News | Entertainment
24 Jan 2026 5:16
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Kerry Katona lived on "tomato ketchup butties" as a child

    The 40-year-old pop star can still recall starving as a kid when her mum would go out "on benders for three days", and Kerry resorted to searching through the cupboards to find something she could eat


    She shared: "I 100 percent remember a time when there was not enough food in the house, when there just wasn’t enough money.

    "I must have been about nine years old and used to look in the cupboards and think ‘What could I make for tea?'

    "When I was living with my mum, she would go out on benders for three days and there would be no food. I was only about nine.

    "I would live on tomato ketchup butties. There might be some stale bread in the cupboard and ketchup in a bottle and that is what I would live on until my mum would come home."

    Kerry actually resorted to stealing as a means of feeding herself.

    She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I used to shoplift all the time as a kid. I remember going to Warrington market with my mum and stealing, just because we used to be starving."

    Kerry can also recall hiding some of her mum's money to stop her from spending it on alcohol.

    She said: "I used to go and cash my mum’s money for her. I’d keep 20p for myself and get myself a Dime bar. I’d try and hide a bit of her money so she wouldn’t go and spend it and go off on the p*** with it.

    "I love my mum to bits - she’s nothing like that anymore.

    "My mum has OCD and everything is always spotless and clean but during her bad days when I was about nine, she’d come in bladdered and ask me to make her something to eat. I made her a steak and kidney pie and chips and she threw it everywhere. We had just come out of a refuge - we lived in two in Manchester.

    "In the first year of high school, we were living in the Salvation Army and my mum went missing and I was there on my own for two weeks. Luckily the other women fed me and looked after me."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     23 Jan: Oscars 2026: Sinners break record with nominations, Jacob Elordi and Rose Byrne receive nods
     23 Jan: Amanda Seyfried thinks winning an Oscar "isn't necessary" for career success
     23 Jan: Karol G and Feid have reportedly split
     23 Jan: Summer House stars Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula have split
     23 Jan: Emeli Sande and her fiancee Yoana Karemova have split
     23 Jan: Colleen Hoover is cancer-free
     23 Jan: Nicole Kidman reportedly feels "refreshed and optimistic" as her divorce from Keith Urban is behind her
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams denies player power was behind the early exit of coach Scott Robertson More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    An expectation the official cash rate will be held steady as inflation is higher than expected More...



     Today's News

    Accident and Emergency:
    A scene guard remains in place at an address in Clutha after a person was found dead and another found in a critical condition 4:56

    Christchurch:
    A pedestrian's seriously injured after being struck by a car on Christchurch's Riccarton Avenue about 10 to seven this evening 21:17

    International:
    Paris Hilton brings sex tape story to Washington for AI deepfake porn fight 21:07

    Environment:
    The Mount Maunganui tragedy reminds us landslides are NZ’s deadliest natural hazard 20:07

    Business:
    An expectation the official cash rate will be held steady as inflation is higher than expected 18:57

    Politics:
    Gloriavale's condemned private school is remaining open for the time being 18:37

    Environment:
    What is a landslide, how do they happen and where are they most common? 18:17

    Rugby:
    All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams denies player power was behind the early exit of coach Scott Robertson 18:07

    Soccer:
    To football, and South Island United have claimed their first win in the Oceania Pro League 18:07

    Law and Order:
    Police want to hear from anyone who may have seen a 62-year-old man reported missing from the Invercargill area - last seen two weeks ago 17:27


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd