Kerry Katona: My romance with Brian McFadden almost cost me my pop career

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Kerry Katona was almost "fired" from Atomic Kitten over her relationship with Brian McFadden.

The 38-year-old singer - who was joined in the group by Natasha Hamilton and Liz McClarnon - received a huge backlash from fans when it emerged she was dating the then-Westlife star and she admitted record company pressure led to them thinking twice about their future together.

Writing in her New! magazine column, she said: "When Brian was in Westlife, I'd get pelted with bottles and sent death threats from fans who genuinely believed he belonged to them. The backlash was so bad, I nearly got fired from Atomic Kitten for dating him. "Simon Cowell, who was looking after Westlife at the time, hated me back then and when he found out we were seeing each other, he threw a magazine at Brian's head. Even my bandmate Tash Hamilton turned against me and said she wasn't going to lose her career because of me."

The couple agreed to split up but later "secretly" got back together and went on to marry in 2002 but sadly split two years later.

Although they didn't last, Kerry - who has daughters Molly, 17, and Lilly-Sue, 15, with Brian, as well as three other children from her subsequent two marriages - is still thankful they were able to come out of such a difficult time together.

She said: "I was heartbroken and Brian and I stopped seeing each other as a result [of the backlash]. But Brian was always persistent and obsessed with being with me - so much so it put me off at the very beginning - and we secretly got back together. Obviously it all turned out fine. I married him and won Simon round, but it was a difficult time."