News | Entertainment
26 Feb 2026 3:31
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
     25 Feb: Matthew Lillard admits his fashion sense is "still stuck in 2000"
     25 Feb: Bonnie Blue is pregnant following her recent "breeding mission"
     25 Feb: Dennis Quaid thinks Donald Trump is "very funny" and "really genuine"
     25 Feb: Daniel Radcliffe admits it feels "surreal" seeing the new child stars stepping into the Harry Potter franchise
     25 Feb: Matthew Lillard was convinced he'd never work again during his "darkest days"
     25 Feb: The BBC has apologised for a racial slur shouted during the 2026 BAFTAs ceremony
     25 Feb: David Harbour was part of Millie Bobby Brown's birthday celebrations
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Wallace Sititi is back for the Chiefs for their Super Rugby final rematch against the Crusaders in Hamilton on Saturday More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Meridian says mother nature has come to party and helped turn their finances around More...



     Today's News

    Living & Travel:
    Fruitfly trapping's back-up and running in Auckland, after an Oriental fruitfly was found in Papatoetoe 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Matthew Lillard admits his fashion sense is "still stuck in 2000" 21:51

    Entertainment:
    Bonnie Blue is pregnant following her recent "breeding mission" 21:21

    Environment:
    A large grass fire in Central Otago's Springvale's been contained 21:17

    International:
    President Donald Trump's State of the Union adress in detail 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Dennis Quaid thinks Donald Trump is "very funny" and "really genuine" 20:51

    International:
    Standout moments from Donald Trump's State of the Union speech 20:37

    Entertainment:
    Daniel Radcliffe admits it feels "surreal" seeing the new child stars stepping into the Harry Potter franchise 20:21

    Entertainment:
    Matthew Lillard was convinced he'd never work again during his "darkest days" 19:51

    Entertainment:
    The BBC has apologised for a racial slur shouted during the 2026 BAFTAs ceremony 19:21


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd