Kerry Katona
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Croft (née 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.
Biography
Kerry Katona was brought up by her mother and her first memory was her mother's attempted suicide. [1] When she was very young she was placed in care and raised by four sets of foster parents [2]. Kerry went to eight different schools. [2]
Kerry Katona gained fame for being a member of the girl group Atomic Kitten, however she left in 2001 when she became pregnant having enjoyed limited success with the band in the UK [3], although 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. [4], although her spoken voice 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.[5]
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! Brian and Kerry appeared together on The Keith Barret Show in July 2004. 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. Kerry said for BBC Radio 4 that she has been clean ever since. [6]
After Brian McFadden
She recently starred in an Irish drama called Showbands. In July 2005, she starred in My Fair Kerry on ITV1, where she had to be taught airs and graces to transform herself from ladette to lady. In spite of 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. Kerry is now married to taxi driver Mark Croft. She was almost 8 months pregnant when they tied the knot.
In June 2006, Katona and McFadden were discussing custody over their children because of Katona's admitted drug abuse. Emily Herbert wrote a biography of her in September 2005 called Kerry: Story of a Survivor. Although her celebrity status has declined, she has a regular column in OK! Magazine and has also landed a job as the face of the bargain basement food store, Iceland and has done some work for Asda.
Katona released her autobiography on October 5 2006 titled Too Much, Too Young with ghostwriter Fanny Blake [2] and Kerry's mother who consented to have her story told as well. [6]
... 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 ...[6]
Katona and Mark Croft were married at Gretna Green in Scotland on Wednesday, February 14 2007 in a private and small ceremony with 2 friends as witnesses.[7] She gave birth to a baby girl named Heidi Elizabeth on February 20 2007, six days after her wedding to Mark Croft. 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. [8]
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. 0091913896.
References
- ^ RandomHouse.co.uk Kerry Katona: Too Much, Too Young page. (Retrieved: October 5, 2006)
- ^ a b c Telegraph.co.uk "Ghost stories". 3 September 2006. Page 6. (Retrieved: October 5, 2006)
- ^ BBC News: McFadden and Katona tie knot (Retrieved: July 30, 2006)
- ^ South African Television Authority Kerry Katona page (Retrieved: July 30, 2006)
- ^ "Atomic Kitten Star Topless". The Sunday Sport. 2001-02-25.
- ^ a b c BBC Radio 4, Woman's hour, Thursday 12 October 2006, audio link(Retrieved: October 15, 2006)
- ^ Guy Patrick (2007-02-15). "Gretna wedding for ex-Kitten". The Sun Online. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ "Kerry Katona has baby girl early". BBC Online. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-03-14.