| Kerry Katona |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona |
| Born |
September 6, 1980 (1980-09-06) (age 26) |
| Origin |
 Warrington,
Cheshire,
England |
| Genre(s) |
Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
Television
presenter, columnist
entertainer |
| Years active |
1999 - present |
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona (born September
6, 1980 in Warrington,
Cheshire,
England)
is an English
television presenter, magazine columnist and former pop singer
with girl band Atomic Kitten.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 After
Atomic Kitten
- 1.2 After
Brian McFadden
- 2 Taken
hostage
- 3 Books
- 4 Discography
- 5 Bibliography
- 6 References
- 7 External
links
|
Biography
Kerry Katona was brought up by her mother and her first memory
was of her mother's attempted suicide.
When she was very young she was placed in care and raised by four sets
of foster parents.
During that time, she went to eight different schools.
She left school at age 16 to become an exotic dancer then
joined a dance troupe that toured Europe.
She gained fame for being a member of the girl group Atomic
Kitten. However she left in 2001 when she became pregnant.
The band enjoyed limited success in the UK, but the group had a major
hit in South East Asia with Cradle while she was a
member. She later admitted to never singing on any of the group's songs,
although her spoken voice was featured on the group's biggest hit "Whole
Again" which reached #1 shortly after she left the girl group. In 2001,
a nude photograph
of her appeared in the UK tabloid newspaper The Sunday
Sport.
Kerry Katona in the Cradle video
In August 2007, Kerry refused to take a drug test to
prove herself that she can take care of her two kids.
After Atomic Kitten
On January
5, 2002 she
married Westlife
star Brian McFadden at the Church of the
Immaculate Conception in Rathfeigh, County
Meath, becoming Kerry McFadden. The couple had
their honeymoon
in Mauritius
and have two daughters: Molly Marie McFadden (born August 31, 2001, Dublin, Ireland), and
Lilly-Sue McFadden (born February 3, 2003, Dublin, Ireland).
After marrying McFadden, she moved into television, appearing
on and presenting a mix of light entertainment programmes such as Britain's
Sexiest..., Loose Women and Elimidate.
In February
2004 Katona won the third British series of reality TV
show I'm A
Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! and in July of that year,
Brian and Kerry appeared together on The
Keith Barret Show. She also appeared as a judge
on the RTÉ
talent show You're A Star,
which was used to select Ireland's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.
McFadden and Katona separated in September
2004 and Kerry reverted to her maiden name. McFadden wrote a song on
his solo album Irish Son called Be
True To Your Woman about the failed relationship. The divorce
resulted in a period of depression and drug abuse for
Katona for which she went into rehab.
In June 2006, Katona and McFadden were discussing custody
over their children because of Katona's admitted drug abuse.
Kerry told BBC Radio 4 that
she has been clean ever since.
After Brian McFadden
Katona has since starred in an Irish
drama called Showbands. In July
2005, she headlined My Fair Kerry on ITV1, where she was
taught airs and graces to transform herself from ladette to lady. Despite the
title of this programme, the conclusion she publicly drew from the
programme was that "airs and graces don't mean nothing when you've got
kids to look after."
In 2005
Dave Cunningham,
a former teenage sweetheart, moved in with her for seven
months, but Katona is now married to taxi driver Mark Croft. She was almost 8 months
pregnant when they tied the knot.
Katona and Croft were married at Gretna
Green in Scotland
on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 in a private ceremony with 2 friends as
witnesses.
She gave birth to a baby girl named Heidi Elizabeth on February
20, 2007,
six days after her wedding. She was born at Warrington General
Hospital weighing 5lbs. The baby was six weeks' premature and delivered
by Caesarean section after Katona
went into labour early.
Although her celebrity status has declined, Katona has a
regular column in OK! Magazine and has had
the job of the face of Iceland and has also done some
work for Asda.
Taken hostage
On July
15, 2007
Katona was allegedly taken hostage with her husband and daughter at
their home in Wilmslow.
