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Celebrity

02nd Jan 2024

Kerry Katona gets candid about not paying for her daughter to go to sixth form

Jody Coffey

Kerry Katona

“I refuse to pay for that because she’s not in school enough as it is and she hates it”

Kerry Katona has explained her reasoning for not funding her daughter’s final two years of education.

In the UK, sixth form is where young people can study A levels and sometimes vocational qualifications and has a duration of two years for students between the ages of 16 and 18 after they have finished their formal education at the end of year 11.

The TV personality, however, says she ‘refuses’ to pay for her daughter Heidi, 16, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Mark Croft, to go to sixth form.

In her ‘New!’ magazine column, Kerry explains her decision to not pay for her final stage of secondary school.

The former ‘Atomic Kitten’ band member says that as Heidi comes to a crossroads with her education, she keeps changing her mind about what to do next.

“She asked to carry on her studies in a private school’s sixth form but I refuse to pay for that because she’s not in school enough as it is and she hates it,” the mum-of-five writes.

She adds that if her daughter had a more concrete plan for her future career, she would pay for whatever that was.

“It’d be different if she decided she wanted to go to drama school – I would pay for that because she’s a born star and is really good.

“I can see her being famous and she could build a name for herself if she posted relatable TikToks or something, but does any 16-year-old ever listen to their mum?”

This comes following a heartbreaking omission by Kerry in 2022 in her column about Heidi’s battles with anxiety.

The mum believes that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Heidi’s self-confidence more than it did for her other children.

“I don’t think the pandemic had that much of an effect on my children in that sense, but Heidi suffers with anxiety and a lack of self-confidence in general. 

“And she has got to a point where she’s spoken like that. She once sat on her bed and told me she didn’t want to be here any more.”

“It broke my heart and I cried my eyes out.” 

Kerry shares Heidi and her brother Maxwell, 15, with her ex-husband, Mark Croft, who she was married to between 2007 and 2011.

The TV personality is also mum to Lilly-Sue, 19, and Molly, 20, whom she shares with Brian McFadden.

Her youngest child is Dylan-Jorge (DJ), whom she shares with the late George Kay.

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