With matching blonde highlights and harmonising vocals, Atomic Kitten’s legacy in the Brit music scene has been a lasting one.
Climbing the charts in the early noughties, the girl band proved serious pop competition until their 2004 split.
The Liverpudlian group was formed in 1998, with Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon and Kerry Katona uniting to record their first smash hit.
Weeks before Whole Again dominated the charts, Kerry quit the group, paving the way for Jenny Frost to replace her.
The group have made sporadic attempts to reunite ever since, with a 2008 appearance and 2012’s The Big Reunion summer tour.
Today, just Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton are keeping the group alive, reportedly continuing to perform their hits as a double act.
But what happened to the Atomic Kitten band members, and where are they today?
Kerry Katona
Kerry was just 18 when she joined Atomic Kitten (Image: Redferns)
Despite quitting the girl band before they ever truly took off, Kerry Katona remains the most famous of the Atomic Kitten originals.
The 39-year-old was just 18 when she joined the group, quitting in 2000 when she fell pregnant.
After leaving Atomic Kitten, Kerry cemented her status as a reality star, appearing on shows like I’m A Celeb and Celebrity Big Brother.
She has released two autobiographies – Kerry Katona: Too Much, Too Young and Still Standing: The Autobiography – and three novels.
Making an epic return to music in 2012, she joined the Atomic Kitten Big Reunion tour, performing with the girl band for the first time in 11 years.
In 2018, Kerry revealed the other Atomic Kitten members refused to talk to her, claiming they had “blocked” her number.
Chatting with Star magazine, she said: “They don’t talk to me. It’s really, really sad. The girls are like my baby sisters. I’m pushing 40 now and I’m too old for silly little arguments.
Kerry is one of the UK’s most famous reality stars today (Image: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett)
“We’re all going through so much as grown-ups, so it’s silly to be bickering.
“I’ve tried to text them a few times but I think they’ve blocked me!”
Kerry has had several high profile marriages – she split from Westlife singer Brian McFadden in 2004 and divorced taxi driver Mark Croft in 2011.
The mum-of-five married footballer George Kay in 2014, though they separated the following year.
Kay died of an overdose in July of last year.
Kerry opened up about her battle with bankruptcy and drug addiction in the past, speaking candidly in a 2018 interview as part of an It’s Ok To Talk About Debt campaign.
She said: “I lost my money. I don’t have money now. I got out of bankruptcy again in September but I feel good. I feel amazing.
“It was embarrassing as well. You could see that people around me who I was hanging out with at the time, all the hangers-on just wanted me for my money and all the fame.
“The people I was buying drugs with you could see their delight, they just wanted to bring me down. But I’m not ashamed.”
Kerry appeared on the latest season of Celebs Go Dating last year and has since found love with hunky personal trainer Ryan Mahoney.
Jenny Frost
Jenny rose to fame in the group Precious before replacing Kerry (Image: Getty Images)
Thanks to her vocals as part of group Precious, Jenny Frost was roped in to replace Kerry Katona when she opted out of the girl band.
Having appeared on the Eurovision Song Contest before her stint with Atomic Kitten, the 42-year-old decided to pursue a solo career after the group split.
Unfortunately, her ironically-titled debut single Crash Landing ranked at No47 on the charts, failing to make it into the UK Top 40.
From 2008, she launched her career as a TV presenter, fronting BBC Three’s hit series Snog, Marry, Avoid for four seasons.
On top of that, Jenny showed face on a number of reality shows, from I’m A Celeb to Famous and Fearless.
Jenny married her scuba diver hubby in Ibiza 9 years ago (Image: Europa Press via Getty Images)
Though her main focus was television, Jenny dusted off her mic for the 2008 Atomic Kitten reunion.
The noughties star also landed a gig modelling for Playboy’s undies range, as an assignment for agency Storm Model Management.
Jenny was formerly engaged to DJ Dominic Thrupp, but the two called the wedding off after the tragic death of her mother.
In 2011, she married scuba diving school owner Vicente Juan Spiteri in an intimate ceremony in Ibiza.
The pop starlet has three children – a son, named Caspar J. Thrupp, 12, and twin daughters Blake and Nico Spiteri, seven.
Liz McClarnon
Liz launched a successful solo career after the Atomic Kittens folded (Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool-babe Liz McClarnon is one-half of Atomic Kitten today, 22 years after the group first formed.
The 38-year-old launched a solo career after the group disbanded, achieving relative success with a cover of Barbra Streisand’s Woman in Love.
She later tried to make it to Eurovision with Don’t It Make You Happy, but show bosses opted to go with a band named Smooch instead.
Since then, she has thrown herself into the musical theatre world, playing Paulette in Legally Blonde The Musical and leading as Cinderella in a 2012 panto.
Liz has taken part in a number of TV productions, from Hotter Than My Daughter to The Girl With the Golden Hair, but singing appears to be her main calling.
Liz opened up about wanting to have children in the past (Image: Daily Record)
The blonde babe prefers to maintain a low profile, keeping her private life out of the public eye.
In 2015, she admitted she was ready to have children in an interview with Closer – but refused to name her mystery beau.
She said: “I have always said I’m not keen on having children but I want babies now.
“I genuinely hate to admit it, but it is a biological thing. I’m 33 and have seen the Kittens have babies for a long time.
“I’ve told them I want to have a child and they haven’t stopped joking around with me – they can’t wait to see the fear on my face when I fall pregnant.”
Natasha Hamilton
Natasha took a break from the spotlight in 2002 to give birth to her first child (Image: Getty Images)
Along with Liz, Natasha Hamilton still apparently performs as part of Atomic Kitten today, though the two haven’t made any recent appearances.
In 2003, the 37-year-old was awarded the coveted prize of Rear of the Year – a title snapped up by legendary ladies like Carol Vorderman and Amanda Holden .
Falling pregnant at the height of Atomic Kitten’s fame, she went on maternity leave in 2002.
Natasha took a break from performing after the birth of her next child, eventually returning to music on the 2006 BBC series Just the Two of Us.
Natasha decided against inviting Kerry to her 2006 wedding (Image: Stoke Sentinel)
Paired with Holby City actor Mark Moraghan, Natasha rediscovered her love of performing and decided to return to the stage.
That same year, she tied the knot with then-husband Riad Erraji, inviting girlband members Liz and Jenny to the event – but not Kerry.
Over the years, she has taken part in screen and stage productions, from West End’s Blood Brothers to Celebrity Come Dine With Me.
Natasha reunited with the group for ITV2’s The Big Reunion in 2012, where she started dating Five’s Ritchie Neville.
The singer has four children – Josh Cosgrave, Ella Rose Dobson, Alfie Riad Errajl and Harry Hatcher.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
