I was so broke I couldn’t afford my kids’ schools uniforms & going bankrupt weeded out ‘rat’ friends, says Kerry Katona

KERRY KATONA might have cash to splash these days, but the mum of five was once so broke she feared she would not be able to afford her kids’ school uniforms . . .or even feed them.

The twice-bankrupt former Atomic Kitten singer said: “It used to come to September and I’d think, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to buy five lots of uniforms, five lots of PE kits, five lots of shoes and PE shoes and school bags’.

“I’d think, ‘How am I literally going to do it?’"

The TV favourite told the Dear Deidre podcast that, like millions of Brits, she has felt the pinch due to the cost-of-living crisis that’s ­pushing so many families to the brink.

Only two years ago, Kerry says she was ­terrified she would be unable to pay the bills.

During the first lockdown in 2020 she had to sell her vintage jukebox to make ends meet.

She said: “I couldn’t afford to pay my rent. I thought, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to feed the kids?’”

The 41-year-old was first declared bankrupt in 2008, after failing to pay the final £86,000 of a £417,000 tax bill. She filed for bankruptcy a ­second time in 2013.

While at the time it pushed her to breaking point, she now feels it was “the best thing that could have happened” as it helped to weed out all the hangers-on in her life.

She said: “There’s a stigma that comes with debt. Just like little rats, they all just disappeared.”

Broke and friendless at the height of her cash woes, Kerry said she once felt so desperate she even considered suicide.

She said: “There’s been times when I’ve been ­wanting to drive my car off a bridge because I think, ‘How am I going to clothe these five kids?’ I understand the anxiety over money.”

But in just two years, Kerry — who is mum to Molly, 20, Lilly-Sue, 19, Heidi, 15, Max, 14, and eight-year-old Dylan-Jorge — has managed to turn her ­fortunes around ­spectacularly.

As well as making some savvy ­investments, she has previously revealed that her OnlyFans account selling racy online content has helped her rake in her first million since she lost her fortune.

Last year she wept with joy as she moved into a £2million Cheshire mansion with her fiancé, 34-year-old ­personal trainer Ryan Mahoney.

Despite her past drug addiction and three failed marriages, Kerry has managed to keep her head above water when many others would have crumbled.

She divorced Westlife singer Brian McFadden in 2006 and cabbie Mark Croft in 2011 — and dealt with the tragic death of her third ex-hubby George Kay in 2019 following their divorce two years earlier.

She said: “I’ve never met anybody like me before, who’s able to keep bouncing back and bouncing back and keep fighting.

Grit and determination

“I like to think, if I can do it, anybody can do it. It’s not always that easy, but there is always an end to a tunnel.

“I’ve got my own clothing line, I’ve got a fitness app, a dating website. I’m an investor in Thrillz, the celebrity video messaging platform.”

The Steph’s Packed Lunch regular has also just announced the release of her third autobiography, Whole Again: My Story.

Due out this autumn, the tell-all book reportedly earned her a six-figure pay cheque.

Her recent financial upturn is proof, if it were needed, that pure grit and determination have always been the key to Kerry’s success.

After a troubled childhood growing up in a Warrington council flat with mum Sue, 62, Kerry says that giving up on life just isn’t an option — no matter how hard things get.

She said: “I never understood suicide. My mum was always trying to kill herself.

“Mum was a self-harmer, she was slitting her wrists, she was always overdosing. I thought that was a selfish thing to do — ‘What about me?’

“The worst thing you can do is give up on yourself, because you’re giving up on your child. So don’t ever do that.”

Kerry was in conversation with The Sun’s resident agony aunt Sally Land on the new Dear Deidre podcast and offered advice to anyone who hits rock bottom, like she has in the past.

A different person now

“If you’re having suicidal thoughts, one thing I will also say is please go to see a doctor and don’t ever feel embarrassed or ashamed,” she said. “It’s OK not to be OK, you know.”

Touching on the shock death of her ex, former rugby player George, Kerry said: “There’s always that bit of, ‘Could I have helped him any more?’

“I couldn’t, and it wasn’t my responsibility. I had to put me and my children first – there’s only so much you can do."

Kerry, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2005, also told how she managed to conquer her drug demons, saying that moving away from friends connected to her habit was the key to getting clean.

She said: “It was the best thing I ever did. I moved down south 13 years ago and never looked back. It’s getting that change of circle.

“When you’re dealing with addiction, it’s changing your circle and getting rid of all of those people out of your phone book, to that extreme.”

Despite now living back in the north, Kerry is confident she won’t relapse, saying she’s “a different person now”.

She cites cocaine as her worst-ever purchase, ahead of Prada heels.

She said: “It nearly killed me.”

And after finally kicking the smoking habit she started aged just 14, Kerry is now desperate for mum Sue, who had a heart attack in April, to quit fags and booze.

She said: “My mum’s a drinker and a smoker – constantly. I think it is quite a selfish thing to do. If you can’t afford something, you shouldn’t do it.”

Although Kerry’s own children live a life of pampered luxury compared to the poverty she experienced in childhood, she believes love, not money, is what counts when raising kids well.

Kerry, who was placed in foster care as a teen after Sue was unable to cope, said: “All they want from you is love, and that costs nothing.

Feeding the ducks costs nothing, going for walks, playing games . . . all a child ever wants from their parent is understanding, emotional support and love.”

While she admits she can spoil her kids sometimes, Kerry insists they’re all “very, very humble”.

But that has not always been the case.

She said: “I do remember my eldest two girls were at private school and we had a couple of cars on the drive and I saw their attitudes change. I’m not like that, me.

“I’m salt of the earth. I took them to a refuge and told them, ‘Not everyone is as fortunate as you are’.

“I think it’s really important to teach children not to rely on anyone else for money.

“Money isn’t happiness. It gives you more options, but it isn’t the be all and end all of everything, it really, really isn’t.”

And Kerry says the worst thing you can do is compare your own situation with someone who is better off.

She said: “Who gives a s**t what’s going on with the Joneses next door?

“It’s no reflection on my life whatsoever, so who cares?

“What goes on in these four walls with my kids, that’s all that matters.”

• Listen to Kerry on our Dear Deidre podcast today. New episodes uploaded every Thursday. Available from your usual podcast provider.