Katie Price defends 18-month-old daughter's ear piercings

Katie Price has defended piercing the ears of her 18-month-old daughter Bunny by comparing it to the religious practice of circumcision.

The outspoken mother-of-five took her place on the Loose Women panel to fight back against accusations of child abuse from followers after she posted images on Instagram of her daughter's new piercings.

Asked why she did not wait until Bunny - her daughter with husband Kieran Hayler - was old enough to choose for herself, Price replied: "What about kids that get circumcised? They don't get a choice.

"Kieran is half Spanish and it's their tradition. You (Coleen Nolan) said you were Catholic and they get their ears pierced. No one has to sit here and justify."

Price said she had respected the wishes of ex-husband Peter Andre in not piercing her other daughter Princess's ears.

"I've got two (daughters), Princess really wants her ears pierced but because me and Pete have split up, we asked Pete and he said, 'I'd rather she didn't', and I only want to do it if he agrees too. Kieran agreed," she said.

Co-host Ruth Langsford said she did not like the practice because "it's unnecessary pain for a child".

But Price replied: "She cried more with her injections."

Naming celebrity mothers Giselle Bundchen, Kim Kardashian and Mariah Carey who had done the same thing, she asked: "Why don't they get the same stick as me?"

However, she acknowledged her own contradictions on the subject.

"Don't get me wrong, when a baby's a baby, they should stay pure and a baby, but I'll be contradicting myself," she told the panel. "What can I say, I had it done and I think she looks beautiful with it.

"You could say that (that it was for her benefit, not Bunny's) for a lot of things you do for your kids, anything. We make their decisions until they're 16, 18. Oh god, it's only ear piercing. Let's get over it."