Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton has opened up about her upsetting time in the chart-topping pop band in the new BBC documentary series, Girlbands Forever
09:25, 29 Oct 2025
Kerry and Natasha clashed while in Atomic Kitten(Image: Tim Roney/Getty Images)
Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton has opened up about a past confrontation with former bandmate Kerry Katona that left her in tears.
Speaking on the new BBC documentary series, Girlbands Forever, Natasha reveals her early struggles when she joined the band at just 16 years old. She was brought in by manager Martin O’Shea and 80s pop star Andy McCluskey to join original members Kerry and Liz McClarnon in 1999.
“It was difficult even at the beginning,” admits Natasha. “Liz and Kerry had been together a good 18 months and they were thick as thieves. On the second audition day they put me with the girls so I went to their flat to learn some dance moves and just being an excitable 16-year-old, when Kerry was teaching me the moves, I was like, ‘Oh, what about if we did this?’ Kerry didn’t like that.”
Natasha appears in the BBC documentary Girlbands Forever
“She went back to Andy and Martin and said, ‘I don’t like her. If she’s in the band, I’m leaving.'”
“I remember crying my eyes out because I just knew this was the opportunity that I’d been waiting for because it was backed by Andy and he had proper studios and there was money behind it.”
To Natasha’s surprise, Andy and Martin were so impressed with her vocals and her ideas that they stuck by her. “They actually backed me,” says Natasha. “They said, ‘Well, she is in the band, Kerry, so if you wanna leave, leave.’ They just called her bluff.”
Despite their rocky start, the pair soon became close friends and Kerry moved into Natasha’s home.
Natasha Hamilton, 43, has opened up about her time in Atomic Kitten and how she felt like the “little sister” that Kerry Katona tried to look after. She said: “We ended up slowly getting a bit more pally. I was like the little sister that she tried to look after.”
“We went on holidays together you know so we kind of went from that initial butting heads to being the best of friends.”
Natasha Hamilton, Kerry Katona and Liz McLarnon in 1999
However, when Kerry left the band in 2001 due to her pregnancy, Natasha felt the weight of the band fall onto her shoulders. She recalled: “I can specifically remember going home one time after being on tour and both of the girls had been poorly, but the show kept on. When the [other] girls were sick, we still did all our gigs because I would cover their vocal parts. Whenever I was sick the show would have to be pulled. So I had this mega load of pressure for me to always perform.”
“I can remember being sat on the living room floor and crying. And my mum and dad going, ‘What’s wrong?’ I just explained, ‘I’m struggling.'”
In response to her daughter’s struggles, Natasha’s mother stepped in with some strong words for the band’s management.
“She was saying, ‘You need to look after my daughter more. She’s just as important as everyone else, stop putting all the pressure on her shoulders,'” remembers Natasha.
Girlbands Forever is on BBC Two on Saturday 1 November at 9.20pm.
