Kerry Katona has addressed a bizarre incident that left fans doing a double-take last week – a fake pregnancy reveal photo featuring her and boyfriend Paolo. The former Atomic Kitten star revealed in her latest column that she and Paolo were completely taken aback by the AI-generated image, which showed the couple holding a baby scan.

“I actually got my hopes up when I saw it!” Kerry admitted with her usual candid humour. “It was absolutely ridiculous, but I couldn’t help a little flutter of excitement before realising it wasn’t real.”

Kerry, 45, explained that while the prank made her laugh at first, she also felt it crossed a line. “Jokes aside, I think it’s a little bit insensitive to create those things,” she wrote. She went on to reflect on her personal feelings about motherhood and the unpredictability of life at her age.

“I’m a 45-year-old woman who would really love to have another baby, but I don’t know whether it will happen or not,” Kerry admitted. “I think AI in that sense is getting out of hand. It’s one thing to use technology creatively, but when it’s used to create false stories about real people’s lives, it’s a little cruel.”

Despite the disappointment, Kerry remained upbeat and hopeful. She made it clear she isn’t closing the door on the possibility of expanding her family in the future. “I’d love for that picture to have been real and I’ll keep hoping it does happen, but for now, I’m definitely not pregnant!”

Kerry is already a mum of five children; she shares Molly, 24, and Lilly, 22, with first husband Brian McFadden, middle children Heidi, 18, and Max, 17, with second husband Mark Croft and youngest DJ, 11, with late husband George Kay, who passed away in 2019.

While Paolo is a dad of two daughters from his previous relationship. And our source says that despite it being a while since Kerry has been changing nappies, she’s feeling more than ready.

Kerry and Paolo met on Celebs Go Dating earlier this year, following her split from fiance and partner of six years Ryan Mahoney last November, and have been going from strength to strength since. Earlier this month, the former singer gushed over how the pair have blended their families together so seamlessly.

Paolo and Kerry

“This week I’ve been super busy touring, but I did have a day with Paolo and the kids – my lot and his two girls – which was lovely. I love spending time with his girls; it’s such a nice feeling to have little ones around again. We’ve blended our families together seamlessly and everything fits into place perfectly,” wrote Kerry.

Kerry also shared in her column that she was “open” to expanding her brood, and detailed how her other children would be supportive of the decision. She said: “Everything has gone so smoothly with me and Paolo. I’m definitely open to having more kids – and I know my children would be happy for me, if that was the case.”

This comes after just last week, Kerry opened up about welcoming a new baby into her family and said that her kids would be happy for her if she decided to have another baby with her boyfriend, who is 10 years younger. While discussing her relationship with new boyfriend Paolo Margaglione, whom she met on Celebs Go Dating this summer, Kerry gushed over how ‘smooth’ her relationship has been.

Kerry made the admission as she gave her opinion on Jamie Redknapp having another baby with his new wife, Frida , and how his eldest son, from a previous relationship, wasn’t best pleased. While Kerry said she ‘understands’ that it can be difficult when you ‘have children with new partners’, she is ‘lucky’ as her kids would be ‘happy’ for her to have a baby with Paolo.

Kerry said: “Jamie Redknapp said last week that his eldest son wasn’t a bit happy when he told him he was going to have a baby with his now-wife, Frida. I completely understand how hard it can be when you have children with new partners and try to blend them into the family. But it seems like everything has worked out for them now. I’m quite lucky in that respect with my family.”

She added in her weekly column with new! magazine: “Everything has gone so smoothly with me and Paolo. I’m definitely open to having more kids – and I know my children would be happy for me, if that was the case.”