{"id":485699,"date":"2026-03-20T11:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485699\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:07:09","slug":"after-atomic-kitten-i-was-hit-with-a-250k-tax-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485699\/","title":{"rendered":"After Atomic Kitten I was hit with a \u00a3250k tax bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natasha Hamilton grew up in the Kensington area of Liverpool and joined the girl band Atomic Kitten at 16. They had three UK No 1 singles from 1999 and sold ten million records before splitting up in 2004. They re-formed in 2013 as part of ITV\u2019s Big Reunion and toured occasionally before Hamilton left the band for good in 2024. As a solo artist she went on tour with Lionel Richie in 2007, has starred in West End musicals and featured in the reality TV programme Real Housewives of Cheshire.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, 43, lives in Chester with her husband, Charles Gay, their daughter, Kitty, two, and her children from previous relationships, Josh, 23, Harry, 21, Alfie, 15, and Ella, 11.<\/p>\n

How much is in your wallet?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t carry cash any more. I\u2019m an Apple Pay girl although I do like the feeling of cash between my fingers. It makes you appreciate the hard work that you\u2019ve put into doing what you do. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve started going through my bank statements recently because I can get carried away with Apple Pay just buying apps and signing up for things online. When I actually go into my account I\u2019m shocked at what I\u2019m paying for. Before Christmas I cancelled everything. <\/p>\n

What credit cards do you use?<\/p>\n

In my late teens and early twenties credit cards were thrown at me. I then had to spend my late twenties and early thirties paying off a lot of debt, so I\u2019ve learnt to be less frivolous the hard way. I owed about \u00a320,000 at one point. <\/p>\n

When I went through my divorce [from her first husband, Riad Erraji, in 2013] I realised how important every penny is, when you\u2019re having to fend for yourself and your children. I worked really hard post-divorce to get my finances back on track. Today I have one credit card for travelling, but 90 per cent of the time I pay it all back before the end of the month.<\/p>\n

\"CharlesHamilton with her husband, Charles GayGetty<\/p>\n

Are you a saver or a spender?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m more of an investor now. I\u2019ve got a big family and I think long and hard about everything I spend. I do wish the record company had given us some financial advice. I didn\u2019t know what a financial adviser was until my late twenties or early thirties.<\/p>\n

How much did you earn last year?<\/p>\n

It was one of my slowest years. The music and live gig arenas are difficult and I was going through a transition, becoming a solo artist again. I\u2019ve lived in the world of nostalgia gigs for many years but I want to move into something that fills my heart a little bit more. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m very lucky that I have the name of Atomic Kitten behind me. I\u2019ve invested everything straight back into my record label, so I would say it\u2019s been the tightest year of my life. Atomic Kitten sold millions of records back in the day, but the biggest chunk of the money went to the songwriters, and just as we were on the cusp of greatness I wasn\u2019t well enough to continue. All the money in the world wouldn\u2019t have been enough when I woke up every day crying, with my two-year-old saying, \u201cWhy are you sad, Mummy?\u201d <\/p>\n

There have been some crazy times, though. In 2005 I was paid \u00a320,000 to perform a solo gig at a private party at an Italian restaurant in Moscow. The place was covered floor to ceiling in fresh flowers and in my dressing room I had a massive centrepiece of caviar, which I don\u2019t even like. <\/p>\n

The second I stepped foot on the stage every single man in the room stood up, walked out and started smoking cigars in a conservatory while I just performed to the women. It was like The Sopranos. I thought, this lot have to be mafia. I have no idea who the client was but it was one of the most lucrative gigs I\u2019ve ever done. Sadly it was a one-off. <\/p>\n

\"NatashaHamilton, left, with Jenny Frost And Liz McClarnon from Atomic Kitten in 2002 Brian Rasic\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

I first really learnt about money when I left Atomic Kitten and was hit with a tax bill of over quarter of a million pounds. But even if things got that tough again, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d go down the OnlyFans route like my Atomic Kitten bandmate Kerry Katona. I have no issues with Kerry doing that. She\u2019s a single mum providing for her kids. <\/p>\n

Have you ever been really hard up?<\/p>\n

The period after Atomic Kitten was incredibly hard. I\u2019d just bought and renovated a house, and I took a step back from work because I had postnatal depression. I really wasn\u2019t mentally and physically able to do the job that I\u2019d loved \u2014 and I was the breadwinner. To pay that tax bill I went back to work too quickly and it had a huge impact on my mental health. I had a mental breakdown. My divorce happened.<\/p>\n

