Katona 'set for Corrie role'

Troubled celebrity Kerry Katona is set to star in ‘Coronation Street’, it has emerged.

Producers on the ITV soap reportedly want to offer the troubled mother-of-four a role as a “mouthy new battleaxe” – if she is not charged following her arrest last week for assaulting her accountant, David McHugh.

A source said: “There are a number of plans for new characters joining the show and it was felt she would be perfect for someone loud, brash, screeching and wicked.

“Everyone knows Kerry comes with baggage and whether recent events will force a change of heart we don’t know.

“But when you look back, ‘Coronation Street’ has been very tolerant and supportive when actors have had their ups and downs. It was only really Bruce Jones, who played Les Battersby, who was shown the door fairly sharpish when he embarrassed the programme with his drink-related incidents.”

The former Atomic Kitten star recently lost her lucrative £250,000 (€283,158)-a-year contract advertising frozen food chain Iceland after footage was published of her allegedly snorting cocaine, but programme chiefs are confident she can turn around her reputation.

The source added to Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: “There are people out there who still believe Kerry, on the right track, is popular and liked. There is also a feeling she could take to a part like this like a duck to water.”