Kerry Katona has been in the public eye for years, but now, fans can see more of her than ever before.
The former Atomic Kitten star, now 45, has revealed that she has made ‘millions’ through OnlyFans after turning to the platform when the COVID-19 pandemic brought her traditional work to a halt.
With live appearances and media opportunities cancelled overnight, Katona says the decision was driven less by necessity.
‘Everything was cancelled [during COVID]. I was panicking,’ she explained in a recent interview with The Times. As a single mother with five children to support, the financial pressure was immediate and severe.
She said: ‘Then someone mentioned OnlyFans. I started off as a glamour girl, a page 3 model. I wasn’t going to be a f****** rocket scientist. I had no chance of that with my childhood.’
OnlyFans, she says, felt like a return to familiar territory. Long before pop stardom, Katona had worked as a glamour model, and she is frank about viewing the platform as a practical solution rather than a moral dilemma.
For her, the choice was simple: use her body and her agency to make money quickly, or face the prospect of far harder work for far less reward.
Crucially, she insists the decision was discussed openly at home. Katona says she spoke to all five of her children before launching her page and maintains that they were comfortable with her choice.
‘I didn’t hide it. We talked about it as a family,’ she said.
Mum of five Kerry shares daughters Molly, 23, and Lilly Sue, 22, with first husband Brian McFadden, kids Heidi, 17, and Max, 16, with second husband Mark Croft, and youngest daughter DJ, 10, with late husband George Kay.
Financially, the results were immediate. Katona claims she earned around £160,000 in her first month alone.
Since then, she says her earnings have climbed into seven figures, though she avoids giving precise totals. ‘It’s not about bragging,’ she insists. ‘The money goes straight on the kids.’
Despite her success, Katona is adamant that she does not want her four daughters to follow the same path. In her view, her role is to absorb the judgement and do the hard graft so they don’t have to. ‘
What is OnlyFans?
OnlyFans is a social media platform which allows users to post content and receive payment directly from their followers, or ‘fans’, who can either pay to subscribe as well as send tips.
It was founded by CEO Timothy Stokely in 2016 and has around 130 million users.
The platform says that YouTubers use it as another revenue stream and fitness influencers can use it to showcase their workout videos.
However, it has largely become a platform where content creators will post X-rated content.
This allows a greater sense of autonomy for porn stars or other adult entertainers who can directly control their content output and receive funds directly.
‘Let me do it,’ she said. ‘They’re too good for all this. I want them to have better options than I did.’
Katona has often spoken openly about a difficult childhood, turbulent relationships, and financial mismanagement that left her feeling owed something by the world.
With time, she says, that mindset shifted. ‘No one is going to save you,” she said. ‘The only person who can change your life is you.’
Even age, it seems, is not a limiting factor in her thinking. Asked whether she would still use OnlyFans in her 70s, Katona said: ‘Abso-f******-lutely. If my t*** aren’t dragging on that floor and I am still making the money I am making, why would I not?’
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