Atomic Kitten singer Liz McClarnon on being back together with band and her …

ATOMIC Kitten beauty Liz McClarnon believes rejoining the pop trio will prove the perfect tonic for troubled Kerry Katona.

The group, who found fame in the 90s, are heading back on the road as part of the Another Time Another Place package tour that will also include sets by All Saints, East 17, Let Loose and Big Brovaz.

And Liz, 33, believes the dates come at the perfect time for twice-divorced Kerry, who was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder in 2007 and has twice faced bankruptcy.

Liz says Kerry, who is engaged to George Kay, 40, is turning her life around, having just given birth to her fifth child, their daughter, Jorgie.

“Kerry has come out at the end of a tunnel,” said Liz.

“Everyone knows she has been through a lot and made some mistakes but also she has come through them.

“She is just a different person.

“She is happy and positive and because she is bipolar she works really hard to keep herself together.

“It’s really nice to see.

“Obviously we’ve known each other since we were kids and I’m just proud of her because she’s handling it really well.

“We are very close these days. I am going to be a bridesmaid at her wedding to her partner George.

“Her life is something that is very different to mine.

“Everything she does is out there in the public eye and she knows I am really private, but what’s great is that we are still really close. She added: I feel sad about that because we found out that all Kerry ever wanted was to be a good mum and have a family home.”

Kerry was replaced by Jenny Frost when she quit the group to start a family with first husband, former Westlife singer Brian McFadden and rejoined when the group reformed in 2012.

“After Jenny replaced her, Kerry kept saying over and over again that it was weird that people didn’t realise she had been in Atomic Kitten,” said Liz.

“She realises that a lot of people know her from reality TV, and that’s how she got most of her fame, but she loves the fact that she can come back to what she started out in.”

The Kittens, who sold 10 million records worldwide, will feature the original line-up – Liz, Kerry and Natasha Hamilton – as they perform more than a dozen Top 10 hits and three No1 singles – Whole Again, Eternal Flame and The Tide Is High – on the upcoming tour.

Natalie and Nicole Appleton, Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis also return as All Saints, performing their hits from the 1990s, which include No1 songs such as Pure Shores and Under The Bridge.

East 17 enjoyed 12 Top 10 singles between 1992 and 1998 – including Stay Another Day, West End Girls and Thunder – and join the tour along with Let Loose, best known for their hits Crazy For You, One Night Stand and Best Of Me.

Perhaps less well known are Mobo award-winning RB and hip-hop act Big Brovaz. Their debut single, Nu Flow, made the top three.

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Natasha, who is dating Ritchie Neville of boy band Five, is expecting her fourth child just weeks before the concert tour.

“She’s good and she is showing quite a lot,” Liz said. “She is due a month before the tour starts, but she is determined and totally up for it so it will be fine. She does know what to expect. If it was me I’d need three years off.

“I’d love to have kids, but it’s not just about children for me. It’s about having the perfect unit. M aybe perfect doesn’t exist, but at least the right unit.

“It’s about finding the right person before I can think about children, but I love the idea of it.

“I was with a dear friend of mine and we dated for about two years, but we split up. We realised friendship was more important.

“We absolutely love each other and we’ve remained close, but it is upwards and onwards I guess.”

Tickets for the eight arena dates, which include a concert at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on November 21, go on sale today.

The shows follow the hugely successful Big Reunion dates that came off the back of the hit ITV2 show of the same name.

Liz said: “The Big Reunion went nuts and everyone just loved it.

“This will be our third reunion tour in 18 months.

“Everyone is loving the whole nostalgia thing at the minute.

“Apparently, we are a heritage band now and I would definitely say Atomic Kitten are at the forefront of bands reuniting.

“People have been really positive and really kind.”

Liz, who has launched a swimwear range and is set to include a lingerie line, The Liz McLarnon Collection for Fashion World, in July, said: “This has been a whirlwind this past year. Everything is going amazing.

“The swimwear has already come out and I’m on a diet at the minute because I have a lingerie range coming out in July and the photo shoot is next week.

“You know what I’m like. I’m like a rabbit in the headlights when I have to wear anything skimpy, so I’m really scared.

“But I get bored easily, so I like to do lots of things.”

Liz is also working on a TV career that has, so far, included winning Celebrity Masterchef in 2008 and appearing in Market Kitchen on the Good Food Channel.

“We’re in talks about a new cooking show and I’ve had a couple of meetings about it today,” said Liz.

“I’m going to America next month to have conversations, as well as being in talks for daytime TV.”

She added: “The Big Reunion was last year and this year we have the tour in November with bands like All Saints and East 17, which is great.

“I absolutely love that we’re doing it. We were all really wary at first, but I was always a bit more fragile than anyone else.

“I was a bit scared about going back into it and becoming that girl mentally and emotionally, because I have forged ahead personally and in other ways.

“It is three really old friends going and having a laugh together now and again and occasionally having to do a bit of hard work, which is the tour.

“I never expected The Big Reunion to be ITV2’s biggest show. We had millions of viewers every week.

“The first show we did sold out within five minutes and the arena tour sold out in a few days.

“We never thought that would happen to us, so this is a dream come true.

“It’s like being able to do your hobby. Some people go horse riding, we like to get on stage at big arenas.

“We are the luckiest people to be able to do that again, without the pressure of singles.

“The main thing we have to worry about is that we don’t fall a*** over t**s onstage.”

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