Katie Price’s family are said to want her to go back to rehab following her arrest on Friday

Katie Price‘s family want to seek help over her ‘erratic’ behaviour in the weeks leading up to her arrest on suspicion of breaching a restraining order, it has been reported.

The reality TV star and ex-glamour model posted a defiant message on Instagram saying she ‘still has her sparkle and drive’ after she was released on bail from Worthing police station yesterday, as it was revealed she could face five years in prison for allegedly breaching a restraining order.

The 43-year-old was arrested on suspicion of breaching her restraining order after she allegedly branded her ex-husband Kieran Hayler’s fiancée Michelle Penticost a ‘gutter sl*g’ in ‘abusive messages’, MailOnline revealed yesterday.

In her Instagram post, Price wrote: ‘I still have my sparkle and drive, looking forward to this week big announcement coming so excited.’

Police investigating the alleged offence have apparently confiscated Price’s phone following a 12-hour interrogation before her release yesterday, The Mirror reports.  

A source close to her family told The Sun that they wanted her to go back into rehab, saying: ‘Katie’s been having a tough time recently and her behaviour in the past couple of weeks has become slightly erratic.

‘She has been lashing out on social media and even had a pop at Peter Andre’s wife Emily MacDonagh and claimed she’d stopped her daughter from visiting her in rehab.

‘Her family wanted her to go back into the Priory for a while to get past her demons as she’s done so well previously when she had been there.

‘However this isn’t something Katie wanted to do.

‘They know how lucky she was that she didn’t go to. Her family is distraught. They want to do everything they can to help and protect Katie. But this time if the accusations are correct, she really hasn’t helped herself and the situation is looking bleak.’

Price, who was handed a five-year restraining order forbidding her from contacting Ms Penticost directly or indirectly in 2019 after hurling a ‘tirade of abuse’ at her, could now face up to five years in prison if she is charged and found guilty.

Sussex Police said a woman in her 40s was arrested at a property in Partridge Green, West Sussex at around 12.15am on Friday night. She has been released under investigation.

A spokesman added a report had been made at 5.45pm on Friday in relation to an alleged breach of a restraining order.

Later on Saturday, Katie Price was seen being driven out of Worthing Police station by her fiancé Carl Woods and has been pictured being driven around again today.

She was seen on the back seat of a Mercedes, with her hand on the headrest, as her fiancé drove the vehicle.

Price, who lives in ‘Mucky Mansion’, is banned from contacting Mr Hayler’s girlfriend Michelle Penticost either directly or indirectly under the terms of a five-year restraining order imposed in 2019 after she verbally abused her in a primary school playground. 

Price admitted in 2019 to verbally abusing Ms Penticost and her friend Andrea Quigley after young children and a teacher witnessed her hurling a ‘tirade of abuse’ including shouting ‘f****** c***’ multiple times at both women.

According to the Sentencing Council the maximum sentence for breaching the protective order is five years in prison. 

Miss Penticost is understood to have contacted Sussex Police on Friday to complain that Price had sent Mr Hayler ‘abusive’ messages aimed at her.

Sources claimed the messages branded Miss Penticost a ‘gutter sl*g’ and a ‘c***ing we piece of s***’, according to The Sun.

They added: ‘The words were absolutely vile.’ 

Mr Hayler and his fiancée were understood to have been interviewed by police in their home before Price was taken into custody. She has been released under investigation.

Miss Penticost, 39, was said to have been left ‘devastated and threatened’ following the alleged messages.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hayler told The Sun: ‘We can confirm that an incident took place on Friday after which Michelle was left distressed by a tirade of abusive insults and threats.’ 

Ex-glamour model Price, 43, has accused her estranged husband, 34, of sexually assaulting a person. 

Mr Hayler, a former stripper, has angrily denied the ‘false’ allegations’ and vowed to co-operate with police.

‘At 5.45pm on Friday (21 January) police responded to a report that a suspect had breached their restraining order,’ a force spokesman said. 

‘Officers arrested a woman in her 40s who has been released under investigation while inquiries continue.’ 

MailOnline has approached representatives for Price and Mr Hayler for comment. 

Mr Hayler’s fiancee Miss Penticost, 39, shared a cryptic message on Instagram which read: ‘Normal people don’t go around destroying other human beings.’ She also shared the hashtag ‘restrainingorder’. 

Price claims that she went to police before the divorce — but suggests that the alleged victim has now come forward herself. 

Sussex Police says Mr Hayler has not been arrested and described the alleged victim as a ‘girl’, who was under the age of 16 in 2016.

The force confirmed that they had received allegations of a sexual assault which they are investigating 

‘No arrest has been made at present. The girl is receiving support from specially trained officers’.

Mr Hayler’s spokesman previously told the Mirror: ‘Kieran is absolutely devastated by these untrue allegations and has requested to meet the investigating officer as soon as possible to clear his name.

‘He is certain that these allegations are false and have been fabricated by a third party in an act of revenge. 

‘He will fight to clear his name and moreover for those responsible to be brought to justice.’

A source close to Mr Hayler added to The Sun: ‘Police have been in touch with Kieran regarding an allegation from 2016, which is believed to have been made by Katie. It relates to someone they knew while they were married.

‘Kieran is co-operating and insists he has done nothing wrong — but he’s happy to speak to the cops about it. 

‘He just wants to move on from his marriage to Katie.’