She smoked her last cigarette in January last year – and Kerry Katona believes the decision could have saved her life.
As Covid-19 ravaged her lungs last December, the reality star admits she felt like someone had “looked after” her, as she decided to end a 26-year habit of smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day at the most crucial time.
“I’d been smoking since I was 14,” says Kerry, 40. “If I was still a smoker, this would have been different. I had the worst cough ever. I felt like I had a mask on my lungs. I was coughing so much I was being sick. I knew when the virus left me, because I’d coughed that much it was like coughing up a furball.”
Celebs on the Farm star Kerry, who still feels lethargic from the virus, is grateful she decided to pack up fags.
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“There was one cigarette left in my packet on January 1,” she adds. “I went to my back door, I smoked it, flicked it and went: ‘I’m done.’ I’ve not had a puff since. Then the pandemic came in March. I said: ‘Somebody is looking after me.’ It makes me feel like I’ve got proper superpowers.
“I’m so lucky and so blessed. Not everyone has had that kind of an outcome.”
- Celebs on the Farm premieres Monday at 9pm on MTV, and continues every week night for two weeks
