KERRY KATONA EXCLUSIVE

KERRY KATONA says she doesn’t regret anything she’s done in life insisting: “I’ve not made mistakes, they’ve all been lessons.”

In a candid interview with Nana Akua on GB News, the 42-year-old mother of five addressed her drug-taking, battle with mental ill health and her three marriages.

Kerry also told how exercise had saved her life which she said at times became “crazy”.

Reflecting on her highs and lows she told GB News: “People say do you have any regrets? I have no regrets. I don’t regret the drugs, I don’t regret the bankruptcies, I don’t regret the husbands. I’ve not made any mistakes, they’ve all been lessons and we’re all human. The only thing is all my lessons have all been in the public eye.”

Opening up her childhood she continued: “I was a product of an affair, I was in four sets of foster parents and refuges. The fact that I’ve achieved what I have achieved is pretty phenomenal.. I’m really proud of myself. I’ve been bankrupt twice, I’ve come from nothing, but I’ve gone back to being a millionaire again, not that all that matters. The money in your bank, the size of your house, the cars on your drive, the one thing I’ve realised is that your riches are in the memories you create with your family. That’s one thing I’ve learnt but I am driven by always making sure that my kids are provided for.”

Talking more about motherhood, Kerry continued: “I’ve always just wanted to be a mum and a wife but saying that I’m too driven to be a stay at home mum now. I love my kids, but I am a grafter, I’m a worker. I’m driven and I’m ambitious, I’m determined and I’m resilient and I do love to work, and that’s the reason I do it; for my kids. But definitely the reason I wanted to be at home was because of my own childhood. I love my mum to bits but it wasn’t the greatest of childhoods.

“I get on great with my mum and I love my mum to bits, but my mum was a self harmer and she had a lot of mental health issues and drug issues and I ended up in a foster home. My mother was with abusive men.

Kerry opened up about her first marriage to Westlife popstar Brian McFadden describing it as “a fairytale”.

The couple wed in 2002, but they split in 2004 after just two years of marriage with a messy and public divorce grabbing headlines.

She said: “It was like a fairytale wedding. It really, really was. The best thing about that marriage was that I got Molly and Lily from it. The madness of mine and Brian’s marriage started more or less when we divorced, when we separated. I left Atomic Kitten to become a stay at home mum. I just wanted to be a mum and a wife, I didn’t want to be rich and famous. That was my dream, that was my goal and that’s what I became.

“I ended up doing the Jungle (I’m A Celeb) because I became a bit bored. It just went crazy from there.”

“I guess when I met Brian, he was like a knight in shining armour and took me away from England. But then when he left me, it all just came tumbling down and I had a proper breakdown and I wasn’t coping very well.

“I was suicidal and I turned to cocaine, which became my best friend at the time. It was the thing that was keeping me going. Brian had left me, he was in Australia. It was a crazy, crazy time and I can’t believe I got through it.”

Describing her second marriage to Mark Croft, who she was married to for four years from 2007 until 2011, Kerry said: “I have loved and I’ve often ended up marrying them, bearing in mind I was only 18 when I met Brian and we were together for seven years when Brian left me. With Mark [Croft] I thought ‘oh my god my kids are from a broken home’ and I was trying to fulfil my dream as a broken child, and not so much what they needed but not realising that I was enough for my kids and I thought I need to get married and Mark [Croft] asked me to marry him and I said yes. I thought that will fix everything, that will fix the problem.

“I thought I’ll get married, I’ll have some more kids and I’ll try and fix what’s been broken, and that’s a pattern that I continued to do.

“I did it with my third husband too, and I had another amazing child as well.”

But Kerry says things are different this time round with her boyfriend Ryan.

She said: “This time around I’ve been with Ryan nearly five years and normally I’d be talking to divorce lawyers but there’s not a divorce paper or kid in sight so I’m doing something different!”

“I think I’ve had to go through what I’ve been through to be with who I am with today and be who I am today.

Meanwhile Kerry also opened up about her infamous interview on This Morning in 2008, saying: “I was on bipolar medication. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve shoved enough cocaine up my nose, I’ve drunk until the cows come home and I’ve no reason to lie.

“I was on bipolar medication and at the time when I was at The Priory it was trial and error. There’s no medium with me, I’m all or nothing, so at the time it was trying to find the right medication. The side effects of the medication that I was taking were slurred speech. I took my medication so late at night that it still affected my speech the next day and that is all it was.

Discussing her surgery and changes to her appearance, Kerry said: “I’m like a flat pack from IKEA, I’ve been sliced and diced so many times I should come with a card and instructions for how to put me together in the mornings. I’ve definitely got body dysmorphia, I’ve been in the industry since I was 17. I recently had a tummy tuck a couple of years ago, which I should never have done to be honest with you but I botched it up but I’ve just had corrective surgery done on it.

“Despite my other half being as fit as he is and being a PT, he’s also my business partner. We live together, we sleep together, we eat together but if he tells me how to do a squat, I will punch him.”

She added: “Don’t get me wrong, I love exercise and exercise is what saved my life and helped maintain my bipolar. I quit smoking three years ago and I’m really proud of that, but the one thing that comes along with that is putting a shedload of weight on.