Kerry Katona has recalled a childhood Christmas where she and her mother ate corned beef and baked beans, after fleeing to a women's refuge.
The singer turned reality star was just nine when she and her mother spent time in the refuge.
In a miraculous twist, they had just been rehomed in time for the festive season, and were surprised on Christmas Day by a visit from kind-hearted refuge staff.
"I always remember being in a refuge with my mum and we’d just got re-homed. I was only nine," she told OK! magazine.
"The people from the refuge knocked on the door on Christmas Day with a bin bag of second-hand toys. We got a can of corned beef and some baked beans and I was really grateful."
The mother-of-five said those memories were why she now made such a huge effort to make Christmas special.
"That's why I like to go above and beyond for the kids – because I like to give them the Christmases I never had."
This Christmas Kerry will spend the day with her three youngest children, Heidi, 13, Max, 12, and Dylan-Jorge, six.
They will be joined by her fiancé, Ryan Mahoney.
Not present will be Kerry's two daughters with former husband Brian McFadden, with Lilly-Sue, 17, and Molly, 19 instead spending the holidays in Ireland with their grandparents.
Kerry, who is currently recovering after testing positive for coronavirus, said she was usually the first one up on Christmas Day, and waited for her children to come down and see their individual piles of gifts.
But no wrapping is allowed until the 40-year-old has grabbed a bin bag - ready for all the wrapping paper.
She told the publication of her plans: "We'll open a bottle of champagne and have a glass in the morning and then we'll get the dinner going while the kids are playing with their toys. It'll be lovely."
