Kerry Katona has disclosed the sorrowful reason behind tattooing her daughters’ names on her wrists.
The star, once part of Atomic Kitten, decided to have Molly and Lily’s names inscribed on her skin following a “breakdown” caused by her split from ex-husband Brian McFadden. After their divorce, she states that their family was obliged to move from Dublin to England.
However, Kerry recalls their move involved staying with her mother, which prompted her to take drugs again. The 43-year-old concedes she “wasn’t coping” post-split and yearned for validation from people around her.
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On the Exhibit A podcast with Abbey Clancy, she revealed: “I got 40 or 50 paparazzi following me constantly, I’ve got these two babies to look [after], I wasn’t coping. No one wanted to help me and all everyone wanted was money and I was just paying them because I wanted to be loved.”
(Image: Exhibit A)
Recounting her childhood, Kerry mentions her mother grappled with “a lot of mental health issues”, and her earliest memory is “watching my mum slit her wrists”. Amidst her mother’s struggles, Kerry found herself placed in foster care at the age of 13 and lived with four different foster families, reports the Mirror.
She confesses this raised feelings of not being “wasn’t good enough” for her mother. Despite Kerry’s own candid discussions about grappling with bipolar disorder, she was determined for her daughters not to remember her in the way she remembers her own mother.
She spilled: “I remember I got used to looking at Lily, because Lily looks so much like me, and I used to think, 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 the one thing I never want my kids to feel is unloved or unwanted by me, because that’s how I felt.
“So I thought, if this is something I might end up doing, I got Molly and Lily tattooed on my wrists because I thought I would be so selfish to put my kids through that. No matter what’s going on in my life, I want my kids to know I love them so much and I’m never going to leave them.
“So that’s why I got that on my wrists. And I think that’s something I struggle with now even.”
Kerry has been candid about her battles with mental health and addiction, having admitted to stints in rehab for cocaine and alcohol problems. The star also shared that she’s had surgery on her nostrils to fix the damage from past drug use, while celebrating 15 years clean.
*If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
