Kerry Katona has candidly detailed her traumatic upbringing in a brutally honest interview, as she reflected on how her multiple marriages have stemmed from her long-standing desperation to have a dad.
Opening up to Paul C. Brunson on his podcast, We Need To Talk, the Atomic Kitten star recalled how she was raised not knowing who her real father was, only discovering her biological dad after his death.
She revealed how her mother had a number of short-lived relationships with men she was led to believe were her dad, with one being physically abusive and forcing her and her mum to go into witness protection.
Kerry admitted being put in ‘unspeakable situations’ as a child, that ‘no child should ever be in, ever’ as she described going through four sets of foster parents and living in a shelter, while her mum battled mental health issues and drug addiction.
She explained: ‘But that was my normal, Paul. I did not know any different. Do you see what I mean? It took me a long time to realise that’s why that happened, that’s why I went for these men, that’s why I wanted a father figure.
‘I kept getting married because I was desperate to have a dad. It took me so long to realise I’m more than enough.’
Kerry Katona has candidly detailed her traumatic upbringing in a brutally honest interview with Paul C. Brunson on his podcast, We Need To Talk
Kerry admitted being put in ‘unspeakable situations’ as a child, that ‘no child should ever be in, ever’ as she described going through four sets of foster parents (Kerry pictured age eight)
Kerry is currently dating personal trainer Paolo Magaglione, 33, and has reportedly moved him into her home just two months after they met on Celebs Go Dating.
Prior to this she was in a six and a half year relationship with fiancé Ryan Mahoney before they split at the end of last year.
She was reportedly planning to have a child with Ryan before they split.
Kerry has daughters Molly, 22 and Lilly, 20 with her ex husband Brian McFadden who she was married to from 2002–2006.
She is also mum to Heidi, 17, and Max, 15, with ex husband Mark Croft and eight-year-old DJ from her relationship with the late George Kay.
Elsewhere in the chat, Kerry detailed her traumatic upbringing, revealing her mother was in and out of turbulent relationships.
‘There were always fights,’ she explained. ‘I mean, the things I saw my mum do I can’t even repeat because it’s so cruel. So cruel, some of the things I witnessed as a kid.’
She recalled one ex of her mother’s who she instantly felt uneasy around.
In the chat, she reflected on how her multiple marriages have stemmed from her long-standing desperation to have a dad (pictured with current partner, Paolo Magaglione)
Prior to this she was in a six and a half year relationship with fiancé Ryan Mahoney before they split at the end of last year
Kerry has daughters Molly, 22 and Lilly, 20 with her ex husband Brian McFadden who she was married to from 2002–2006 (pictured in 2001)
She is also mum to Heidi, 17, and Max, 15, with ex husband Mark Croft (pictured in 2008)
She shares eight-year-old DJ from her relationship with the late George Kay (pictured in 2013)
Kerry explained: ‘I had to pretend, had to call him dad. And I just had this instant fear of Dave, instant fear of him, like terrified of him.
‘And I remember him walking in my bedroom – and the first time I met him, he just fell flat on his face, drunk. I knew I had to pretend and laugh, because I knew his aura. I could tell the kind of man he was going to be.
‘This one time, I’d be seven or eight, maybe eight – babysitting on stale ketchup butties, because my mum was going on the p**s for three days. And I used to go do shopping by myself…
‘But this one time I remember I was in bed, my mum had been out, and she came in and she sat next to me and said, “Dave asked me to marry him.”
‘I went, “Don’t do it, mum… He’s going to beat you. He’s really going to beat you up.” She went, “Kerry, 16 years, he’s never laid a finger on me.”
‘The next night, she came home, black and blue, and she had the side of a shotgun to her head.’
Kerry ended up going into witness protection with her mother as they attempted to flee the abuse.
‘We had to go into hiding,’ she explained. ‘And that’s when we got put… and I remember, because of who Dave was, and I remember the social services, or whoever it was who came to get us, like witness protection.
‘We had to go into hiding, and me mum had to dye her hair… and we ended up in Manchester in a refuge.
‘At one point, I couldn’t go to school in case Dave kidnapped me, so I had to get home schooled.’
Elsewhere in the chat, Kerry detailed her traumatic upbringing, revealing her mother was in and out of turbulent relationships
It was later in life that she was told by a foster parent that Dave was in fact her biological father.
Reflecting on her childhood, she concluded: ‘the situations I’ve been put in as a child are, some of them are unspeakable. Some of them are so unspeakable that no child should ever be in, ever.’
Part one of Kerry Katona on We Need To Talk is out now. Part two will be released on September 9.
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