Three burglars held them captive and allegedly even threatened to kill
them, taking the family's mobile phones to make sure they could not
contact anyone. Katona was allegedly held at knifepoint downstairs
whilst other burglars forced her husband to show them where the
valuables were kept.
None of them was physically harmed but the burglars eventually left
with a Blue BMW and other valuables, the total loss being in the region
of £100-150,000.
The family are currently staying with relatives and are unsure whether
to return to the house, which they moved into about two months
previously. On Tuesday night, 19th July, Police found the car, which
was not damaged, 10 miles away on Reeves Road in Chorlton, Manchester.
It was taken to a secure garage to be forensically examined.
On July 19th Katona was admitted to The Priory
hospital
suffering from bi-polar disorder. Her spokesman, Max
Clifford, stated she had suffered from the disorder for some time but
her recent symptoms were brought on by the armed robbery.
Katona was quoted in the Daily Star as saying: “I am
surrounded here by people I know, love and trust from when I came here
before, when I felt low and exhausted.The beauty is that I am not
starting from scratch . . . I know the way this place works, so many
faces are familiar and I trust each and every one of them 100%. I have
to say I have been moved by all the amazing messages of support I’ve
received since Sunday night. I would like to tell everyone that I’m on
the road to recovery, I love Mark and my children and can’t wait to get
home really soon.The key word is trust here – and I know I am in the
best possible place at the moment.”
Katona's 36-year-old husband Mark Croft, an ex-cab driver,
added: “I have spoken to Kerry just now, and she is doing brilliantly.
I’m so proud of her. Without any doubt she and her advisors made the
right decision that she should get the expert and professional help to
recover from this terrible business.
On August
6, 2007 it
was reported that Croft, her husband, had committed adultery, he has
left the marital home at Katona's insistence
. Croft denies the accusations. Katona is reported to be insisting that
he take a polygraph test to prove his innocence before she will accept
his return.
Meanwhile, Katona is engaged in an ongoing legal action by
former husband Brian MacFadden. He is attempting to gain custody over
the children he fathered whilst married to Katona. The grounds include
Katona's drug use (and alleged addiction) and her mental state (she was
recently treated for bi-polar disorder, a condition which can be caused
and/or exacerbated by the use of certain recreational drugs).
Books
Kerry Katona's autobiography Too Much Too Young
Emily Herbert wrote a biography about Katona in September 2005
called Kerry: Story of a Survivor.
Katona released her own autobiography on October 5, 2006 titled Too
Much, Too Young with ghostwriter Fanny Blake
and Kerry's mother who consented to have her story told as well.
| “ |
...
I put my mum's life story in the book as well ... so people could
understand my mum ... my mum was involved in the book heavily ... I
asked my mum if I could do the book first ... |
” |
In October
2007, Katona
is due to release her first novel. Tough Love
follows the story of the Crompton family and will be published by Ebury
Press. She will also be releasing a further two novels about the
Cromptons in Spring 2008.
Discography
| Date |
Title |
UK Chart |
| Albums |
| March
16, 2000 |
Right Now |
39 |
| Singles |
| 1999 |
"Right Now" |
10 |
| 2000 |
"See Ya" |
6 |
| 2000 |
"Cradle" |
|
| 2000 |
"I Want Your Love" |
10 |
| 2000 |
"Follow Me" |
20 |
| 2001 |
"Whole Again" |
1 (4 weeks) |
Bibliography
- Katona,
Kerry (5 October 2006).
Too Much, Too Young: My Story of
Love, Survival and Celebrity. Ebury
Press. ISBN
9780091913908.
- Katona,
Kerry (1 March 2007).
Survive
the Worst and Aim for the Best. Ebury
Press. ISBN
9780091917548.
- Katona,
Kerry (October
2007). Tough Love.
Ebury
Press. ISBN
9780091923198.
References
External links
