Detailed Biography

Kerry Jane Elizabeth Katona is an English media personality. She is most known for her television work and for being a magazine columnist. She has also acted, released several books , and was also once a member of the pop girl group Atomic Kitten.

Early life

Katona was brought up partly by her mother Sue Katona and partly by her stepfather, foster grandmother and others. Her first known memory was of her mother's attempted suicide. When she was very young she was placed in care and brought up by four sets of foster parents. During that time, she went to eight different schools. She is one-quarter Hungarian. Katona left school with no qualifications at age 16 to become a lap dancer, then joined a dance troupe that toured Europe. In 2001, nude 'open leg' photographs of her appeared in censored form in the UK tabloid newspaper The Sunday Sport.

Career

Atomic Kitten

Katona gained fame for being a member of the girl group Atomic Kitten. However she left in 2001 when she became pregnant. The group enjoyed limited success in the UK while she was a member, but had a major hit in South East Asia with Cradle. The group subsequently went on to have two number 1 albums in the UK with a new line-up.

Television

After marrying Brian 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 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.

Katona has since starred in an Irish drama called Showbands . In July 2005, she headlined My Fair Kerry on ITV, 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."

Since 2007, Katona had been the subject of a number of MTV reality shows including Kerry Katona: Crazy in Love. Her latest MTV reality show, Kerry Katona: What's The Problem, began airing in May 2009.

Endorsements

Although her celebrity status has declined, Katona had a regular column in OK! Magazine until she was axed in 2008, has had the job of being the spokeswoman for Iceland frozen food stores in newspaper and television advertisements and has also been paid to promote Asda. She was represented by publicist Max Clifford, but their mutual parting was announced in October 2008 following Katona's appearance on This Morning. On 17 August 2009 supermarket Iceland sacked Katona from its advertising campaigns, saying it was "impossible" for her to continue in the role. The move follows allegations in the News Of The World that Katona was taking Class A drugs.

Charity

She is a patron of The Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a charity based in Warrington, helping children with life-threatening conditions, and their families.

Personal life

Brian McFadden

On 5 January, 2002 she married former Westlife star Brian McFadden at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rathfeigh, County Meath, Ireland becoming Kerry McFadden. The couple had their honeymoon in Mauritius. Their two daughters are: Molly Marie McFadden ; and Lilly-Sue McFadden, .

McFadden and Katona separated in September 2004 and Katona almost instantly reverted to her maiden name, prior to any divorce proceedings. McFadden wrote a song on his solo album Irish Son called Be True To Your Woman about the failed relationship.

Mark Croft

Katona is now married to taxi driver Mark Croft. Katona and Croft were married at Gretna Green in Scotland on Wednesday, 14 February, 2007 in a private ceremony with 2 friends as witnesses. Unlike her previous marriage, she has retained her maiden surname. Six days later, on 20 February 2007, Katona's baby was delivered by Caesarean section. The girl, Heidi Elizabeth Croft, was born at Macclesfield General Hospital and was premature by six weeks, weighing 5 lb .

On 15 July 2007, Katona and Croft claim they were held hostage at their £1.5 million home in Wilmslow, Cheshire along with their daughter Heidi. According to Katona's publicist Max Clifford, three home invaders held them captive and threatened to kill them. They took the family's mobile phones to make sure they could not contact anyone. Katona was held at knifepoint downstairs whilst the other men forced her husband to show them where the valuables were kept. None of the family were physically harmed but the burglars allegedly left with a blue BMW and other valuables, the total loss claimed to be in the region of £100,000 - £150,000. The family moved in with relatives but soon returned to the house, which they had moved into about two months before the attack. On 19 July 2007, police found the car, which was not damaged, 10 miles away on Reeves Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Katona and Croft have since bought an Alsatian to guard their house.

On 19 July 2007, 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.

