Kerry Katona's husband Mark Croft has denied that his wife was drunk when she appeared on 'This Morning' on Wednesday slurring her speech and generally looking a bit worse for wear.
He said: "Kerry and I are incredibly upset about the negative news stories that have surrounded her appearance on 'This Morning' yesterday. In particular, the accusations that she was drunk or had been drinking alcohol that morning. For the record, Kerry had not been drinking anything other than tea before the show. Kerry has always been honest about her bipolar depression for which she receives ongoing medical attention and takes prescription drugs daily. The treatment that she is on has side effects which include difficulty speaking and drowsiness. Kerry did attempt to explain this to Fern and Phil and is extremely offended that they continued to question her further, despite seeing her obvious distress at their ongoing line of questioning".
However, friends have been telling The Mirror that Katona was, in fact, still drunk from the night before, where she had reportedly been downing Sambuca shots backstage on ITV's 'Celebrity Juice'. One "friend" told the paper: "She's boozing more and more saying how she's going to get bladdered all the time. A lot of people are concerned and we're just hoping this is a wake-up call".
'This Morning' host Philip Schofield, meanwhile, has denied he and co-host Fern Britton set the former Atomic Kitten up by getting her onscreen in the shambolic state she was in and then grilling her about her drinking. He told Radio 1: "The last thing I want to do is to witness a car crash in front of my eyes. At no time were alcohol or drug issues going to be mentioned, because we've done that in the past. She ambushed herself by slurring her words. It's a shame that she feels that way because unfortunately she set herself up, or she was set up by the person who brought her in".
He added that Katona arrived so late for the interview they didn't have chance to speak to her before going on air, adding that had they done so they'd have suggested postponing the interview.
Elsewhere in Kerry news, frozen food firm Iceland has said they remain committed to working with the former pop come reality show star on their TV ad campaigns. A spokesman for the retailer told reporters: "Kerry is dependent on medication for her bi-polar disorder and if this medication isn't taken at the right time it will result in her appearing disorientated and slurring her words. On more than one occasion we have had first-hand experience of this, and after a short period Kerry has been fit to resume her work. We were unaware of her appearance on 'This Morning' and it is our opinion that Kerry should not have appeared on the programme".