Kerry Katona has defended her mother Sue after opening up about her distressing childhood.
The Atomic Kitten star, 44, revealed last week that she and her mother had to go into witness protection to hide from Sue’s abusive boyfriend Dave, who turned out to be Katona’s biological father.
The Celebs Go Dating star said she was “terrified” of Dave and witnessed “unspeakable” things as a child.
The former singer also shared that Sue introduced her to drugs when she was just 14, telling her it was “sherbet”.
On Tuesday, Katona fought back tears as she urged fans not to send Sue “hateful” messages and reiterated that “we all make mistakes”.
“It was a very, very long time ago and I love my mum dearly and my mum is not that person anymore, she's a much older lady now,” she said in a video on Instagram.
Katona went on: “So if anyone is thinking of sending her any messages hate, please don't.
“Please don't. We all make mistakes and my mum's childhood was awful and it's in the past and it's made me who I am today.”
In a lengthy caption alongside the clip, she added: “Me and my mum are living in the present in the moment I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for my mum who I love with all my heart and always will for those who are sending negativity and mean comments towards my mum.
“Please remember my mum is now a much older lady and not the woman she used to be it takes a lot to hold your hands up and take accountability for your mistakes which my mother has done and which I intern I’ve also done and every day each one of us including yourselves, we try and forgive ourselves for our mistakes just remember we all make them we’re all only human.
“All we can do now is try and be the better version of who we was yesterday and once again, thank you all so so much for all your beautiful heartfelt wonderful comments.”
She added: “Positivity and blessings to everybody that’s all I ever want.”
Katona discussed her harrowing childhood with Paul C Brunson on the latest episode of his podcast, We Need To Talk.
She recalled being immediately “terrified” of Sue’s boyfriend Dave, who she only learned was her biological father after his death.
The reality star said: “I had to pretend, had to call him dad. And I just had this instant fear of Dave, instant fear of him, like terrified of him.
“And I remember him walking in my bedroom - and the first time I met him, he just fell flat on his face, drunk. I knew I had to pretend and laugh, because I knew his aura. I could tell the kind of man he was going to be.
“This one time, I’d be seven or eight, maybe eight - babysitting on stale ketchup butties, because my mum was going on the p**s for three days. And I used to go do shopping by myself…
“But this one time I remember I was in bed, my mum had been out, and she came in and she sat next to me and said, ‘Dave asked me to marry him.’
“I went, ‘Don't do it, mum… He's going to beat you. He's really going to beat you up.’ She went, ‘Kerry, 16 years, he's never laid a finger on me.’
“The next night, she came home, black and blue, and she had a sawn-off shotgun to her head.”
Katona revealed she and Sue had to go into witness protection to flee the abuse.
“We had to go into hiding, and me mum had to dye her hair and we ended up in Manchester in a refuge. At one point, I couldn't go to school in case Dave kidnapped me, so I had to get home schooled,” she revealed.
“The situations I’ve been put in as a child are, some of them are unspeakable. Some of them are so unspeakable that no child should ever be in, ever.”
During the searingly emotional chat, the former Celebrity Big Brother star also recalled Sue giving her drugs when she was just 14.
She revealed her mother “rubbed” cocaine on her gums and “told me it was sherbet”.
