Kerry Katona told a US podcast that she made about £175,000 in her first month on OnlyFans and has since earned what she described as "millions," saying the platform helped her recover financially after periods of bankruptcy.

Katona, 45, made the remarks during an interview on Paul C. Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk, in which she recounted turning to the subscription site in 2020 to boost dwindling finances. "I made about 175 grand in the first month," she said. "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."

Katona told listeners that she had been declared bankrupt in 2008 after failing to pay £82,000 of a £417,000 tax bill, and that she lost a £1.25 million home in Wilmslow. She said she filed for bankruptcy again in 2013 and that a 2018 filing was reported but did not proceed. In the podcast she linked her move to OnlyFans directly to those financial struggles.

In the same interview Katona described an episode she said involved a former accountant, naming him as David McHugh. She said she grew suspicious that financial documents had been forged, that she confronted him, and that she was arrested after a physical altercation. "I physically, like, punched him in the face and I got put in the cells for 14 hours with my shoelaces taken off me," she said. Katona added that police later searched the accountant's office and found documents she said contained forged paperwork. She said McHugh was subsequently arrested and jailed for about five years; those details were presented as her account during the interview.

Katona also discussed her early career and family background, saying she had modelled from a young age and that her mother had sent a portfolio of images to photographers. She said a photographer suggested topless shots when she was a teenager and that some images were later sold as she became famous. Katona said she briefly contemplated signing up as an escort at about 16 but did not do so. She said she later returned to explicit content through OnlyFans.

The former Atomic Kitten singer spoke at length about a troubled childhood. She described persistent domestic violence in the household and said she and her mother entered witness protection at one point to flee abuse. "We had to go into hiding," she said, describing relocation to a refuge and periods when she could not attend school because of safety concerns. Katona said a foster carer later told her that a man she knew as Dave was in fact her biological father.

Reflecting on those experiences, she said: "The situations I’ve been put in as a child are, some of them are unspeakable. Some of them are so unspeakable that no child should ever be in, ever."

Katona also touched on her personal life, saying she is currently dating personal trainer Paolo Magaglione, 33, and that the pair met on the television show Celebs Go Dating. She said she had been in a long relationship with fiancé Ryan Mahoney until they split late last year and that she had previously been married to Brian McFadden and Mark Croft; she is mother to daughters Molly, 22, and Lilly, 20, with McFadden, and to Heidi, 17, and Max, 15, with Croft, as well as an eight-year-old son, DJ, from a later relationship.

Parts one and two of Katona's appearance on We Need To Talk were released by the podcast this week. Her discussion covered both her financial recovery after bankruptcy and long-standing personal and family issues, which she described in detail during the interview.