Kerry Katona (born 6 September 1980) is an English television personality and former singer. She was an original member of the pop girl group Atomic Kitten between 1998 and 2001, leaving before the group's success. Katona has appeared on various reality television shows, including '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here'' (2004), ''Celebrity Big Brother'' (2011), ''Dancing on Ice'' (2011), and '' Celebs on the Farm'' (2021), as well as her own documentary series about her life on MTV UK.

Early life

Katona was born on 6 September 1980 in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, Cheshire. Katona's maternal grandfather is Hungarian who fled

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

to London during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As a child she was placed in care and brought up by four sets of foster parents and attended eight different schools.Telegraph.co.uk
"Ghost stories". 3 September 2006, p. 6 She left school aged 16 and became a lap dancer, touring Europe. She posed topless for

Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature in Novembe ...

in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' at the age of 17 and posed for the men's publication '' Zoo''. She also worked as a glamour model, appearing in publications like '' New!'', '' Now'', and ''

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

''.

Career

1998–2001: Atomic Kitten

In 1998, Katona auditioned for a new girl group created by OMD frontman Andy McCluskey and was chosen, along with Liz McClarnon and Heidi Range – replaced by Natasha Hamilton in 1999. The group became Atomic Kitten and their debut single, " Right Now", was released on 29 November 1999, reaching number 10 in UK. Following this initial success, the group released three more singles that failed to reach the top 5 and a debut album that peaked at number 29. Atomic Kitten's record label, Innocent Records, was considering dropping them because of their limited success, but were persuaded to allow the group to release " Whole Again" on 29 January 2001. Katona shot the music video, but left the group two days before release because of an unexpected pregnancy and conflicts with the other girls. She was quickly replaced by former Precious singer Jenny Frost and their debut album was re-released with the new vocalist. With Frost, " Whole Again" reached number one in 18 other countries, and the group had four number one singles in UK, two number one albums and estimated sales of 10 million records.

2002–2012: Reality shows

In 2002, Katona presented the ITV's dating show '' ElimiDate'' and appeared on '' Lily Savage's Blankety Blank''. In 2004, she won the third series of the British reality TV show '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''. She also appeared as judge on the

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

talent show '' You're a Star''. In 2005 Katona starred her own reality show, ''My Fair Kerry'', on ITV. From 2007 to 2010, she starred more five reality shows on MTV UK about her life, rehab and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

: ''Kerry Katona: Crazy in Love'' (2007), ''Kerry Katona: Whole Again'' (2008), ''Kerry Katona: What's The Problem?'' (2009), ''Kerry Katona: Coming Clean'' (2010) and ''Kerry Katona: The Next Chapter'' (2010). In 2009, she also attempted to become a contestant on '' Celebrity Big Brother 7'' but she failed the required psychological tests. In 2011 she was a contestant on '' Dancing on Ice Series 6'' and '' Celebrity Big Brother 8'', reaching the second place.

2013–present: Atomic Kitten return and new reality shows

In 2013 Katona reunited with Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton to reform Atomic Kitten for the reality show '' The Big Reunion'', along with five other pop groups of their time – 911, Honeyz, B*Witched, Five and Liberty X. After the show, they officially returned and toured for four years. In 2017 Katona left the group again when she drank and hit Hamilton after a performance in Australia. In 2019, Katona appeared in the sixth series of E4 reality series '' Celebs Go Dating''. In 2021, Katona starred more reality shows, including '' Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins'', '' Fame in the Family'', ''Celeb Cooking School'' and '' Celebs on the Farm'', which she won. In 2022, she became co-host of the ''Wheel of Misfortune'' podcast alongside comedian Alison Spittle.

Personal life

From 2002 to 2004, Katona was married to singer Brian McFadden and they had two daughters. In 2005, she started dating taxi driver Mark Croft, whom she married on 14 February 2007 and had two children. In her autobiography, ''Still Standing'', Katona said she met Croft when she was supplying cocaine to her mother. They divorced in 2011. On 14 September 2014, Katona married former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player George Kay and had her fifth child. On 7 October 2015, Katona announced their separation after he allegedly assaulted her at their home in

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

and was subsequently arrested by police. Kay died on 5 July 2019 after an overdose. Despite not living in the USA, Katona endorsed

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the 2024 US Presidential Election.

Health and drugs abuse

Since 2004, Katona has been in rehab many times for cocaine and alcohol abuse, according to her autobiography, ''Still Standing''. In 2009, Iceland Foods and

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

supermarkets broke a long-standing €290,000 advertising campaigns deal with Katona after photographs appeared in the tabloids, allegedly showing her taking cocaine in a bathroom. Like her mother Sue, Katona was diagnosed with

in 2005. On 19 July 2007, Katona was admitted to the Priory Hospital with a mental health crisis. Katona also has

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

and

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...

(ADHD). Katona is a patron of The Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a

-based charity which helps children with life-threatening conditions.

Legal issues

On 15 July 2007, Katona, Croft, and their infant daughter Heidi were held hostage, when three men forcibly entered their home in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

, one of them holding Katona at knife-point while the others forced Croft to show them where valuables were kept. Nobody was physically harmed, but the men left with a blue BMW and other valuables with an estimated total value between £100,000 and £150,000. On 21 August 2008, Katona was declared bankrupt at the High Court in London after failing to pay the final £82,000 of a £417,000 tax bill. On 2 July 2013, Katona filed for bankruptcy again at County Court in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. On 8 May 2019, Brighton

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...

ordered Katona to pay a £500 fine after the school attendance rate of one of her children had fallen below 50% in 2018, but her solicitor argued that Katona did not have childcare and had to take the child to work with her.

Filmography

Television

Bibliography

* * * * * *

References

External links

Kerry Katona This Morning Interview
*
Kerry Katona's biography at Random House

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katona, Kerry 1980 births Living people Atomic Kitten members English autobiographers English child singers English women pop singers English people of Hungarian descent English television personalities English television presenters English women novelists I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) winners People with bipolar disorder People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Musicians from Warrington English women columnists 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Musicians with dyslexia OnlyFans creators English people with disabilities