I see very bleak future for Kerry

By Carole Malone, 23/08/2009

I'LL make a prediction. Within two years Kerry Katona will be 14 stones, living in a council house and Mark Croft will have long gone, having spent every last penny of the hundreds of thousands of pounds he's had access to whilst living with (or should that be OFF) her.

Like her mum Sue, Kerry will be a hopeless drug addict, she'll be living on benefits because she's fit for nothing except the grubbiest kind of fame and her kids will either be in care or with their dad.

The fame and wealth which came so easily to her will be just a memory, as will her so-called friends who'll scarper the minute the money dries up and the cameras stop rolling.

And it will all be her fault. Because in her short life Kerry Katona has been given more chances than she ever deserved.

There have been people - powerful people - who not only adored her but tried to help her and shape her career. But when she didn't like what they had to say she told them all to f*** off, never understanding they only had her best interests at heart. Even Iceland, who were paying her £250,000 a year, stuck by her for years when they should have dumped her long ago.

And, of course, the stories of her drinking and her drug-taking just wouldn't go away. Even when she made a fool of herself on This Morning she tried to blame it on medication for her bipolar disorder when she looked obviously drunk.

But even after all that, the chances kept on coming. Iceland gave her (yet) another one, MTV gave her a crack at a reality show, even the taxman gave her a chance to clear her colossal debts - but she just stuck two fingers up at the lot of them, believing she was invincible.

But when I look at Kerry, I can't help but compare her to Jade. Both were brought up in the same squalid, loveless world. Both had parents who took drugs and cared more about their next fix than whether their kids had food to eat.

The difference was, when Jade Goody was given her big chance - she ran with it like Olympic athlete.

She saw it as a way to tear up the blueprint that fate had laid down for her life and to make a decent, stable one for her and her kids. Unlike Kerry, who seems hell-bent on replicating the nightmare of her own childhood - the one where her mum's life was wrecked by always choosing (in Kerry's words) "the worst kind of men."

People say Mark Croft is to blame for Kerry's plight. And he is - partly. He used to be her mum's drug dealer and friends say he gets cocaine for Kerry. But Katona isn't a child any more. She's a mother-of-four who needs to take responsibility for what's happening in her life.

Change

If she truly loves her children, if she really wants to change, all she has to do is dump Croft and there'll be a dozen people around to help her - even though she no longer deserves it.

But she won't - and THAT'S why no-one cares what happens to her any more. Because even now she's STILL running away from her problems. Last week the police wanted to talk to her, social services wanted to talk to her but instead of staying to face the music she ran away and hid in Tenerife.

This isn't a girl who's ready to change her life. This is a girl who hasn't the guts or the will to clean up her mess. And she shouldn't be allowed to keep those kids because she's condemning them to the same miserable existence she had.

Young girls who think fame and money will afford them the Dream Life need to look closely Kerry Katona. And they need to see what a pointless, stupid waste hers is.

This is a girl who not so long ago had the world at her feet and the affection of an entire nation.

Now all she has is Mark Croft, debts and a drug habit.

Your comments

This article has 10 comments

I remember seeing Brian and Kerry on Jonathan Ross years ago with her moaning about how boring life was in Dublin and Brain going on about Kerry's boobs and discussing the awful lap dance episode!! I thought then their life together was in trouble and soon they divorced. How many trips to rehab does it take before Brian takes responsibility for his children. It seems he is more than happy in Australia with his girlfriend and the people who will actually bring up those girls will be his Mum and Dad in Dublin. Both these people seem immature to me. Kerry has had years of easy money how will she react when she has to actually WORK for a living rather than inviting the reality crew to film her life or a few days work making adverts. Surely when Coleen Nolan suddenly appeared in the adverts she should have seen the writing on the wall regarding her contract with Iceland.!!!!!!!!!

By Rita.. Posted August 31 2009 at 9:06 AM.

I don't believe that things started going wrong with Kerry after Brian left her. Have we heard Brian's account of the failure of their relationship?
Poor little Kerry. I am sick and tired of her sob stories.
She was given an opportunity to improve her life & she blew it!

By Olga.. Posted August 23 2009 at 3:33 PM.

The kids shouldnt go with their dads, Brian has done one to the other side of the world so clearly doesnt care and Mark Croft is a waste of space. I have never been a fan of Kerry Katona and never will be, lets just hope they dont decide to have another "save our relationship" baby. How upsetting that there are woman all over the world unable to have a child and wasters like Kerry keep having them.

By NT.. Posted August 23 2009 at 10:43 AM.

I normally dislike most women columnists because they don't support other women, and Carole can be very guilty of doing that too, but frankly, in this situation, she speaks 100% sense here.

By Fiona.. Posted August 23 2009 at 10:21 AM.

I owe the princely sum of £2,000! Yet I am being hounded to death over it!

Everyone I know, is struggling to make ends meet!

Everyone I know, is tearing their hair out, wondering how to pay everyday bills!

Every day, is a struggle to survive!

Yet, I am supposed to feel sorry, for yet another drug addict/booze filled celebrity like Katona, who has blown more money I can only dream of, on booze and drugs?

The hell I will!!!!

By simon.. Posted August 23 2009 at 9:52 AM.

it is always the same with you british people you want fame and monies you want to get proper jobs this country good country to me and my freinds we work hard we have no monies to buy silly magzines you stop buying magzines and these people will not be famous for doing silly things

By mikael.. Posted August 23 2009 at 9:40 AM.

Complete voice of reason in this article, no more excuses, get the kids to their dad, and get your life sorted Kerry.

By Mel.. Posted August 23 2009 at 8:23 AM.

I can also see a bleak future for her, and just hope her children have not been damaged by her wreckless behaviour.

By lisa.. Posted August 22 2009 at 11:37 PM.

I have just read online an interview Kerry has given to a sunday tabloid. She is blaming all of her drug taking on her childhood...........YAWN YAWN..............she needs to stop using that now and get on with ther life. I was beaten as a child, but dont beat my children. The bad I had in my own childhood has always made me so determined to give my son a stable loving happy upbringing and I feel that I am succeeding in this so far.

Kerry you are an utter disgrace - u really are - and I worry for your kids. You are so selfish and never ever come across as the loving mother..............

By bossyboots glasgow.. Posted August 22 2009 at 11:02 PM.

This surely is a case of history repeating itself however, you have to think back to how and when it started to go wrong for Kerry. Her world was absolutely shattered when her husband left her for that Delta woman.............. I distinctly remember thinking his behaviour was odd when she was reunited with him in the jungle on seeing each other for the first time in weeks. Not once have I read anywhere anything remotely derogative towards Brian Mcfatten. Yet, he quite literally upped and left ( her holding the babies). He was her security, safety blanket.... gave her a different life to what she had grown up in. HER MOTHER IS DISGUSTING TOO!!! I think the inevitable will happen, kids for sure need to be taken away from her for the time being..... mark will leave her, or will he? i wouldn't be suprised if he becomes her pimp!!! i hate to say that sort of thing.... but where is she going to get the money from now?

By jxb.. Posted August 22 2009 at 9:44 PM.

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