Kerry Katona

Kerry Katona
Katona in 2005
Born	Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona (1980-09-06) 6 September 1980 Warrington, Cheshire, England
Occupation	Television personality
Years active	1998–present
Spouses	Brian McFadden ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2004)​ Mark Croft ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2011)​ George Kay ​ ​ (m. 2014; div. 2017)​
Children	5
Musical career
Formerly of	Atomic Kitten
Website	kerrykatona.biz

Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona (born 6 September 1980) is a British television personality and former singer. She was an original member of Atomic Kitten (1998–2001), before the group's success. Katona is best known as a media personality after appearing in 14 reality shows, including the competitions I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity Big Brother, Celebs on the Farm and five-pieces about her life on MTV UK.

Early life

Katona was born in Warrington, Cheshire. Katona's maternal grandfather is Hungarian who fled Budapest to London during the Second World War. As a child she was placed in care and brought up by four sets of foster parents and attended eight different schools. She left school at sixteen and become a lap dancer, touring Europe. She also posed in topless for Page 3 at the age of 17 and posed for the men's publication Zoo. She also worked as glamour model, appearing in publications likes New!,Now Magazine. and Star.

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 top5 and a debut album that just peaked at 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" in 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 presentes 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 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: 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 singer Brian McFadden and they had two children, Molly Marie (2001) and Lilly-Sue (2003). In 2005 she started dating taxi driver Mark Croft, whom she married on 14 February 2007 and had two children: Heidi Elizabeth (2007) and Maxwell Mark (2008). 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 player George Kay and had her fifth child, Dylan-Jorge (2014). On 7 October 2015, Katona announced their separation after he allegedly assaulted her at their home in Crowborough and was subsequently arrested by police. Kay died on 5 July 2019 after an overdose.

Health and drugs abuse

Since 2004, Katona is in and out of rehab many times for cocaine and alcohol abuse, as she says in her autobiography, Still Standing. In 2009, Iceland Foods and Asda 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 bipolar disorder in 2005. On 19 July 2007 Katona was admitted to the Priory Hospital with a mental health crisis. Katona also has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Katona is a patron of The Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a Warrington-based charity which helps children with life-threatening conditions.

Legal issues

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

On 8 May 2019, Brighton Magistrates' Court 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

Books

• Katona, Kerry (5 October 2006). Too Much, Too Young: My Story of Love, Survival and Celebrity. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-191390-8.
• Katona, Kerry (1 March 2007). Survive the Worst and Aim for the Best. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-191754-8.
• Katona, Kerry (18 October 2007). Tough Love. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192319-8.
• Katona, Kerry (3 April 2008). The Footballer's Wife. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192324-2.
• Katona, Kerry (22 November 2012). Still Standing: The Autobiography. Orion. ISBN 978-1-40-912746-8.
• Katona, Kerry (13 October 2022). Kerry Katona: Whole Again - Love, Life and Me. Mirror Books. ISBN 978-1-91-530604-3.

External links

• Kerry Katona This Morning Interview
• Kerry Katona at IMDb
• Kerry Katona's biography at Random House Archived 28 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• Kerry Katona's biography at Biogs