Kerry Katona: ‘I’m not a bully – I love Charlotte Crosby’

As a fresh-faced 18 year old un-corrupted by booze (maybe), Charlotte vowed she "would never kiss anyone without a six pack" when she first appeared on Geordie Shore, and following her love life – and stellar career – over the best part of a decade, she's certainly a woman of her word (although we had our doubts about Mitch). It's fair to say she's had her fare share of heartbreak, and wasted a few too many years pining after Gaz and his parsnip. But it was good while it lasted (sometimes), so we're looking back over Char's past lovers for a trip down a distinctly blurry memory lane...

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? When Charlotte first arrived in the Geordie Shore house it was James and his cringe-worthy peacocking that first got her attention, but it wasn't long before a connection crackled between her and alpha boy Gaz Beadle, and his reportedly massive wang.

They on-d and off-d for 12 series, with Charlotte heartbroken every time Gaz brought a girl back (which he did often) and refused to commit. But lo! after five years of the same routine, they did eventually make things official. Woohoo!

Unsurprisingly, the break up was bitter – very bitter. An unexpected pregnancy left Charlotte in agony when it was diagnosed as ectopic, but Gaz couldn't be by her side because... he was in Thailand, filming Ex on the Beach and shagging Jemma Lucy. After that horrible turn of events, Charlotte quit Geordie Shore for good, saying she was "willing to sacrifice" that part of career to be away from Gaz – and we can't say we blame her, tbh.

Char started dating Mitch in 2013 (during an 'off' with Gaz, obv) and although he never appeared on the show, he was a big presence in her life during filming.The pair split up in December 2014, after Mitch dumped poor Char by text, but were back on by the January, with the two of them jetting of to New York to mark their reunion properly.

Charlotte and Scotty T go way back – specifically, to when Scotty T joined the cast of Geordie Shore in series three. While filming a Greek Odyssey (in Greece, natch) the two of them once tashed on in the back of a taxi, leaving Charlotte, who was still with Mitch, wracked with guilt.

Since the early days, the two have been the best of friends. Scotty even stepped in to co-host MTV's Just Tattoo of Us after Charlotte's messy split from Stephen Bear left producers a man down.

After her split from Mitch, Charlotte was, quite frankly, the ultimate choice for the opening series of Celebs go Dating, the addictive dating show that pairs slebs with real people. After a promising first date with one-time Mister Manchester (oooh) Jeavon Stretton, things took a turn for the worse for former Cock Capturer Charlotte.

Jeavon was apparently appalled after asking Charlotte how many people she'd slept with (er, why Jeavon?) and receiving an answer he deemed to be "too high". Despite claiming his 'number' was in the hundreds, Char decided not to put up with the double standard and swiftly moved on.

Char's certainly made the rounds in reality TV, so it's no wonder that a fair few of the names in her little black book come from the circuit. Another Celebs go Dating conquest, Brad Skelly, sensationally claimed that he'd got sacked from his job as a fish monger for appearing on the show.

The allegations turned out to be false, but judging by Brad's Instagram, we reckon he probably wasn't cut out for a career in fish, anyway. Dayum.

Charlotte emerged victorious from the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2013, and so shacking up with someone from the BB pool was basically in the contract. Enter Ash Harrison, who was fresh out of a reality romance (and financial scandal) with fellow 2014 housemate Helen Woods.

Charlotte was photographed on a string of dates with Ash after her split from Gaz, and things looked to be going well. But they split after five months under unknown circumstances, with Ash posting the cryptic message, "If someone purposely, constantly disrespects you, they aren't a good person. Simple."

This drunk snog with Geordie Shore baby of the group Marty McKenna - during the turbulent heights of her relationship with Gaz – was, how should we put it, pretty excruciating to watch. Gary wrote in his column for Daily Star online, "She necked on with Marty McKenna. We were getting close to the girlfriend/boyfriend stage and, with our history and everything we have been through, this scared Charlotte. So she went out and got smashed and messed things up."But Marty was reluctant to take any responsibility, saying, "'I don't even think they were together when I kissed her but they sorted it out after. The kiss was just a drunken thing. We were so drunk… we weren't even flirting. It was just like friendship thing and out of the blue and so radge."

Charlotte ad Max Morely actually looked like they could maybe possibly go the distance. Both from a reality TV background, the same circle of friends and both fan favourites from their respective shows (Max was an OG Love Islander), they looked like they were made for each other. But the couple had a messy split after Charlotte got back involved with – you guessed it – Gaz Beadle, with Max saying, "I saw it coming, Gary clicks his fingers and Charlotte comes running back."Gary just uses Charlotte like a piece of string, and she's a mug for going along with it."

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of reality TV fame, must be in want of Stephen Bear (or something). After getting his claws into fellow Geordie Shore-er Vicky Pattison - who called him "the most vile, horrendous, snakey, conniving and manipulative person [she'd] ever met," FYI – Charlotte embarked on what was sure to be a healthy, mutually respectful, long lived relationship of her own with Bear after they met on Ex on the Beach.

The couples split was not pretty and was documented in excruciating detail for all to see across their social media channels. Bear went on to date Gaz Beadle's ex Lillie Lexie, proving once again that those reality stars are an incestuous lot.

This guy – known only as the mysterious Cal – was another that Charlotte probably wishes hadn't happened. During filming for 2018's Charlotte Show in Australia, Charlotte's friend arranged for Cal (a former fling of Char's) to come and meet them for a few drinks.Needless to say, booze and pheromones combined for predictable consequences – but the real problem was that Charlotte had left new beau Joshua Ritchie back in Blighty.

Charlotte got together with another Ex on the Beach-er, Joshua Ritchie in 2017 and they were together until late 2019, splitting acrimoniously in November that year.

Following her split with Josh, Charlotte flew to South Africa for the Australian version of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! where she met comedian and reality star Ryan Gallagher. They sparked romance with a midnight kiss but it wasn't meant to be and they called it a day when they returned to the outside world.

Char's most recent ex was with hunky videographer Liam Beaumont after they were introduced by friends in Dubai in early 2021. However, things didn't work out between them as Charlotte announced in August the same year that the couple's relationship was over.

Addressing the split, Charlotte insisted the two parted ways on good terms, writing on Instagram, "Me and Liam shared some amazing memories together and the split was amicable. In the end, we just realised we were two very different people."

In January 2022, Charlotte went public with her new man Jake Ankers, declaring that she had had the best 'January ever'.