Kerry Katona has blamed her nasal surgery for her "slurred speech" in a recent TikTok video.
The former Atomic Kitten star came under fire from followers after she appeared to slur her words in a live clip shared on the social media platform with some accusing her of being "drunk or on drugs" but Kerry is adamant she's just still recovering from an operation on her nose earlier this year.
In her column for OK! magazine, she explained: "Last week, people accused me of 'slurring' my words during a TikTok Live, and some even accused me of being drunk or on drugs.
"I’m still recovering from nose surgery – it can take up to 12 months to heal – so my speech is a little impaired."
Kerry went on to insist there were other factors affecting her speech too, adding: "I was really tired that day too, and I can just be a lazy talker sometimes – it’s like I’ve got a lazy tongue!
"I was not drunk – it was first thing in the morning and I was on a treadmill! It’s frustrating when people always think the worst, when I barely drink and haven’t touched drugs in years.
"But at the end of the day, I can’t help the way I talk or if it sounds like I’m slurring my words – it’s not intentional."
Kerry previously battled drug addiction and she went for surgery on her nose after years of cocaine abuse left her with crumbling cartilage.
After the operation, the former singer took to Instagram to explain she saw the operation as closing a "dark" chapter of her life.
She wrote: "Even though it’s been almost 15 years since those awful dark days and even though that chapter of my life is well and truly closed, it’s hard not to hang on to those negative unnecessary thoughts of shame guilt, embarrassment, also desperation loneliness, heartbreak but also strength, resilience, determination and forgiveness!
"Forgiving yourself is probably the most hardest of them all. I really hope my mistakes can become lessons for others in their hour of desperation to give you hope and inspiration never to give up on yourself and knowing that other peoples opinions of you."
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