Kerry Katona and Abbey Clancy were both left in tears after the Atomic Kitten star opened up about her tragic childhood and why she got her daughters’ names tattooed on her wrists.
The singer, 43, was overcome with emotion as she admitted her biggest fear is her children feeling ‘unloved’ as that is how she felt growing up.
Kerry’s mother Sue was manic-depressive and speaking to Abbey on her podcast Exhibit A, she confessed her earliest memory is watching her mum slit her wrists when she was just three years old.
She confessed: ‘I think my biggest thing was always feeling not good enough because you know when you watch your mum trying to kill herself and you’re like “am I not good enough for you want to be here?”
‘So I was pretty f****d up before I became famous anyway’.
Kerry Katona broke down in tears as she revealed her biggest fear and reflected on her first memory of watching her mum self-harm during an emotionally-charged interview with Abbey Clancy
Abbey was brought to tears as she listened to Kerry recount her difficult childhood and how she still fears she isn’t good enough
Revealing her biggest fear, she continued: ‘I remember sitting in rehab and I couldn’t believe I let myself get so low and I kept thinking if this is in my DNA and if it is a genetic thing and I thought the one thing I never want my kids to feel is unloved and not wanted by me, because that is how I felt.
‘I thought if this is [self-harming] something that I might end up doing, so I got Molly and Lily tattooed on my wrist because I thought I’d be so selfish to put my kids through that.
‘No matter what’s going on in my life I want my my kids to know I love them so much and I’m never going to leave them.’
Kerry shares Molly, 22, Lilly-Sue, 20, with first husband Brian; Heidi, 16, and Max, 15, with second spouse Mark Croft; and Dylan Jorge, nine, with late third husband George -who died in 2019 from an accidental cocaine overdose.
Breaking down in tears as Kerry recounted her difficult childhood, Abbey added: ‘I do feel it’s unfair knowing your tragic start to life, the most unimaginable things you know it sounds like a film.
‘It’s like unbelievable. No one ever praises you because I think it’s a success story.
‘Oh massively,’ replied Kerry, ‘and you know I have said there was no role model for me.
‘I’ve always been a grafter and I think if I didn’t have my kids I don’t think I’d be here today. I don’t think I’d have got through it especially the after after Brian left me.’
Kerry explained: ‘I remember sitting in rehab and I couldn’t believe I let myself get so low and I kept thinking if this is in my DNA and if it is a genetic thing and I thought the one thing I never want my kids to feel is unloved and not wanted by me, because that is how I felt’
Kerry’s mum Sue was manic-depressive and Kerry has previously revealed she self-harmed until Kerry was 15
![Explaining why she got her daughter's names tattooed on her wrists she said: 'I thought if this is [self-harming] something that I might end up doing, so I got Molly and Lily tattooed on my wrist because I thought I'd be so selfish to put my kids through that'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/17/09/87435473-13642407-image-m-14_1721203364174.jpg)
Explaining why she got her daughter’s names tattooed on her wrists she said: ‘I thought if this is [self-harming] something that I might end up doing, so I got Molly and Lily tattooed on my wrist because I thought I’d be so selfish to put my kids through that’
Breaking down in tears as Kerry recounted her difficult childhood, Abbey added: ‘ I do feel it’s unfair knowing your tragic start to life, the most unimaginable things you know it sounds like a film’
Replying to a clip of the podcast over on Instagram, Kerry wrote: ‘I loved doing this with podcast Abby but I do want to make it very clear I love my mum with all my heart and she too had no help and she’s made me who I am today’
Replying to a clip of the podcast over on Instagram, Kerry wrote: ‘I loved doing this with podcast Abby but I do want to make it very clear I love my mum with all my heart and she too had no help and she’s made me who I am today’.
Kerry previously spoke about the trauma of living with her mum in an interview with New Magazine back in 2021.
She said: ‘My earliest memory is watching my mum slit her wrists. I was three. She was manic-depressive and self-harmed until I was 15. That’s just the way my life is. I’ve come so far from being a foster kid growing up in a council house.’
Kerry has frequently reflected publicly on her childhood in growing up in Warrington, Cheshire, having previously recalled the horrifying moment her mother’s ex-boyfriend threatened to ‘chop her feet off’ after stabbing her troubled parent.
The mother-of-five went on to say that she was subsequently put in a foster home following the terrifying ordeal, which occurred when she was just 13.
Kerry also discussed her mum Sue who had a ‘terrible childhood’ and issues with drugs and her mental health, adding: ‘She didn’t really know how to be a mum’.
Having now looked back on her mother’s self-harming and troubles, Kerry confessed she does not have any regrets and is happy with her life now.
She said: ‘Everything I’ve been through, I don’t regret one thing – not the drugs, the marriages, the bankruptcy. It’s all put me where I am today.’
For support on dealing with self-harm see mind.org.uk/selfharm or call Mind’s confidential Infoline on 0300 123 3393
Kerry shares Molly, 22, Lilly-Sue, 20, with first husband Brian, Heidi, 16, and Max, 15, with second spouse Mark Croft and Dylan Jorge, nine, with late third husband George