Kerry Katona
Our columnist Kerry Katona is struggling to cope following the tragic death of her estranged husband
George Kay’s death has left Kerry Katona devastated and unable to write her regular column this week – with her management telling new! she’s “too distressed to speak right now”.
As we went to press, details of the tragedy were largely unknown, but it’s been reported that 39-year-old George suffered a drug overdose at home and was declared dead shortly after his arrival at hospital in Cheshire on Saturday 6 July.
A source close to Kerry, who was estranged from George but has a five-year-old daughter Dylan-jorge with him, has revealed just how hard the news has hit her.
“She’s absolutely distraught,” we were told. “It’s DJ she truly feels for. Kerry’s heart breaks for her knowing she’ll grow up
without a father. Whatever George had done – and it was a troubled relationship – DJ now doesn’t have a dad and that is devastating for Kerry.
Her friends are genuinely worried about her right now.”
Although George had well documented problems with his mental health and drug addiction, Kerry was dealt a further blow just hours after his death when custody campaigners Fathers4justice told her she
“had blood on her hands”.
Founder Matt O’connor tweeted from the organisation’s official account, “Tragic news about the passing of George Kay who came to Fathers4justice for help. He was heartbroken after @Kerrykatona7 denied him access to daughter Dylan-jorge. Katona’s not ‘heartbroken’. She has blood on her hands.”
More tweets followed, including evidence of a letter George had written asking them for help, which said it was “very important that I maintain the fantastic bond that I have with my daughter”. There was also a link to an article in which they accuse Kerry of “exploiting” George’s mental health issues “to deny him access to his daughter”.
At one point, the account was suspended after a bomb threat was reportedly made by a Kerry fan. Many of her supporters slammed Matt’s tweets as
“sick” and “heartless”.
Our source said the slurs have left an already fragile Kerry at her wits’ end.
“She’s fuming with Fathers4 Justice,” our insider said. “Their version of events is completely distorted. They have a false picture of what happened and she’s really, really upset that they would attack her so publicly at this time. To get that amount of personal abuse from a wellrespected organisation is pretty awful, especially when they don’t know all the facts. It’s really stressed her out and really upset her.”
This was evident last week when Kerry broke her silence to retweet her daughter Lilly’s message to F4J.
Furious Lilly, 16, wrote, “I find your tweets repulsive and insensitive. You did not know George like we did and to have the audacity to speak of my mother who put her neck on the line for that man on countless occasions when no decent human would is vile.”
She added, “We’re in mourning and people like you are poisonous.”
Kerry’s eldest daughter Molly also tweeted, calling the attack “extremely insensitive”.
Last week Kerry was seen out in Warrington with DJ and her mum Sue, looking tired and sad. She was wearing a badge that read, “Hello, I’m trying my best” – another indication that she is struggling with the tragic news. George and Kerry had a troubled relationship and hadn’t spoken in a year at the time of his death. She had a restraining order against him after claiming he had been physically and emotionally abusive toward her throughout their five-year relationship and it’s alleged he was penniless and living with his parents before he passed away.
The pair originally met in high school in Warrington and reconnected in 2012. They wed in 2014, shortly after DJ’S birth, but the marriage only lasted a year before they split – although they did keep the public guessing by reuniting several times.
Eventually divorce papers were served in 2017, but at the time of George’s death the pair were technically still married, effectively making
Kerry a widow.
George’s mental health began to deteriorate after he moved out of Kerry’s home, which she shares with her children, and in 2017 he was seen naked and screaming on a rooftop in Merseyside, resulting in the police being called. This followed an arrest in 2014 after he was found wandering the roads of Oxfordshire in a distressed state and detained under the Mental Health Act.
“Whatever happened with George, there was something between them for a long time and this has and will continue to affect Kerry massively,” our source said. “They were troubled, but equally she loved him once. She’ll mourn this for a long time.”