It’s been 14 years since they first burst into the limelight, but it’s clear nothing has changed for the original Atomic Kittens, Kerry Katona, Natasha Hamilton and Liz McClarnon, as they arrive at our shoot. “Check out these hot pants!” shouts Kerry, as they all compare their sequined outfits. Then Natasha says: “Let’s test them out with a boogie!” as they bop around the studio to disco tracks.
The girls re-create one of their famous photoshoots
Since forming in 1999, they’ve scored three UK No1 singles and two double-platinum No1 albums. Kerry left the band in 2001 when she fell pregnant and was replaced by Jenny Frost.
Now, without Jenny – who’s due to give birth to twin girls in a few weeks – the original line-up is appearing in ITV2 show The Big Reunion this month, alongside other bands, including 911, Liberty X and 5ive. And as the girls settle down for a gossip with Closer, they open up about their hopes and dreams...
Despite years of being left single and heartbroken, Kerry Katona – mum to Molly, 11, Lilly-Sue, 10, Heidi, four, and Max, three – tells Closer she’s desperate to have two more children. And she believes her new boyfriend, George Kay, is the perfect man for the job.
Kerry beams as she talks about former rugby player and doorman George, 33, who was released from jail last year after spending six years inside for blackmail.
The pair couldn’t look happier, with George – who’s now Kerry’s driver and minder – only leaving her side during our shoot to have a “K” tattooed behind his ear at a parlour in Fulham. Kerry, 31, says: “I definitely want more kids. I was an only child, brought up in foster care, and I’ve always wanted a big family so that when it’s my time to go, they’ll have each other. I’ve been with George for five months and we’re great. I don’t want to go into it too much. It just works. It’s going well. He has turned my life around. We even work out together.”
Before getting together with George, Kerry had an eight-month relationship with artist Steve Alce, a nine-week romance with decorator Adam Waldron, 34, a six-week fling with Take Me Out contestant Dan Foden, 28, and a short fling with a man she met on the internet, Stuart Nuttall, who, it was revealed, had previous convictions for assaulting an ex.
Kerry – who had two disastrous marriages to singer Brian McFadden, 31, and cabbie Mark Croft, 41, and, in 2010, admitted to taking cocaine – says she’s finally able to see just how bad her life had become. But she insists: “The only thing I regret in my life is Mark. But then I got two amazing kids out of it. When I got with Mark and the drugs took over, I lost who I was. It’s taken me this long to sort everything out.”
Kerry is currently battling a few extra pounds in a bid to slim down for the Kittens’ comeback. She jokes that, over the festive period, she “instantly” put on the 1½st that she lost before Christmas, by following a Jason Vale juicing diet and doing strenuous workouts.
“I just ate my way through Christmas,” she groans. “I can put on weight in a heartbeat. The good thing is I lose it like that, too, with a trainer. I had lipo years ago. I’ve had a half tummy tuck [plus lipo again, in April 2012] to get rid of saggy skin – it didn’t make me any thinner. I have to admit I’ve had four kids and as much as I work out, I can’t get my abs back fully. But I’m trying. I’m very body conscious. I have nice ears, but I hate my belly and my gut and thighs are gross! But I’m not overweight – I’m a healthy size 10 – I just need to tone up.”
Kerry says she believes exercise is what’s helping her to avoid drug temptations and stay off her bipolar medication. “I exercise for my head,” she says. “It’s what keeps me on the straight and narrow. As much as I hate it, I feel good for doing it. It’s a natural high.”
She’s ecstatic to be back in the Kittens and is currently in vocal training and learning new songs – like The Tide Is High, which was a hit when Jenny Frost was in the band. She says: “I left the Kittens originally – believe it or not – because I didn’t enjoy the fame aspect. Which is ironic, considering what I’ve been through since then. I’ve only just got used to it in the last two years. I get it now. Life is a journey and I’ve got through the other side safely.”
While Liz McClarnon is thrilled to be back in the band, she admits she never thought she’d end up back alongside Kerry.
Liz, 31, reveals: “I never imagined I’d be back with the original line-up. I actually never thought we’d have Kerry back – she’d been through such a hard time. At one point, Kerry and I in particular were worlds apart. And it wasn’t just the drugs. She’s got loads of kids and I’ve got none. It’s weird now, because she’s changed in so many ways – the Kerry we used to love is back. She has her groove back.”
But Liz seems upset when it comes to discussing Jenny Frost’s departure from the band to make way for Kerry’s return. Jenny, 34, recently said of Kerry replacing her: “I’m happy they've decided to give it a go and I understand why they’ve done it... my only beef is that I had to find out through a journalist.”
But Liz says it was all a misunderstanding. She explains: “We really wanted to do the TV show and Jenny was in all the meetings, then got pregnant. She said at one point it was fine if we wanted to do it with Kerry. We then never spoke about it, but we were told as a three-piece that she knew. But she obviously didn’t and I should have called her.”
Away from work, Liz says a new romance is making her very happy, exclusively confessing she’s met the man of her dreams and has been secretly dating him for the past few months.
“I don’t want to reveal who he is,” she says. “I’ve not been with him long, but he’s lovely, kind and very important to me. I want to get married – I’ve only realised that this week. I want kids soon, too.”
Liz had another secret boyfriend last summer and has previously dated actress Minnie Driver’s brother Charlie and Blue’s Lee Ryan. And she says she has her reasons for being secretive. “I keep quiet about my men to give my private life a chance to blossom,” she says. “And I’ve got high hopes for a future with this man.”
And despite looking fab, size 10 Liz says the only exercise she does is skipping. “I hate cardio and the gym,” she says. “I don’t want to be tiny or skinny – it doesn’t suit me. I skip three times a week and I’m confident about my body to an extent, but I wouldn’t get my belly out. I’ve got a muffin top!”
Natasha Hamilton reveals she contemplated liposuction after having her last baby but, in the end, decided to stick with exercise to get back in shape. The most health-conscious of the Kittens, during the shoot she’s on a three- day Jason Vale juicing diet and swerves the light curry lunch everybody else tucks into.
Mum-of-three Natasha, 30, says she’s sick of people speculating about surgery – and insists she’s only ever had her boobs done.
Size 8 Natasha fumes: “I’ve been accused of having a tummy tuck so many times. When I was 20 and had my first baby, my breasts went from an A to an EE overnight, then back to an A. That took its toll. So I had a boob job. But, hand on my heart, I’ve never had lipo or a tummy tuck. I’ve worked bloody hard for this body after each child. I contemplated getting lipo because I felt like I couldn’t go any further in getting my figure back, but I went to boot camp and got a trainer and went for it.
“I’m in the gym three or four times a week. It was a slow process after the last baby – it took me two years to get back to normal. I juiced, ate healthily and worked out. You can’t rush things. You need to listen to your body after a baby. It’s taken two years, but I’ve got a bit of a six-pack and I work hard for it. It’s hard graft, but achievable. It’s not about being thin – it’s about doing what you can.”
Natasha, who has children Josh, 10, and Harry, eight, from previous relationships and Alfie, two, with businessman husband Riad Erraji, says she hopes Atomic Kitten release new material in the future.
She says: “At first, it was just a reunion to show the kids what Mummy did. But now I’m ambitious and driven and wanting to do more. I’d love to get back into the studio to work on new material. I left school at 16 and joined Atomic Kitten and it’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve done West End shows and toured with Lionel Richie, but I’ve not done anything bigger than the band. Why wouldn’t I want to revisit it?”