She announced in late September 2007 that she was expecting her fourth child, her second with husband Mark Croft. It was feared that she suffered a miscarriage but further examination found the foetus was still alive and due in May 2008. On 30 December 2007 she announced that her fourth child would be a boy named Maxwell Mark after Max Clifford and her husband Mark although she said this was not the case when appearing live on This Morning on 22 October 2008. Five weeks before the due date, and after two days of labour, she gave birth to a 5 lb 4 oz baby on 11 April 2008, at 5.42 pm.

On 13 March 2009, Katona's financial advisor, Frank Cochran, read a statement stating that Katona and Croft are to divorce. However, on 16 March 2009, it was reported that Katona and Croft had reconciled.

Bankruptcy

On 21 August 2008, Katona was declared bankrupt at the High Court in London after failing to pay her tax bill.

On 25 August 2008, Katona checked into a private clinic in north-west London to have several cosmetic surgery procedures performed. These included liposuction, laser treatment on her stretch marks, and an operation to reduce her 34GG breasts to a size 34DD. Reported to cost £15,000, the procedures were filmed and footage was featured on her MTV reality show Whole Again.

Controversy and criticism

Katona has been criticised for smoking during her pregnancies. She was spotted having a cigarette while pregnant with daughter Heidi in 2006, which led to her spokesman admitting that she was still smoking four cigarettes a day and "desperately trying to stop altogether." However, she also admitted on more than one occasion that she was still smoking during her fourth pregnancy in 2007. She also said that she had consumed alcohol during this pregnancy. Her comments resulted in The Foundation for the Study of Infant Death warning Katona that her baby is up to 15 times more likely to die from a cot death as a result of her smoking. The British Heart Foundation also provided public warnings which condemned Katona's decision. Katona continued to defend her behaviour after these statements were made.

In the later months of 2007, it appeared that Katona's popularity with the public had declined. She was voted the first worst celebrity mother in a poll in September was forced to deny being on drugs following an unusual appearance on GMTV in October, and in November, she was voted the most irritating individual in Britain. In December, her Iceland advertisement was voted the second worst celebrity ad. Later in the month, she said that she felt "victimised" by the public and insisted that she did not deserve to be called a bad mother.

Appearing on the 12 February 2008 edition of Channel 4's Richard and Judy show, Katona admitted that she had taken cocaine, but claimed that she had not taken any drugs for the past three years. She also claimed that the press were constantly making up stories about her and the reports of her losing her position as spokesperson for the Iceland chainstores were untrue and that she was in the process of renewing her contract with them.

Appearing on the 22 October 2008 live episode of ITV's This Morning show, Katona's speech appeared to be slurred, prompting viewers to phone in during the interview to ask if she was okay. Katona blamed her slurred speech on having taken prescription drugs later than usual the previous night, and according to the presenters was angry at having been asked about it on air. In the same interview, whilst asked by Fern Britton on air whether her drug addiction had been replaced by an alcohol addiction, Katona dismissed the claims. She later spoke to the British tabloids, criticising her interviewers for implying she was drunk during the interview.

On 17 August 2009 Iceland Frozen Foods ltd. announced that Katona would be sacked from their ad campaigns with immediate effect. This decision followed an investigation by the The News of The World which uncovered video evidence of her snorting cocaine in her Cheshire house.

On 27 August 2009, it was reported that Katona was under investigation by Cheshire Police after allegations she had assaulted her accountant, and also for criminal damage and a public order offence. After being arrested and questioned, she was released on police bail until 12 October pending further enquiries.

Biography

Emily Herbert wrote a biography about Katona in September 2005 called Kerry: Story of a Survivor.
Katona released her own autobiography on 5 October 2006 titled Too Much, Too Young with ghostwriter Fanny Blake and Katona's mother who consented to have her story told as well.
In October 2007, Katona released her first novel.Tough Love follows the story of the Crompton family and was published by Ebury Press.
Katona, Kerry . Too Much, Too Young: My Story of Love, Survival and Celebrity. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091913908. 
Katona, Kerry . Survive the Worst and Aim for the Best. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091917548. 
Katona, Kerry . Tough Love. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091923198. 
Katona, Kerry . The Footballer's Wife. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091923242.