Kerry Katona has said she’d happily let her eldest daughters Molly, 19, and Lilly-Sue, 18, join a dating app.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the Atomic Kitten star, 40, who met her fiancé Ryan Mahoney on Bumble, said that as long as her children are ‘safe’ she has no qualms with letting them search for love online
Kerry’s admission comes as she and Ryan Mahoney, 32, announced the launch of their own dating app Marnii, which aims to help singletons find long-term love at home at a time when England is still in lockdown.
EXCLUSIVE: Kerry Katona has said she’d happily let her eldest daughters Molly, 19, and Lilly-Sue, 18, join a dating app
Kerry told MailOnline she’s never had any objections to her daughters signing up for dating app, given she met her husband-to-be Ryan on a similar platform.
She said: ‘I’ve told Molly and Lily they’ve already signed up for it. Molly’s 20 this year and Lily’s 18 so I think people forget Molly and Lily are grown women now.
‘I’m not asking to go on there just to s**g about, if that’s what they want to do then that’s what they want to do as long as they’re b****y safe about it.
‘I’m like get on there go find love, get out there get dating of course. I may have forced them to sign up.’
Candid: The Atomic Kitten star, 40, who met her fiancé Ryan Mahoney on Bumble, said that as long as her children are ‘safe’ she has no qualms with letting them search for love online
Kerry is mother to daughters Molly and Lilly-Sue with singer Brian McFadden. She shares children Heidi, 13, and Max, 12, with former husband Mark Croft, and son Dylan-Jorge, six, with her ex George Kay.
The star also admitted that it’s taken many years to learn how to love herself and it was that self-worth that helped her realise she could find love again after three broken marriages.
She continued: ‘I think for so long I was pretending in my relationships, I had to prove I was so happy and loved-up.
‘I’ve even had to go on TV and justify whatever partner I’ve been with their actions and lie and pretend we’re so happy when it’s all b******t.
Why not? She said: ‘Molly’s 20 this year and Lily’s 18 so I think people forget Molly and Lily are grown women now’ (Kerry pictured with Lily)
‘My Instagram is a reflection of that,you don’t see many pictures of me and Ryan together on Instagram because I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
‘All that matters is me, Ryan and the kids that’s all that matters. I’m not ”oh my god I’ve got to have another baby, oh my god I’ve got to get married” we’ve been together three years and normally after three years I’m engaged, got married, got pregnant, had a baby and divorced.
‘This time we’ve only just got engaged so ‘were doing things completely different this time.’
Family: Kerry added: ‘I’m not asking to go on there just to s**g about, if that’s what they want to do then that’s what they want to do as long as they’re b****y safe about it’ (pictured with Molly)
Kerry and Ryan have just announced the launch of their own dating app Marnii, after meeting on a similar platform three years earlier.
Working with Appmi, the couple have created a platform that provides an inclusive experience to connect with like-minded people and build new relationships
Explaining their ideas behind the app, Ryan said: ‘It’s a reflection of our journey so far, it’s come about quite naturally and just as time got by more and more ideas have been coming into play with it, and we’ve just been adamant that we want to make an app.
‘We came up with the name through my surname, everyone says Mahoney like all my friends but it’s pronounces Marney so it’s pronounced like that, me and Kerry talked it through and we just really wanted to do it, so it just fell together really nicely and we’re gonna take it as far as we can go.’
Exciting: Kerry and Ryan have just announced the launch of their own dating app Marnii, after meeting on a similar platform three years earlier
Kerry added: ‘I think for me when I split up with George I was 36 and I actually thought ”that’s it I’m done. I’m obviously no good at being in a relationship they’ve all failed I shouldn’t be in a relationship” and I kind of gave up.
‘But then I started to work on myself and love me and that’s something I really had to try and do but I thought I didn’t deserve to be in love as I’d failed so much, but who says that?
‘I deserve to be loved and love somebody, as much as I love my kids I’ve been married, divorced, married, divorced or widowed, everyone deserves their happy ever after and that’s why I’m trying to show in the dating app as well.’
Kerry added that despite being eight years older than Ryan the age gap between them wasn’t something she learned until they met in person.
She said: ‘I’ve been on a date with someone younger than me but I’ve never been in a relationship with someone this much younger than me ever. And I probably would never in a million years would date somebody who is eight years younger than me.’
Self-love: The star also admitted that it’s taken many years to learn how to love herself and it was that self-worth that helped her realise she could find love again
Ryan added: ‘I just think if it works it works!’
‘Even though Kerry’s in the limelight, very famous, we’re still very normal at the same time, we’ve been going on dates in the countryside.’
Kerry clarified that she waited for three months before introducing Ryan to her children, and his family didn’t learn about their relationship until they made things Instagram official six months in.
She told MailOnline: ‘We kept it really quiet, we’d been together for six months and only when I put it officially on my Instagram did Ryan tell his family. Ryan’s a very quiet person, a very private person, it’s no one’s business.’
Ryan continued: ‘I’m really laid-back with it all to be honest. I have quite a small close group of friends, and I think I only mentioned it to my best mate who I was at the gym with every day.
Brushed it off: Kerry added that despite being eight years older than Ryan the age gap between them wasn’t something she learned until they met in person
‘I knew I could trust him, it wasn’t something I’d brag about or that she’s famous. I just took it as a normal relationship, obviously it’s a bit different to your average relationship.’
After a year which has seen much of the UK holed up in lockdown, like many parents Kerry has struggled with homeschooling her three youngest children.
She said: ‘So the first lockdown just the way Ryan was breathing was p*****g me off, as all couples struggle but this second lockdown we’ve been more at home.
‘Max and Heidi are not that bad… obviously they have to log on at 20 to 9 in the morning, I get them up at 8 which is late compared to when they go to school. They walk down in their pyjamas, eating their breakfast.
Holding off: The star said she waited three months before introducing Ryan to her children, and his family didn’t learn about their relationship until they made it Instagram official
‘I’m really scared and worried about the next generation of children because my Max and Heidi had an opportunity to go to school, you’d think I’d just told them they had to go murder somebody. Even DJ for me has been a real struggle.
‘I’ve sat down with DJ on many occasions and I can’t really understand what I’m meant to teach her. I’m intelligent, but I’m dyslexic not good with spellings and maths so I struggle with that.
‘Lily and Molly have been massive helps with teaching DJ. I can’t wait to get back to school, I’m thinking of selling them all on eBay actually!
‘I’m just trying to be teacher, but I’m like I can’t understand it,and then I get so frustrated because I feel like I’m letting them down. We’re like DJs parents and she won’t listen to us. I say ”do you talk to your teacher like that when you’re in school, why are you talking to me like that?”
‘So it’s really frustrating and very difficult and I’m completely on the same level of all the other parents.’
Marnii is available to download for iPhone and Android devices.
Candid: Ryan added: ‘Even though Kerry’s in the limelight, very famous, we’re still very normal at the same time, we’ve been going on dates in the countryside’