Kerry Katona: Return to Lincoln panto, sharing stage with daughter and chatting OnlyFans with Denise Welch in Waitrose

When Kerry Katona enters a room, you truly know about it. That is the kind of energy that prompted her to be named on the cast for Lincoln’s New Theatre Royal’s Christmas pantomime this year.

Kerry Katona needs little to no introduction to those who engage in popular culture. She has been famous for over two decades as being part of Atomic Kitten, a reality TV show stalwart and now a seasoned pantomime veteran.

Her name has never been too far away from front pages, whether it was her breakthrough as a Page 3 girl as a teenager, regular magazine coverage of her love life, Iceland adverts, or her resurgence into the spotlight as an OnlyFans content creator.

It will be much more PG for Kerry, 41, in her latest venture though, as she prepares to star in the New Theatre Royal’s annual Christmas pantomime production. She will be playing the role of Ugly Sister Botox in the Lincoln show, coming later this year.

Kerry told The Lincolnite she was “dying to get back” to Lincoln, six years on from her last appearance at the New Theatre Royal as the Fairy Godmother in the 2016 Christmas pantomime production of Cinderella.

She said: “It was the first panto I ever did and it was amazing, I’ve been doing panto twice a year ever since because I loved it so much. I’ve been dying to get back here and here we are.

“Until I did panto I didn’t realise just how hard it is. When I got asked to do it for the first time I honestly thought that was my career over, but I kid you not, you have not worked hard until you’ve done panto. It’s such a hard slog but it’s the most rewarding and most fun you’ll ever have.”

Kerry will not be the only member of her family appearing in this year’s cast, as she is joined on stage by her daughter Lilly McFadden, 19, for the first time ever.

Lilly has come full circle since Kerry’s first Lincoln appearance in 2016, where she worked front of house at New Theatre Royal in the sweet shop in her “first ever job” which lasted the duration of the show.

“I’ve always been a theatre kid, but behind the scenes”, Lilly said. “They call it a proper panto family, but with that, as much as you build love and friendships, is a lot of maybe getting on each other’s nerves.

“You’re doing three shows a day every single day and I think that is just a little bit intense – especially when you’re going home together, that becomes a lot.”

Katona continued: “I’ve got my daughter with me this time which is amazing because when I was on stage last time, Lilly was working at the little sweet shop in the theatre.

“We have worked together on TV before, we did a show called Coach Trip together which *cough* we won. I actually said to Lilly that I win all these reality shows, and if we don’t win it must be your fault!

“We worked well together and then when the show was finished we didn’t speak to each other for a month! I think for this panto there will be a lot of ups and a lot of downs.”

Kerry and Lilly will star alongside local celebrity Jake Quickenden, who stole the show at the New Theatre Royal’s 2021 Beauty and the Beast pantomime – playing vain heartthrob Flash Hugo.

“Jake is one of the loveliest people you’ll ever meet”, Kerry said. “I call him Jake in a box, he’s like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh! He is non-stop, honestly he makes me tired – gives me a run for my money.

“He brings so much energy and light. For me Jake is still relatively new because I’ve been around for so many years, but there’s so many people who do a few of these reality shows and think they own the world. Jake isn’t one of those and that’s why he’s still around doing what he’s doing.”

Kerry has had to deal with her children being plunged into the public eye as a result of her fame, but she said it’s helped them develop a mental strength.

She said: “I don’t let them have a private social media account, I make it public because it’s something they have to deal with, that’s the world. Other people’s opinion does not define you as a person, I tell them to just enjoy the highs.

“Whenever I get asked to go on these shows, whether it’s Coach Trip, Big Brother, SAS… Who Dares Wins, I think of it as an adventure. It’s nothing to do with the fame or whatever, it’s all being filmed and I have it all there on memory.

“It’s just an experience. I’m dead lucky to be in this position and be who I am, and be able to bring my children into the experience, above all else I’m just so lucky. Every day I get imposter syndrome, I just feel blessed.”

Kerry launched her account on OnlyFans, a content subscription site online used primarily by sex workers, in 2020 and it turned her life around, making her a millionaire again. She told us an amusing encounter with Denise Welch in Waitrose about her OnlyFans account.

“I bumped into Denise Welch in Waitrose and it was so funny, I haven’t seen Denise in years and I’ve known her for so long.

“We were stood in the dog aisle and she was asking me about OnlyFans and feet pictures, standard stuff, and she said ‘can you imagine if someone saw us two talking about bloody feet pics in the dog aisle of Waitrose?!’

“So I posted about that I saw her there and someone said ‘oh it must be nice to afford to shop at Waitrose’. I responded with: ‘Who said anything about buying stuff? I only went there because I’m banned from Iceland!”

Away from pantomimes, we asked Kerry who her ideal three dinner party guests would be, dead or alive. Her answer? “Jesus Christ, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.”

As for Lilly, she said: “The 2022 cast of Cinderella at New Theatre Royal.” What a professional.

Cinderella will run at Lincoln’s New Theatre Royal between December 9, 2022 and January 8, 2023 – with adult tickets starting from £26. They are available now from the theatre website.

Due to the rising cost of living, the New Theatre Royal has introduced payment plans to spread the price of the tickets across separate dates. More information on these payment plans can again be found on the NTR website.

As the curtain came down on our interview, Kerry told us what you can expect from this year’s panto: “It’s a family affair, we want everyone to come, Christmas is such a special time and all we want to do is entertain everyone and give them a great time.

“Get your tickets, I know times are tough and that’s why we’ve got these payment plans for you, we just want to get you in seats, make you smile and create memories.

“Pantomime keeps this beautiful theatre going, it’s been here since 1893 so let’s keep it going. We need you, you need us, it’s what Christmas is all about isn’t it!”