Katie Price's Vaping Addiction Puts Her At Risk Of Popcorn Lung, Claims Habit Made Her Tooth Fall Out

The heartbreaking photo of a diseased lung on Katie Price's Instagram was perhaps the most visceral alarm bell yet for the troubled celebrity. Alongside the shocking X-ray, which warned that 'Vaping has officially been linked to rare and irreversible lung disease,' the mother-of-five confessed to her 2.6 million followers: 'I have to stop.'

This public admission that she is addicted to vaping has ignited a fresh wave of concern among her closest family members, who fear that the star is heading down a path that could severely damage her health—a fear made all the more potent by a tragic history of lung disease in her own home.

Katie's mother, Amy Price, 73, has been battling terminal Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) for several years, a devastating condition that causes severe scarring of the lungs and makes breathing increasingly difficult.

Amy underwent a vital lung transplant in 2022, and seeing her daughter, now 47, struggle to quit a habit linked to irreversible lung damage, has naturally caused immense distress.

The Price of Stress: Why Katie Price Cannot Quit Vaping

Sources close to the star have confirmed to New UK Magazine that Katie's struggle is directly tied to her emotional state, framing the vape as a coping mechanism for relentless pressure.

'Katie needs to stop for health reasons and, obviously, her family members have been very worried,' one source explained. 'But she's so stressed and it [vaping] is simply her way of releasing that stress.'

The issue is compounded by what sources describe as the star's fundamental nature. 'It's also very addictive and as we know, Katie's got a very addictive personality,' the source added.

This 'vice,' as another confidant labelled it in September, means that 'Katie can't live without one and it's always in the form of addiction. It's never healthy, and currently it's vaping.'

This highly addictive habit has landed the star in trouble multiple times. Just last year, in November 2024, she sparked public outrage after she was filmed puffing on a vape on a train—a clear breach of most rail networks' rules.

More controversially, in March of this year, a picture showing her vaping in front of her four-month-old niece, Olive, caused immediate online fury. E

ven during her recent live tour alongside friend Kerry Katona, fans claimed they saw her 'hiding behind a cushion, vaping with stress because her children were there,' which allegedly meant she 'couldn't host the show properly.'

Her boyfriend of nearly two years, former Married At First Sight UK contestant JJ Slater, is said to be worried but feels powerless to intervene.

'JJ is concerned about her, but there's only so much he can do,' the source said. 'Katie's under severe stress and just has one thing after another to contend with. He really does love her, but she's got her own mind and sadly, with the vaping, it has become a real habit for her.'

The Terrifying Link Between Vaping and Popcorn Lung

The medical reality facing Katie is sobering. The warning she shared on Instagram referred to bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible lung condition tragically nicknamed 'popcorn lung.'

Medical research and case reports, including findings published in the Tobacco Control journal and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have linked the disease to certain chemicals found in flavoured vape liquids, which can cause severe scarring and narrowing of the small airways in the lungs.

This possible link to lung disease is precisely why Katie herself is so alarmed, given her mother Amy's long battle with IPF. 'She's worried because of what happened to her mum—her mum is so ill and has to carry around oxygen,' the source said, emphasising the gravity of the situation.

This is not the first time the former model has tried to quit. She pledged to give up a couple of years ago, even musing that the habit may have made one of her teeth fall out.

'I am going to stop it because I don't know why I do it,' she admitted on her podcast, The Katie Price Show, before claiming: 'I swear it is the vape because I put it here—it's on the tooth that came out. So I wonder if that is what made my tooth fall out?'

While Public Health England maintains that vaping is 95 per cent safer than smoking, the NHS acknowledges that it is not completely harmless, and the long-term effects are still not fully understood. It is considered a tool to help smokers quit, but it still contains nicotine and other harmful chemicals.

Despite the serious warnings and her family's palpable anxiety—from her mum to her sister Sophie, who publicly begged her to stop back in 2023—Katie's journey to sobriety remains a difficult one. 'Whenever she's feeling stressed, she reaches for the vape,' the source stated. 'So it's going to be hard to keep away from them.'

Ultimately, her loved ones remain hopeful, believing that if anyone can conquer this battle, it is 'The Pricey'.