Boyz Magazine - Liz McClarnon

CLUBS
WHOLE AGAIN
G-A-Y: ATOMIC KITTEN
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH, 10.30PM – 5AM
The girls are back in town! ATOMIC KITTEN are back on our BOX on ITV’s Big
Reunion and this Saturday night the original line-up of Kerry Katona, Liz
McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton will be live at G-A-Y, so we spoke to Liz
and Kerry about the eventful liVeS of a kitten.
Atomic Kitten’s Liz, Kerry and Natasha
Hello Liz, hello Kerry, how are you
both?
Liz: Great thanks, brilliant actually, bit
tired but it’s all good.
Kerry: I’m good thank you, just trying
to cope with the kids.
How has the Big Reunion TV show
been for you? How did it happen?
L: We were actually offered a few TV
things. We all felt this would be the
most fun to do especially with all the
other bands involved. It’s good to
take things seriously but it’s also so
important to do things that just feel
right and are the most fun. And the
show has been that.
K: The Big Reunion has been really
good. What I’ve actually enjoyed the
most has been everyone else’s story;
I mean, I know my story way too well!
This is the original Kittens line up
– what happened with Jenny Frost
who replaced Kerry?
L: Originally Jenny was going to be
involved. She came along to the early
meetings with ITV but decided that
she really wanted to spend more time
with her new baby.
Not surprisingly a lot has been
written about Kerry returning to the
band – how are you both feeling
about all that attention?
L: Kerry’s my mate and I’ve known
her since I was very young. I know
she’s gone through a lot of problems
but I’ve always championed Kerry.
She has something strong in her and
I always believed she would come
out the other end. I look at her as my
friend and I’m proud that she’s faced
her demons.
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What about you, Kerry?
K: Of course the press are interested
in me and I understand that. It’s all
very well documented; the mental
health issues, drug problems, failed
marriages. I’ve gone from being a
pop star to someone who is famous
for being famous and for being
a fuck up. It’s difficult to believe
now but I actually left the group
originally because I didn’t enjoy the
fame, which when you think about
On the show it seems Kerry has
more to prove than anyone in any
of the groups?
L: I think she has got more to prove
than anyone else. She’s been out of
the music stuff for a while and people
are looking at her more. Even though
I said she’s tough she’s also quite
fragile inside and that’s why certain
things have happened in her life. She
makes jokes before other people do
as a defence thing.
‘It’s difficult to believe now but
I actually left the group originally
because I didn’t enjoy the fame.’
Kerry
everything that happened, including
marrying a member of Westlife, is just
crazy. I had a pretty rough childhood
and I honestly thought that being
famous would make everything better
but of course it didn’t, it made things
worse and when Brian [McFadden]
and I got divorced it got insane.
But I have turned it all around now;
I’ve been clean for three years, I’ve
left behind the bankruptcy, the exhusband and all those nightmares.
It’s only now I can actually embrace
this and say ‘This is my job’ and
ignore the shitty articles and news
stories. I’m not a party girl anymore; I
work then come home to the kids and
my idea of naughty now is a cheeky
Chinese takeaway and a movie. I
love it.
K: I think everyone’s waiting for me to
fuck up or have some kind of mental
breakdown, which is what people
expect. I know a lot of eyes are going
to be on me but I’m not here to prove
anything to anybody. Well, actually I
do want to prove to my kids that I am
actually something other than just
a mum. I’d like them to see me do
something ‘cool’.
Liz, you and the girls had huge
success back in the day including
three number one singles and two
massive albums – how do you look
back now on those days?
L: We never seemed to get a genuine
day off; even when were on holiday I
could never relax. But I am so grateful
that we did have all that. It can go
either way in life and I do have such
great memories of all the things we
did, even though it was hard work.
How has it been getting back
together?
K: I am really nervous about being
back on stage with Tash and Liz.
They carried on for years after I’d left
the band and were so successful all
over the world, so this time I’ve had to
learn all this new stuff.
And now you’re at G-A-Y this
Saturday…
L: Back in the day we did G-A-Y
loads of times at the Astoria and it
was always brilliant fun. I love Jeremy
Joseph; I’ve known him for years
and have so much time for him and
the club. Plus, when we first started
one of our first gigs was at Heaven at
Popcorn and we had a real laugh, so
now to combine the two big happy
memories of G-A-Y and Heaven is
fantastic.
And finally, is there anything you
want to say to our readers?
K: Yes, there is something I would like
to say to Boyz readers. If you do have
mental health issues or problems with
addiction, you can get out of those
situations and you can get back to
being the person you want to be. I
did it and I really did go through hell.
If you have problems you should talk
to someone and don’t be afraid to ask
for help because even the strongest
people need help sometimes.
n Atomic Kitten performs at G-A-Y
this Saturday (2 Mar) at Heaven,
Under the Arches, off Villiers
Street, Charing Cross, WC2.
THURSDAY 28TH february 2013 n