. With someone like Harvey you need the transitional move, you need to do it slow.'
Katie was Harvey's primary caregiver until he turned 19, and in 2021 filmed his move into National Star College as part of BBC documentary Katie Price: Harvey and Me.
His biological father is former footballer Dwight York, who briefly dated Katie in 2001, before breaking up soon after she fell pregnant with Harvey.
The ex premier league star denied he was the father, until a DNA test proved his paternity, but Katie has claimed that he has barely seen their son since he was born.
