The Atomic Kitten star said ‘I had to earn my way in’
The Atomic Kitten star said ‘I had to earn my way in’
Natasha Hamilton has opened up on “clashing” with Kerry Katona during their Atomic Kitten days. The 43-year-old singer from Kensington said Kerry threatened to leave the band after the pair failed to get along in the beginning. Natasha opened up on their relationship during an appearance on the “How to Fail with Elizabeth Day” podcast.
During the most recent episode, Elizabeth asked Natasha: “When you joined the band, I know you became firm friends afterwards, but Kerry Katona, you didn’t get on.” Natasha agreed as she said: “We clashed.”
The host asked: “Was that intimidating or because of everything you’d been through to get there, did you feel this inner confidence that it was all going to be OK?”
The former Atomic Kitten singer explained she had a “frosty” relationship with Kerry when they first met.
She said: “I wouldn’t say intimidating, but I was definitely upset because coming into Atomic Kitten […] being in the rehearsal space, the studios that they owned, listening to the songs, for me, I knew, at that age, I was like, ‘this is the one, this is the ticket out’.
“So to clash almost instantly with Kerry, and I was just being myself. I was trying to suggest dance moves, and I just wanted to come as a team player, but I think that was seen as being too bossy or I hadn’t quite earned my place to be suggesting what the girls should do.
“But when you grow up in the situations like that, you have to have a confidence and maybe a bit of bravado. I’d done it for years. It wasn’t my first rodeo.
“I think I just overstepped the mark a little bit and Kerry didn’t like it, and she did go back to the studio and say ‘I don’t like her, and if she stays, I’m leaving’.”
Natasha joined the band in 1999. She said it was difficult as she knew Kerry and Liz (McClarnon) already lived together. She explained she burst into tears when she was told Kerry didn’t want to work with her.
Natasha said: “I just burst out crying. I was like ‘I really don’t know, I was just trying to be helpful’. Anyway, they just said, ‘well you stay, you best get on’.
“It was difficult because Kerry and Liz lived in a flat together for I think 18 months before I even turned up. They had a really close bond and they had to let me in and I had to earn my way in.
“It took a little while. It was a bit frosty to begin with, but I was a tough cookie at that point, so I was going to try and make it work every way I could.”
Formed in Liverpool in 1998, Atomic Kitten went on to make their mark on 2000s pop culture. The group achieved three UK number-one hits, “Whole Again” (2001), a cover of “Eternal Flame” (2001), and a cover of “The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)” (2002).
How to Fail with Elizabeth Day is available wherever you get your podcasts.
