Kerry Katona says workout regime and sex ban has her feeling like Sharon Stone — and she’s a ‘changed woman’
WITH her trim tum and lithe legs Kerry Katona sizzles as she cheekily poses in sexy lingerie at our London studio.
“I feel like Sharon Stone,” she says with a laugh, running her hands through her blonde, slicked-back hair.
The 37-year-old standing before me is a far cry from the troubled star pictured looking jaded and bloated in unflattering bikinis on holiday in recent years.
But after kicking her greasy takeaway habit and unhealthy relationship, and taking up yoga and exercise, the 5ft 2in singer has shed three stone within a year.
She is now 8st 7lb and a size six to eight.
She gets up at 5.30am daily for 20 minutes’ yoga and is on a strict “man ban” after splitting from third husband George Kay.
“I’ve not had sex for a year,” she confesses. “I’d love to get my leg over but I don’t want a relationship.
“I get chatted up a lot by men in theirs 20s. It does wonders for my ego and I wouldn’t rule out a toyboy, but I don’t want anything serious right now.
“But I do miss having sex and a cuddle, who doesn’t?”
Mum-of-five Kerry adds: “Being a single mum is tough and it can be lonely.
"I still have those days where I just want to lock myself away in the bathroom and cry. But my kids are my world, they keep me going.
“I’m in a really good headspace at the moment and I want to continue down this path.”
Kerry catapulted to fame aged just 19 as part of girlband Atomic Kitten — though arguably, her private life has been just as infamous as her music career.
She says: “I’ve been there. I’ve had three divorces, been bankrupt and battled a cocaine addiction as well as Bipolar.
"But whereas most people get to grieve in private, mine was played out in front of the world.”
Kerry says she used to comfort eat when she was with rugby star George — father of her youngest child, daughter Dylan-Jorge, three.
She says: “It was a dark time for me. It was difficult to look after myself with everything going on.”
The couple, who had previously split in October 2015, finally called time on their three-year marriage for good in June 2017 following a string of rows.
Kerry wanted to face the break-up with a clear head so, having consulted her doctor, swapped her bipolar meds for exercise nine months ago.
She stresses: “I’m not recommending people just come off their meds without consulting their doctor first. I did it properly and I’m in a happy place for it.”
While her relationship with George remains strained, things couldn’t be better with the father of her eldest children, former Westlife star Brian McFadden, 37 — though she admits he broke her heart when he dumped her after two years of marriage in 2004.
“He was the love of my life and I desperately wanted us to work out,” she says. “Being a foster kid, family is very important to me. I never wanted to get divorced.”
Kerry has daughters Molly, 16, and Lilly-Sue, 14, with Brian, as well as Heidi, 11, and Max, nine, with her second husband, taxi driver Mark Croft.
After a lengthy engagement to actress Delta Goodrem, 33, and a brief marriage to model Vogue Williams, 32, Brian is happily dating PE teacher Danielle Parkinson, who he has described as his “best mate”.
Kerry's vital statistics
Age: 37
Height: 5ft 2in
Dress size: 6
(Down from Size 16)
Weight: 8st 7lb
(Down from 11st 7lb)
Divorces: 3
Current lovers: 0
Kids: 5
Bankruptcies: 2
Coke addictions: 1
“I love his new girlfriend,” Kerry says, “she’s the best girlfriend he’s ever had — well, except me that is.”
Kerry’s relationship with them is so good that Brian and Danielle even went to see Kerry play evil queen Carabosse in panto Sleeping Beauty in Manchester at Christmas.
Kerry, who live in Crowborough, East Sussex, says: “It was hilarious, I was dressed in horns in my costume and Brian took a picture of me and Danielle together and joked ‘here’s my new girlfriend and my evil ex wife’.
“There’s no hard feelings between us. The kids absolutely adore her and that’s the most important thing.
“I ask them, ‘do you think they’ll get married?’ and they say they hope so.”
It was while doing the panto that Kerry lost most of the weight, as she was on the stage constantly.
She points out with a laugh: “I must be the only person to lose weight over Christmas.”
Kerry, who was diagnosed with bipolar in 2005, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and 2013 and kicked her cocaine addiction in 2009, is now focussing on becoming a life coach and a motivational speaker.
She explains: “I feel like I went through all that stuff so I could help other people. I feel like that is my calling in life.”
Kerry admits she is still haunted by the infamous Philip Schofield interview on This Morning in 2008 where she slurred her words.
Viewers slammed her for being plastered but Kerry insists: “I wasn’t drunk, I was on strong medication because of my bipolar. It slurred my speech.
“When I was filming Iceland adverts they would deliberately film in the afternoon because my speech would be better than in the morning.”
There was also a video of her hammered at 11am at Gran Canaria airport in April 2016. It shows Kerry rolling on the ground in a car park with her trousers around her ankles.
She says with a laugh: “Yeah, I was p***ed as a fart. I’m not apologising for getting drunk on holiday.
"I’d had a tough year. I hadn’t gone out for eight months and I’d just split from George again. I’d only had three small bottles of champagne but I’m a lightweight so it went to my head.”
Today Kerry rarely drinks or goes out. She smiles as she proudly shows me videos of her kids on her phone.
“This is how I spend my days,” she says, as she scrolls through countless snaps and videos showing her fooling around with her kids. “It’s a mad house but I love it.”
“We do yoga together and we are always singing and having a laugh. I don’t have a nanny or a cleaner, I do everything myself. I’ve raised five wonderful kids. It’s not always been easy, but I’ve done it.”
Kerry tells me how Molly is living in Ireland with her grandparents and has gone back to school because she doesn’t know what she wants to do yet.
She says: “Lilly would love to be an actress but I’ve told her to get an education first. So she’s looking at a degree in law and politics.
“Heidi is 100 per cent going to be a superstar — gob on legs I call her.
“Max loves anything to do with fitness and wellbeing and often joins in doing yoga with me. DJ loves coming on stage with me. If I do panto she’ll get on stage and sing Whole Again with me.”
Kerry's changed diet
BEFORE:Breakfast: Sugary coffee
Lunch: None
Dinner: Big Chinese takeaway
AFTER:
Breakfast: Herbalife shake
Lunch: Herbalife shake
Dinner: Fish/chicken with veg
Exercise: 20 mins yoga at 5:30am
Being a busy mum, Kerry used to skip breakfast and sometimes not eat all day.
She explains: “I’d just have a coffee with sugar to keep me going. Then I’d come home and binge on a big Chinese takeaway.
“Now I get up, do my yoga, have a Herbalife shake and then have another shake at lunch. Then I cook a healthy dinner like fish and veg or have salad.
“I don’t obsess though. If I want a treat I’ll have it.”
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
As she slips into the final outfit of the day, Kerry says with a chuckle: “Everyone is asking me to take my clothes off lately.
“I’ve been chatted up loads but they’re all dead young.
"If you can think of any nice men who aren’t looking for a relationship, let me know.”
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