Kerry Katona’s fears for daughter Lilly, 21, after Jay Slater tragic death as she heads off on holiday
KERRY Katona has admitted she is worried about her daughter Lilly-Sue going abroad with pals in the wake of the Jay Slater tragedy.
The mum-of-five has shared her fears for her 21-year-old following the British teenager’s death in Tenerife.
Jay, 19, had travelled to the Spanish island with friends before vanishing after a night out on June 17.
Sadly, Jay’s remains were discovered in a ravine 29 days later.
Kerry, who found fame in pop band Atomic Kitten, has now admitted the news story has made her more wary about Lilly going on holiday with her pals.
The star, 43, made the confession while writing in her weekly column with OK! magazine.
Kerry began by revealing that Lilly and her elder sister Molly – both of whom she shares with her Westlife star ex husband Brian McFadden – are due to stay with her for a week this summer.
The sisters currently live in Ireland and Kerry admitted she hasn’t seen Molly for a year, despite speaking to her daily on the phone.
Kerry added: “Lilly is getting on great too, she’s really settled and has got a good job over in Ireland, I’m proud of her.”
She continued: “I’ve done my parenting bit and now it’s their turn to live lives. Although Lilly is going on holiday soon and I do worry about her – especially after this whole Jay Slater news – it doesn’t get easier.”
Kerry has five children with three different dads.
Molly and Lilly are her eldest. She was married to pop star Brian from 2002 to 2006.
Kerry is also mum to 17-year-old daughter Heidi and son Max, 15. She shares them with her ex husband Mark Croft, who she was married to from 2007 to 2011.
The star’s youngest child, Dylan Jorge – aka DJ – is 10. Kerry had DJ with her third husband George Kay, who she married in 2014.
Kerry and George were only wed for a year before splitting. In 2019, George – who was abusive during their relationship – died from an overdose.
Last week, Kerry opened up on her personal life during a very candid chat with podcaster Abbey Clancy.
THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF JAY SLATER
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished in Tenerife on June 19, 2024.
The apprentice bricklayer, who flew out to the popular holiday island for a rave festival with friends Lucy Law and Brad Page, has made headlines around the country.
On Sunday June 16 the three of them headed off to one of the events at Papagayo nightclub.
In the early hours of Monday 17 – Lucy and Brad were ready to head back to their hotel, but Jay wanted to keep partying.
It was then that he left the south of the island and headed to an Airbnb in the northwest with two British men.
The Sun revealed the identity of one of them – convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, who spent nine years behind bars in the UK.
For days it was thought that the second mystery man went by the name ‘Johnny Vegas’.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who was in Tenerife investigating, later said Qassim told him he is in fact the man behind the nickname ‘Johnny Vegas’.
The identity of the second man – who remained a key part of the puzzle in Jay’s mysterious disappearance – is still unknown.
Qassim claimed he drove Jay and the friend back to their accommodation and said they all went to sleep.
In the morning he offered to drive the teen back to the Los Cristianos resort after a nap, but Jay, hungry and tired, said he wanted to leave immediately.
Lucy, the last person to speak to Jay, claims she had a panicked call from him soon after he left the holiday let, telling her he was lost and thirsty, his phone was about to die and that he’d been cut by a cactus.
Jay had been seen by the owner of the Airbnb that morning wandering around near the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous region close-by.
He is believed to have been attempting the 11-hour trek back to his hotel, despite the alleged offer of a lift and more buses scheduled for the day. It was there that his phone last pinged.
29 days later, on Monday July 15, Spanish police confirmed remains had been found in a ravine close to where his phone had pinged.
Jay’s body was formally identified and his mum, Debbie Duncan, said the family’s “hearts were broken”.
Speaking specifically about George, Kerry said that ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ meant she ended up loving him the most out of her three husbands.
She told Abbey on the Exhibit A pod: “When I met George he was just out for kidnapping and torture and I thought, ‘Oh, I will have a bit of you’.
“I would say George was probably the love of my life not Brian. But I don’t know if that was because he was so controlling.
“You get so manipulated, what is it? Stockholm Syndrome? You get so manipulated that they pull you in.
“When I got a good hiding, I would apologise, I would be on my hands and knees saying ‘I’m so sorry’.”
George died of an overdose after biting into a ball of cocaine in front of staff at a Holiday Inn.
Kerry is now happily engaged to her fiancé Ryan Mahoney, who she says is a great father figure to her kids.
