Kerry Katona has described being left ‘mortified’ after discovering Brian McFadden cheated on her during his stag do.
The former Atomic Kitten star started dating the Westlife singer in 1999 and they were engaged after just three months.
In 2002 they got married in a lavish ceremony held at Slane Castle in his home country of Ireland, with the couple later welcoming daughters Molly and Lilly-Sue.
However, two years after tying the knot, the pair split, with both sharing details of their marriage breakdown over the years.
This week, Kerry reflected on feeling ‘humiliated’ after finding out about his infidelity only after they’d got married.
Speaking about their high-profile relationship, Kerry, 44, said on Paul Brunson’s We Need to Talk podcast that they’d been accompanied by police escorts ahead of getting hitched.
‘It was phenomenal. We had a big New Year’s Eve party, and we got The Commitments to come and play. That’s what it was like, it was a different level of fame,’ she said.
‘We were pop star royalty it was crazy.’
However, she then spoke about having ‘no idea’ Brian, 45, had cheated on her during his stag do – which left her ‘devastated’.
‘I only found out after we got married. The girl he had cheated on me with was a lap dancer and he had made her sign an NDA and paid her 15 grand to keep her mouth shut,’ she explained.
‘But she still told the papers anyway. It was never the same after that with me and Brian.’
Although Kerry they were ‘babies’ when they got married, she was left ‘humiliated and mortified’ by his actions.
‘I think he must have had doubts…then I started to resent him,’ explaining how she started to become paranoid about whether he would cheat again.
Reflecting on the downfall of their relationship, Kerry said that things started to fracture after she won I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2004 and started receiving more media attention than him.
‘It used to be Brian’s world not mine, so it all changed,’ she said.
‘I think he actually left Westlife because I became more famous and wanted to do it by himself and become as big.’
Despite spilling the dirt on their relationship and declaring ‘Brian will hate me for talking about this’, Kerry laughed it off and added: ‘This is all public knowledge…it’s a part of my story.’
‘I really wish we could be friends; I do,’ she added.
But they did reunite recently to celebrate their eldest daughter Molly’s 24th birthday.
‘How on earth is my first born 24 today!!!!! Happy birthday my beautiful baby girl @123_mollymc. I honestly cannot express how proud I am of the woman you’ve turned out to be…I love you all the world my baby girl and I miss you like crazy,’ she captioned the post.
One of the series of photos she shared included one posing with Molly and Brian, with the trio smiling for the camera.
In 2007 Brian told Reveal magazine that if he and Kerry hadn’t had kids, their marriage ‘wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did’.
‘I was too young to understand what having kids meant. Having a child was like getting a dog,’ he said.
Last year Kerry told The Mirror their marriage was ‘all fake and phoney’.
Who have Brian McFadden and Kerry Katona been married to since their split?
After Kerry and Brian split, she went on to marry taxi driver Mark Croft in 2007, with the pair having two children – Heidi and Max – to gether. She later revealed they’d met when he was supplying cocaine to her mother.
They divorced in 2011. Three years later she married former rugby league player George Kay, with whom she had her fifth child DJ.
In 2015 she announced they’d separated after he’d allegedly assaulted her, with Kay dying in 2019 following an overdose.
Kerry is currently dating personal trainer Paolo Magaglione, 33, after they met on Celebs Go Dating.
Before this she was in a six-year relationship with fiancé Ryan Mahoney before they split at the end of last year.
Meanwhile Brian started dating Australian singer Delta Goodrem soon after their split, becoming engaged but later splitting in 2011.
He was then married to Vogue Williams from 2012 until 2015. In July he got married to physical education teacher Danielle Parkinson, who he got together with in 2016 and shares a four-year-old daughter Ruby with.
In the We Need to Talk podcast, Kerry said that there was a misconception that she had ‘lots of flings’.
‘People just think I’ve had these flings, but I haven’t. I’ve gone in wholeheartedly and given it my all,’ she said.
Metro has contacted representatives for Brian McFadden for comment.
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