Kerry Katona and Danniella Westbrook appeared on Monday’s Loose Women for an emotional interview about how they have bonded over their “parallel” lives.
On the show last week, Atomic Kitten star Kerry reached out to recovering dug addict Danniella, 44, and vowed to help the actress because she’s experienced her own personal battles.
The pair – who have both been addicted to cocaine – explained they want to encourage others to speak out and support each other.
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Before welcoming Danniella onto the panel, Kerry said: “I came off air [after last week’s show] and Danniella had got in touch. Which is amazing.”
“I know how hard it is to talk about addiction,” she continued. “There’s a sense of shame and embarrassment. But I think the fact she’s coming on to talk about it needs to be applauded.
“The world we live in today especially with social media, people are so quick to judge. It makes us feel better about ourselves if someone else’s life is worse than yours.”
Becoming emotional, the singer added: “We have lost so many amazing people to addiction, suicide and alcoholism because we’re all too afraid to speak out for help. It took me 10 years to reach out.”
As she came onto the show, former EastEnders star Danniella said her Twitter went “crazy” after Kerry’s appearance on the show.
During her appearance last week, Kerry told Danniella not to “suffer in silence” and give her “a bell or message on Twitter.”
Speaking about Kerry’s plea, Danniella said: “We’ve both had such parallel lives with abusive relationships, bad childhood, addiction.
“I’m 13 years clean, I’ve relapsed and relapsed and it is a struggle.”
“But to have a friend and a mentor in Kerry, I think it’s great,” she added. “When one is down, the other is up. I can ring Kerry and I know whatever I say to her is not going anywhere else.”
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Kerry, who has bipolar, said “moving miles away from everyone” helped her make a fresh start.
She said: “It’s about getting rid of your address book, and completely starting afresh.
“It was the hardest thing, but it’s not until you realise it yourself and reach out things get better.
“What’s kept me going is how Danniella has looked up to me.”
Danniella added: “We have one life and let’s give it the best shot we can. We’ve spent too much time ruining ourselves.”
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