Kerry Katona facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kerry Katona
Katona in 2005
Born	(1980-09-06) 6 September 1980 (age 43) Warrington, Cheshire, England
Occupation	Television personality, singer
Years active	1998–present
Spouse(s)	Brian McFadden ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2004)​ Mark Croft ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2011)​ George Kay ​ ​ (m. 2014; div. 2017)​
Children	5
Musical career
Instruments	Vocals

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. 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.

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. 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" 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 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 to 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 with: Heidi Elizabeth (2007) and Maxwell Mark (2008). In her autobiography, Still Standing, Katona said she met Croft. 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.

Filmography

Television

See also

In Spanish: Kerry Katona para niños