I literally had nothing. If I\u2019d cashed in all my assets earlier, maybe I\u2019d have had a couple of million, but it all just went. I remember being on the phone to my bank crying because everything had been paused, and I didn\u2019t even have the login to my online banking because I\u2019d given someone else that power. I was too trustworthy and quite naive. Numbers are not my strong point. I remember just crying, thinking I have no idea what I\u2019m supposed to do next.<\/p>\n

But I was very lucky that my divorce coincided with The Big Reunion. And I\u2019m lucky to have a husband who has the patience of a saint.<\/p>\n

\"TomMcClarnon, Kerry Katona, Tom Jones and Hamilton in 1999BRIAN RASIC\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Do you own a property?<\/p>\n

I had a few houses at one point, and then 2007 happened and I lost a hell of a lot of money in property. At the moment we\u2019re renting. We sold our last house and ended up with no house because the mortgage on the new property hadn\u2019t quite gone through. <\/p>\n

We ended up homeless for seven months. I lived in hotels and Airbnbs, but those prices shot up at weekends. We have a place in Spain and on some weekends it was cheaper to fly there than it was to stay in a hotel or an Airbnb. We finally found the home we\u2019re in now, and within four months of moving in I\u2019d fallen pregnant, but the plan is to buy somewhere this year.<\/p>\n

Are you better off than your parents?<\/p>\n

Yes. My dad was the filter man at Cains brewery in Liverpool and my mum was a school cook. They brought me up with the motto \u2018your health is your wealth\u2019 and we\u2019re all healthy. <\/p>\n

Everything I\u2019ve ever had, I\u2019ve always shared with my mum, my dad, my sister and my nephew, so I feel like I am in a privileged position. We go off for nice meals, nice weekends away and nice holidays. <\/p>\n

I bought my mum and dad a house before I bought myself one back in the day. Without them and their support I would never have got to where I was in life.<\/p>\n

Do you invest in shares?<\/p>\n

I have a pension that\u2019s doing OK. It\u2019s a high-risk portfolio but that\u2019s been in place for about five years as I didn\u2019t have the extra cash before then.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s better for retirement \u2014 property or pension?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t ever see myself actually stopping work. I feel like the day I stop doing what I love I\u2019ll lose my sense of self. If everything comes to fruition work-wise I\u2019ll be spending the rest of my life giving back and helping open doors for other people. In an ideal world, in five years\u2019 time my label, Morpho Records, is going to be the home of pop music that everyone knows about.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s been your best investment?<\/p>\n

Me, because I\u2019ve been robust enough and learnt enough to survive in a volatile industry and still get paid well for what I do.<\/p>\n

And the worst?<\/p>\n

Property. I didn\u2019t put my money into pensions, stocks or bonds. I put it into property and when that market crashed, oh God, it was painful. My properties were never repossessed but I ended up with a lot of negative equity.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most extravagant thing you\u2019ve bought?<\/p>\n

I joined the band when I was 16 and never learnt to drive, so once we started touring I hired a chauffeur, at my own expense. I was spending thousands of pounds a week on someone driving me around. Probably between \u00a3250 to \u00a3500 a day. If we went out on a big night I had to pay them overtime. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your money weakness?<\/p>\n

My husband says I\u2019m a salesman\u2019s dream and I\u2019m a sucker for health products. I spend a fortune on collagen, mushroom tinctures for calmness, Flow Brew mushroom, Fifth Ray Cosmic Hue for gut restoration and I\u2019m also in the middle of a heavy metals detox and a parasite cleanse.<\/p>\n

\"NatashaHamilton performing solo in 2024. \u201cI can\u2019t ever see myself actually stopping work\u201d Roberto Ricciuti\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

What is your financial priority?<\/p>\n

Sustainability and stability. Investing now for the future and not living beyond my means.<\/p>\n

What would you do if you won the lottery?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d buy a house, because we don\u2019t have one right now. I would my treat my family to a few million each and set them up with a financial adviser to give them some help on how to make it work for them.<\/p>\n

Do you support any charities?<\/p>\n

The Guide Dogs and Girls Out Loud, which supports young girls.<\/p>\n

What is the most important lesson you\u2019ve learnt about money?<\/p>\n

Respect it but don\u2019t fear it. If you live in a state of fear then abundance can\u2019t live.<\/p>\n

Natasha Hamilton\u2019s single Fantasy is out now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Natasha Hamilton grew up in the Kensington area of Liverpool and joined the girl band Atomic Kitten at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-485699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}