HALF the nation - the male half that is, is probably mourning the loss of one of our most iconic figures.

Yes, the woman whose 32ff assets have graced the front cover of OK Magazine for as long as I can remember has finally had them surgically removed.

Jordan is no more and Katie Price is now a real, flesh and blood human being and a perfectly proportioned 32D.

I felt myself breathing a huge sigh of relief - as she must have too, as what must have been a monumental and painful weight to carry on her tiny frame, was removed by a top surgeon in California - the fourth operation on her breasts.

(Although I wonder how much those famous implants would have fetched on eBay!) I must admit I have always been fascinated by the life of Jordan and what Katie did next'.

I had an amusing encounter with her once on a flight back from Cyprus to Gatwick or should I say my husband did!

It was in the early days when you couldn't open the Sun without seeing her on Page 3 quite literally every day but at that time she had done very little else.

I needed the loo, which was engaged, so couldn't fail to notice the giggly Jordan in a pink baseball cap sat at the front with a girlfriend.

She looked stunning in her ripped jeans and t-shirt - instantly recognizable, even with her clothes on, and extremely pretty.

She went in the loo after me and I returned to my seat and told my husband: "You'll never guess who's on the plane!"

Well, he shot to the front of the plane where he had the pleasure of sitting on the warm toilet seat that Jordan had just vacated.

He was tickled by this experience.

Then, at Gatwick, after we had hung around waiting for our cases to appear on the conveyor belt next to her we then found ourselves standing with her in the queue to take the courtesy bus to the car park.

As I labored with attending to our three children and copious baggage I witnessed my husband chivalrously offering to help poor little Jordan - and she is very little, lift her bags - no doubt brimming with designer stilettos, g-strings and handbags, on to the bus.

She flashed a smile and my husband's day was made!

It's funny, but I don't seem to get the same reaction when I need help unloading the supermarket shopping bags from the car!

Actually, I take my hat off to what Katie Price has done.

At the age of 29 she has reportedly amassed a £30 million business empire but the glamour modelling has simply been the shop window - the eye candy that has lured the public in.

Her many projects have included children's books, two autobiographies, a novel (if ghost written), her own best-selling perfume and a range of hair care products etc, etc.

Then there has been the Osbournes-style fly-on-the-wall at home series with husband singer Peter Andre, the stint on I'm A celebrity Get Me Out of Here that saw her meet and fall in love with Andre in the jungle, and their new chat show.

The endless glossy magazine articles keep us abreast of her family life with Harvey - the severely disabled son she had with footballer Dwight York and her children with Peter, Junior, two, and Princess Tiaami, five months.

These rewards don't get handed to you on a plate: she has worked extremely hard with Peter to build the Mr and Mrs Price/Andre empire - so good luck to them.