Katie Price’s former social employee who has now change into her ‘rock’
Katie Price‘s former social worker Lynne Rickwood has become the model’s rock whom she’s turned to for support amid her financial woes, MailOnline can reveal.
Lynne accompanied Katie to the High Court last Friday for her latest bankruptcy hearing and was introduced to judge Daniel Schaffer as an ‘appropriate adult’ – a term used to describe a person helping someone who is vulnerable.
She sat alongside the troubled reality star during the short meeting and is likely to be by Katie’s side when the model returns for a public examination into her finances later this month.
Her court date with Katie – who owes £750,000 in an unpaid tax bill – comes nine months after she was reportedly sacked from her social worker position for getting too close to the mother-of-five, but Lynne, 47, has remained committed to the 46-year-old and her family, with pals telling Mailonline she has become her rock.
A friend said: ‘Lynne has been a godsend to Katie. During her time of need she has been there for her, playing various roles but ultimately she’s just a huge support.
Katie Price is seen arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday for her latest bankruptcy hearing with her former social worker Lynne Rickwood (right)
Ms Rickwood (pictured) was sacked as Katie’s social worker for reportedly getting too close to the foremer glamour model and being offered a job as her nanny. Friends say she has become a rock to Katie during her latest financial issues
Katie, who is also mother to Harvey, 22, Junior, 19, Princess 17 and Bunny, nine, is understood to have undergone her sixth facelift at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul
‘Katie sees her very much as her rock, there’s not many people she can turn to for guidance but Lynne is the sensible head she really needs right now.
‘Lynne has become wrapped up in Katie’s life and seems to enjoy the showbiz side of things.
‘It’s totally new for her and it’s exciting, but she does have sympathy for her plight and wants to ensure both Katie and her kids get through it’.
Lynne was reportedly fired by Sussex Council last November after concerns her professional boundary with Katie had become blurred and the pair grew ‘too close’.
She was previously part of the Sussex County Council safeguarding team and was assigned Katie’s case after concerns about the welfare of her kids were raised when she revealed her second youngest child, Jett, ten, had not attended school for a year and was being home schooled.
The model’s hectic love life and repeated arrests for motoring offences were also said to have been a concern that led Lynne being appointed as her social worker.
But social services chiefs were alarmed to discover that Lynne had considered taking a job as a nanny to Katie’s two youngest children, which jarred with her duties.
It is not thought Lynne, from Brighton, West Sussex, took up the position full time, but after details of her sacking became known, she was seen driving Katie’s children in her car.
Ms Rickwood pictured driving Katie Price’s children after she was sacked by a council in 2023
Ms Kirkwood accompanied Katie to court – and was introduced to the judge as an ‘appropriate adult’ – a term used to describe a person helping someone who is vulnerable
Katie’s head is currently covered in bandages and black tape after her facelift in Turkey
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Price with her knees up at court on Friday
Katie was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Thursday night after returning to the UK from Turkey
Katie was later pictured exiting the back of a police van at Heathrow police station on Thursday night shortly after being arrested
Katie arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London last Friday alongside Lynne sporting head bandages from her recent £10,000 facelift in Turkey.
Her court appearance came hours after she was arrested at Heathrow Airport over a failure to attend bankruptcy proceedings.
Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Schaffer ordered the model to give an ‘undertaking’ to the court that she would attend a further hearing to face questions over her finances on August 27 at 10.30am.
He said: ‘You have to attend that date, no ifs or buts, no going abroad, no holidays.’
Katie confirmed that she understood she must attend and later said: ‘I will move my diary for it.’
Judge Schaffer also discharged the arrest warrant issued against her on July 30 by a different judge after she failed to attend a previous hearing.
Katie, who is also mother to Harvey, 22, Junior, 19, Princess 17 and Bunny, nine, is understood to have undergone her sixth facelift at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul.
She recuperated from the op staying at the five-star £133 per-night Sheraton Ataköy Hotel in the Turkish capital.
But her presence at the resort didn’t go down well holidaymakers, one of which slammed the former Loose Women host television personality for using the pool with ‘staples holding their scalp on and incisions weeping with pus’ in a scathing review on Trip Advisor.
The two star review read: ‘We’re here at the moment and couldn’t fault this wonderful hotel until an infamous British celebrity and her entourage arrived and our opinion changed dramatically.
‘Who wants to relax and dine at a hotel looking at someone with blood all over their face, staples holding their scalp on and incisions weeping with pus.
‘Oh and she used the swimming pool as well… I’m not sure this hotel should be used as a recovery facility for plastic surgery.
‘It’s certainly put me off both visiting again and recommending it to anyone.’
