Iceland axes Kerry Katona after drugs story
Kerry Katona has been dropped as the face of supermarket chain Iceland following allegations that she took cocaine. The News Of The World published photographs and video footage of the 28-year-old mother allegedly showing her snorting the class A drug in her home in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Iceland said that while the company had stood by her during earlier personal difficulties, it was now 'impossible' for her to continue in its advertising campaigns. The former Atomic Kitten singer has had public battles with alcohol and drugs and has fronted the supermarket's advertising campaigns for four years. In a statement, Iceland said: "We have always stood by her, as an example of a normal person and mum who has experienced some of the modern-day culture of fame, and how difficult it can be to deal with. "However, following the most recent allegations, we feel it is impossible for Kerry to continue to work with us as one of the faces of Iceland advertising." Katona, who had two children with Westlife singer Bryan McFadden and two more with Mark Croft, won the Best Celebrity Mother award in 2004 and 2005, though she was criticised for smoking and drinking while pregnant. She has been the subject of several reality TV shows on MTV, most recently Kerry Katona: What's The Problem?, charting her attempt to understand and come to terms with her mental illness, also an interview on This Morning last October earned Katona a large measure of notoriety.
Get the What to Watch Newsletter
The latest updates, reviews and unmissable series to watch and more!
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.