Kerry Katona

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 (1998–2001), before the group's success.

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" 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.

In 2002, Katona presented the ITV's dating show ElimiDate and appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.

From 2002 to 2004 Katona was married to singer Brian McFadden and they had two children, Molly Marie (2001) and Lilly-Sue (2003).

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), Celebs on the Farm (2021), and her own shows about her life on MTV UK.

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.

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.

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

In 2005 Katona starred her own reality show, My Fair Kerry, on ITV.

Like her mother Sue, Katona was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2005.

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 2005 she started dating taxi driver Mark Croft, whom she married on 14 February 2007 and had two children with: 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.

In 2009, she also attempted to become a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother 7 but she failed the required psychological tests.

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.

In 2011 she was a contestant on Dancing on Ice Series 6 and Celebrity Big Brother 8, reaching the second place.

They divorced in 2011.

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.

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.

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.

Kay died on 5 July 2019 after an overdose.