She’s had her fair share of struggles, living in foster care as a child, experiencing drug abuse, bankruptcy and domestic violence, as well as being divorced three times – and Kerry Katona readily admits she can’t believe she’s still standing. The star’s tragedies have been laid bare in her deeply emotional memoir, Whole Again, detailing the extent of the physical abuse she faced from her late husband George Kay, who she accused of strangling her, as well as being given speed by her mum at just 14.
Kerry, 42, tells Closer, “There are many, many times I thought I wouldn’t be here, whether it was with George or all that I saw in my childhood in refuges. But there is hope and a way out, and if I can turn it all around, anybody can. I feel so blessed to be happy now, I can’t believe what I’ve been through.”
And the star, who shares Molly, 21, and Lilly-Sue, 20, with Brian McFadden, Heidi, 16, and Max, 15, with her second ex-husband Mark Croft and DJ, nine, from her marriage to George Kay, reveals her roller-coaster life is set to become a movie.
“I’ve got two screenwriters who have copies of my book and are turning into it a film,” says Kerry, who’s engaged to Ryan Mahoney. “I’ve been through everything, you name it, there’s enough material for a sequel, or a prequel. When I was recording my audio book, I said to my producer, ‘You couldn’t make this s*** up, could you?’ Even Stephen Spielberg couldn’t write this!”
And though Kerry has taken to the stage numerous times to perform in panto, she has her eyes set on a Hollywood actress to portray her. She says, “I would love for Florence Pugh to play me, she’s the right height, has blonde hair and is British. She’d be great!”
While she’s on good terms with Brian, she no longer speaks to her ex Mark, who she accused of squandering her millions during their marriage, and after George died in 2014 from a cocaine overdose, she confessed he would beat her every day. Despite her painful past with her exes, Kerry says she won’t erase their memory.
She explains, “I can totally get how some of my kids have daddy issues, because I had them too. When Brian left me that was a massive trigger because I thought, ‘My kids are going to have a broken home, I need to get married’. I was constantly trying to create a family and putting my dream onto my kids, but I was more than enough for them by myself.”
She adds, “When I ask DJ if she wants to see pictures of George or talk about him, she gets really awkward. She doesn’t know life before Ryan now. A while back Heidi called me in tears, she was heartbroken and said, ‘I really want to speak to my dad, but I don’t want to upset to you’. I said, ‘It’s nothing to do with me, baby girl. If you want to speak to your dad, I can organise it’. Despite how I feel about Mark, I don’t want her to have any regrets. Max can’t even remember what Mark looks like and he’s not interested in the slightest, but I understand Heidi wanting to be a Daddy’s girl.”
And while she’s been with Ryan for the past five years, Kerry admits she finally has the stability she’s craved. “If I’d met Ryan 15 years ago, I would have been bored stiff,” she laughs. “He’s phenomenal with the kids because he’s a bloody kid himself!
“I go to bed about 8pm and some of the kids will come in. I never have to speak because Heidi’s telling me all the gossip, Max is toy-fighting with Ryan and DJ is doing cartwheels around the room. I said to Ryan the other day, ‘How lucky are we?’ I’ve always been wondering what more is there to this life, but I’ve got it all now. It took me a long time to realise this is how it should be.”
And while she’s had three breast reductions, as well as recent corrective work to a tummy tuck from 2021, she isn’t ruling out going under the knife again. She says, “I’ve been sliced and diced like a flat pack from Ikea! My biggest mistake was my tummy tuck because it made me look like an Etch A Sketch. I’ll never say never to more because it’s about making me feel good.”
The star was recently diagnosed with lipoedema, a condition which causes an abnormal build-up of fat. But Kerry is feeling confident after losing 2st following the Frances diet. She says, “I’ve gone from 13st 3lbs to 10st 12lbs and I’m back in a size 10. I want to lose another stone. My legs do swell because of my condition, so you won’t catch me in short dresses, but I’m feeling good.”
She adds, “I’ve always been baby-faced but I’m in my forties now. If I can have Botox to get rid of my frown lines, then I’d be mad not to! I’ve had my lips done too. It’s the young ’uns who should wait till they get older, they all look the bloody same, I’m at the age where I’m entitled to it!”
Kerry Katona: Whole Again (Mirror Books, £9.99) is out now
