Kerry meets up with ‘bad boy’ ex

After transforming her image, Kerry Katona is back in touch with her ex, Jayden Fresh, despite pals warning her about his fame-hungry ways

She was S refreshingly honest about her roller-coaster love life last week, saying her soon-to-be ex-husband George Kay “held me back and put me down” during their on/off three-year marriage, adding that she finally lives in a “happy house”.

And mum-of-five Kerry Katona – who has undergone an image overhaul, losing 3st and shrinking from a size 14 to an 8 through a combination of daily yoga and weight-loss injections – also revealed that she is ready to meet a new man. She said, “I want to meet someone who has kids already, who is ready to enjoy life with me.”

Pals of the star say her new image hasn’t escaped the notice of old flame and former Ex On The Beach star Jayden Fresh, whom she briefly dated in 2016. Sources close to the pair reveal they recently met up.

An insider says, “Jayden got back in touch with Kerry shortly after she split from George last summer, and they were exchanging texts for a while. They’ve always been in contact on social media, so he asked her if she wanted to meet up and she figured why not. She’s been missing male attention since splitting from George.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

“They went to a restaurant for dinner. It was all quite casual. She had a nice night and left feeling really good and confident. But she’s been coy about whether they’re going to meet up again.”

Friends of the Atomic Kitten singer, 37, were rumoured to be unhappy when she first started dating toyboy Jayden, 32, in 2016 while on a break from George. He had bragged about sleeping with Miss Puerto Rico, an X Factor

judge and a Sugababe, and pals worried the personal trainer was a ‘bad boy’ using her for fame.

Former Celebrity Big Brother star Tiffany Pollard spoke to Closer at the time, saying she had met Jayden on the party scene and that he was “fame hungry”, and she warned Kerry that dating him would be a huge mistake.

The following summer, she went public with comedian James English not long after her split from George. She posted a string of loved-up pictures with the comic, but the pair split shortly afterwards in October, just weeks after he said in an interview that she was just “a bit of casual sex” and admitted, “She’s more famous than me... I’m just using her now to get somewhere.”

But insiders say Kerry has reassured her pals she’s just having fun at the moment.

The source says, “Kerry doesn’t want things with Jayden to lead to anything serious. He’s too young for her to settle down with, but she wanted a bit of fun. She is up for dating again. The divorce is going through with George and she feels ready to meet a new man. Seeing Jayden was a way for her to get back in the swing of things, rather than her seeing him as the next potential Mr Katona.”

CALLING TIME

Kerry married George in September 2014, but the pair split several times before finally calling time on their relationship last June.

Now Kerry – mum to Molly,

16, Lilly, 14, Heidi, 11, and Max, nine, from previous marriages, and three-year-old daughter Dylan-jorge with George – is facing a divorce battle with him. Pals say she is nervous about facing him in court, but is determined not to let him ruin her happiness.

An insider reveals, “Kerry is dreading a courtroom showdown with George, but she’s trying to put it to the back of her mind. After going on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan said he’d help revive her TV career, she feels unstoppable at the moment.”