Katie Price could be the next Michael Parkinson, her friend Mark Dolan has claimed.
The 38-year-old former glamour model has become a weekly fixture on TV since becoming a panellist on ITV daytime show ‘Loose Women’ and never fails to shock with her candid confessions about her private life.
Mark, 42, co-hosted a weekly show on Fubar Radio with Katie, 38, in 2014 and he thinks her own brutal honesty means she would make a fantastic chat show host, and if she was given the chance to front a programme she could match the style of the great ‘Parky’.
When asked whether he could imagine Katie fronting her own TV chat show, Mark exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "That’s a good question … I could picture Katie as the new Parkinson … But even if it was Tom Cruise (she was interviewing), the topic of conversation would come back to her!"
‘Parky’ hosted chat show series ‘Parkinson’ from 1982 until 2007 and his guests include many of the world biggest ever stars such as the late great boxing legend Muhammad Ali, football hero George Best, hard-partying actor Oliver Reed, Madonna and David Beckham.
If TV bosses are too nervous of giving Katie her own show Mark thinks the busty beauty would make a great sidekick.
He added: "I can see her being a side kick on a chat show – on a talk show she could be the second presenter and when the interview is done she could come on and really stick the knife in to guests with some of her barbed comments of charming honesty."
When Mark was working alongside Katie it was in the wake of her discovering that her husband Kieran Hayler had cheated on her with two of her closest friends.
Because the online station isn’t covered by regulator Ofcom, it meant she had free reign to say whatever she wanted, so Mark knows only too well what Katie is capable of saying live on air, with her even making reference to the size of an ex-lover’s penis.
Mark doesn’t think bosses on ‘Loose Women’ will be able to keep her in check.
He said: "Katie Price is a libel action waiting to happen, she’s a slander machine ready to put noses out of joint and keep the lawyers busy. It keeps her management team awake at night and the rest of us.
"It’s refreshing, isn’t it? She’s airbrushed but her opinions aren’t … She’s the ultimate loose woman."
Mark is hosting Audible Presents at Edinburgh Fringe – a series of free performances celebrating the art of spoken word comedy – until 28 August at the Pleasance Dome. Tickets for the show are still available.
Mark Dolan: Katie Price could be the new Parkinson
