A woman has claimed she was dating Kerry Katona’s new boyfriend before he went on Celebs Go Dating where he met the singer.
Kerry, 44, went public with Paolo Margaglione, 33, last week, passionately kissing and holding hands with the personal trainer, who’s 10 years her junior.
But Kerry’s new romance, her first public relationship since splitting from ex-fiancé Ryan Mahoney last November, has been thrown into doubt amid claims Paolo is only interested in ‘fame’ and growing his public profile.
Paolo’s former girlfriend claims that she was dating him when he went on the E4 show and has accused him of two-timing her with the Atomic Kitten star.
Jessica Smith, 25, says father-of-two Paolo didn’t tell her he was going on the series – and only went on because he wants to further his career.
Heartbroken Jessica, a warehouse manager from Holmfirth, Yorkshire, told MailOnline: ‘I do not believe that he has one single feeling for Kerry, he only cares about fame.’
She even says Paolo had planned to fly her to Ibiza, where he claimed to be on holiday but was in fact with Kerry filming Celebs Go Dating and that his regular trips to London, where the agency is based, was for ‘business.’
Speaking exclusively, Jessica said: ‘I do not believe that he has one single feeling for Kerry, he only cares about fame, and he’ll be happy he’s now being put out there.
‘I back the fact 100 per cent that he has not go on Celebs Go Dating to find love. He lied to me the entire time we were together. It was horrendous.
‘This has all massively taken me by surprise. The articles say they filmed Celebs Go Dating in Ibiza, and he told me he was going there for three weeks, he was trying to make me book a flight to meet him out there.
‘He said he was there for a stag do and flying his children out the second week and the third week he would be free to see me. But now I know none of that was happening and he was filming a dating show out there.
‘Every time he went to London, he told me it was for a business meeting. He would even send me pictures… but he was filming Celebs Go Dating. Every single thing was an act. I feel like I was completely led the entire time.’
Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry stars in the upcoming series of Celebs Go Dating, her second time as a cast member after she first appeared on the show in 2019.
Kerry, who’s been married three times, ended her six-year relationship with former fiancé Ryan over a ‘breach of trust’ last November.
But now as she embarks on a new romance, Kerry allegedly needs to be weary of Paolo’s intentions, as his ex claims he even admitted to only taking part on Celebs Go Dating for ‘fame.’
Jessica said: ‘He told me that he filmed for a dating show a ‘long time ago’ and it was ‘nothing for me to worry about.’ He told me that ‘it’s nothing to do with love and it’s only for the fame.’ He said, ‘I promise you, everyone goes on the show for fame and I’m just doing the same.’
The warehouse manager explained how she and Paolo met after he messaged her out of the blue on Instagram and they started dating, spending time together as he wined and dined her and she regularly stayed at his house.
Paolo told Jessica he had split from the mother of his two daughters over a year ago and they remain close for their young family.
As far as Jessica was concerned, she and Paolo were committed to each other and he filmed Celebs Go Dating, which casts non-famous individuals to date celebrities as they seek advice from relationship experts, behind her back.
Paolo, who said he would ‘marry’ Jessica if given the chance, was exchanging loved-up messages with her during the days he was filming Celebs Go Dating in late April and early May.
Jessica said he eventually admitted to filming the programme, which also stars Love Island’s Olivia Hawkins and The Chase’s Mark Labbett this series, leaving her in floods of tears.
She said: ‘I asked him, do you expect me to sit at home and watch this and still be with you and he replied: ‘I hope you will do that but it’s completely down to you.’ I hysterically cried all day at work, everything was a lie.’
Kerry was previously married to Westlife singer Brian McFadden, who she shares daughters Molly, 23, and Lilly-Sue, 22, with, before they divorced in 2006.
The former I’m A Celebrity winner wed taxi driver Mark Croft in 2007 after a whirlwind romance and the exes have children Heidi, 18, and Maxwell, 16, together.
She was married to her third husband, George Kay from 2014 to 2017, two years before he died aged 39 from a fatal seizure after ‘biting into a ball of cocaine.’
Kerry, who’s also a mother to daughter Dylan-Jorge, 11, from her marriage to George, has spoken in depth about the couple’s former relationship and how she endured terrible abuse during their time together.
Speaking on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, she sobbed: ‘He was really abusive… My children heard the shouting, they saw the black eyes.’
The ex-singer starred in girl group Atomic Kitten between 1998-2001, years before love rival Jessica was born.
And Jessica says she felt reassured after seeing new photos of Paolo kissing Kerry, who at 19 years her senior, she doesn’t consider a threat.
She said: ‘I haven’t spoken to Paolo since he’s gone public with Kerry… at first, I felt absolutely awful but then I thought, thank God it’s not some skinny, pretty model. I genuinely don’t think she’s a pretty woman, so I felt better in that sense.’
Paolo told MailOnline: ‘I was never in a relationship with Jess. We only met up around five times.
‘I was honest with her that I had been offered to go on a dating show and if it were to come fruition, I would take the opportunity.
‘I made it clear to Jess that we had to stop talking and seeing each other as I had been offered to go on the show. I have nothing bad to say about Jess she’s a great girl.’
Celebs Go Dating declined to comment.
