Kerry Katona said she has made “millions” on the subscription site OnlyFans and described turning to the platform as a necessary move after long-standing financial problems.
The 45-year-old singer and television personality told Paul C. Brunson on his podcast We Need To Talk that she earned about £175,000 in her first month on OnlyFans and has continued to generate substantial income since joining the site in 2020. “I’ve made millions. I’ve made millions on it and I’ll continue to do it because it’s just too much money to turn down,” she said.
Katona recounted a history of financial turmoil that included being declared bankrupt after failing to pay £82,000 of a £417,000 tax bill and losing a property in Wilmslow that she said was worth about £1.25 million. She has filed for bankruptcy more than once, including a filing in 2008 and another in 2013; a reported 2018 filing did not proceed.
In the interview she also spoke about alleged financial misconduct by a former accountant, David McHugh. Katona said she confronted him at his office, was arrested after the altercation and spent 14 hours in a cell, and later learned authorities found documents she said were forged and related to multiple companies and paychecks. She said McHugh was later convicted and sentenced to approximately five years in prison.
Katona discussed earlier stages of her life and career, saying she had worked as a model from childhood and that her mother had submitted a portfolio that led to offers for topless shoots when she was in her mid-teens. She said a photographer later sold those images as she rose to fame and that she had returned to similar content on OnlyFans.
She described a near-decision in her teens to become an escort and said her mother accompanied her into a sex shop during that period. “I even was gonna sign up to be an escort,” Katona said, adding that a photographer “convinced me to do open leg shots.” She said she later tried to have the early images removed but ultimately posted similar material on OnlyFans.
Katona also recounted traumatic episodes from her childhood, including an abusive figure she identified as Dave and periods in which she and her mother entered witness protection and lived in a refuge. She said social workers removed them for safety and that she was home-schooled at times because of fears the man would abduct her. A foster parent later told her that the man was her biological father, she said.
The singer and television personality discussed other personal matters on the podcast, including past and current relationships. She is reportedly dating personal trainer Paolo Magaglione, 33, whom she met on the television program Celebs Go Dating and said she moved into her home after two months. She previously ended a six-and-a-half-year relationship with Ryan Mahoney at the end of last year. Katona is mother to five children: Molly, 22, and Lilly, 20, with ex-husband Brian McFadden; Heidi, 17, and Max, 15, with ex-husband Mark Croft; and an eight-year-old son, DJ, from a relationship with the late George Kay.
Parts one and two of Katona’s appearance on We Need To Talk were released by the podcast this week. In the interview she linked her decision to join OnlyFans with a desire to stabilise her finances after repeated legal and financial setbacks, repeatedly describing the platform’s earnings as a decisive factor in her choice to continue posting there.