Katona 'rejected' by Celeb Big Brother
Troubled reality star Kerry Katona has been rejected by Celebrity Big Brother following psychological tests, according to the papers. The News Of The World reports that the former Atomic Kitten singer and winner of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! was poised to enter the Big Brother house after sailing through interviews with producers. However earlier this month she was reportedly deemed unfit to appear after being sent for an assessment with a psychiatrist, as all would-be contestants are required to do. "Kerry is heartbroken - it's the first offer of work she's had in months and she's failed it because she isn't mentally well enough," a friend of Katona told the paper. She has bipolar disorder but controls it with medication. When she came back from the interview with the psychiatrist, she thought she'd done really well. But when Kerry got the call saying the deal was off, she was horrified." It is thought the star - who lost her deal as the face of supermarket chain Iceland earlier this year - would have pocketed around £250,000 for appearing on the show. Pop star Dane Bowers, US rapper MC Hammer, actress Pamela Anderson and Katie Price's on/off boyfriend Alex Reid are among those rumoured to be taking part in the show, which begins on January 3.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.