Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton reveals she has quit the band after 26 years as she admits ‘the ride hasn’t always been smooth’

Pop star Natasha Hamilton has announced she has quit Atomic Kitten after 26 years.

The singer, 42, issued a statement on Instagram on Friday and said she wants to concentrate on her solo career.

In a lengthy statement the mother-of-five wrote: ’26 incredible years, writing so many wonderful chapters, but now the time has come for me to close the book on this one.

‘The ride hasn’t always been smooth but I wouldn’t change a single thing. I’ve laughed and cried many a time with the girls, experienced so many surreal moments and been blessed with a career spanning 26 years – it’s been incredible and something I will always cherish.

‘Since 2013 myself and Liz have been on the nostalgia train, and we have performed non stop since then (apart from the global pandemic) where we came back even stronger, with more demand for out infectious pop songs.

Pop star Natasha Hamilton, 42, has announced she has quit Atomic Kitten after 26 years

The singer issued a statement on Instagram on Friday and said she wants to concentrate on her solo career (L-R Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon and Natasha in 2000)

The band first launched in 1998, with Liz McClarnon, 43, and Kerry Katona, 43, completing the trio, before Kerry quit in 2001 after falling pregnant with her first child and being replaced by Jenny Frost, 46, who also eventually left (pictured far left in 2021)

‘At the beginning of the year I didn’t know how to juggle being a Kitten, whilst also trying to break out as a solo artist, but I gave it a go and I have to say, it’s been tough.”

She added: ‘Mainly because I go from being this strong, empowered woman, building a brand new career, to transporting back to a version of myself I really have outgrown.

‘I have been living in two worlds and it really has been difficult navigating both.”

Natasha explained she will perform her last Atomic Kitten ‘for the foreseeable future’ this weekend.

She said: ‘AK was always there to pick me up and get me back on my feet, both mentally and financially – and that’s something I will always be eternally grateful for.

‘But for me, right now, this is what I need to do to be able to focus on all the things that mean a lot to me.’

She said of her remaining bandmate: ‘Liz, I wish you all the luck and love in the world with your work ventures and all the amazing things that are still to come in life for you – it’s been one hell of a ride!!’

The band first launched in 1998, with Liz McClarnon, 43, and Kerry Katona, 43, completing the trio, before Kerry quit in 2001 after falling pregnant with her first child and being replaced by Jenny Frost, 46, who also eventually left

Natasha explained she will perform her last Atomic Kitten ‘for the foreseeable future’ this weekend (pictured with remaining Atomic Kitten member Liz in 2023)

Over the course of their career the band sold 10M record worldwide with Whole Again becoming i the 13th-best-selling single of the 2000s

In a lengthy statement the mother-of-five wrote: ’26 incredible years, writing so many wonderful chapters, but now the time has come for me to close the book on this one’.

Earlier this year Natasha seemingly reignited her long running feud with former member Kerry when asked about a possible full group reunion in years to come.

Speaking to The Daily Star she said: ‘Never say never, who knows what could bring us back together?’.

Before failing to mention Kerry in the line-up: ‘I’d love to do something again with myself, with Liz [McClarmon] and with Jen [Frost] Who knows?’

‘The door’s always open for Jen to come back whenever she wants.’

MailOnline contacted Natasha and Kerry’s representatives for comment at the time.

In 2023, Kerry made a heartbreaking plea to her ex bandmates urging if they could put their ongoing feud to bed so they can be friends again. 

Kerry wrote in her new! magazine column ‘life is too short’ and she is ‘really sad’ that she doesn’t speak to her band anymore.

She wrote: ‘When something like this happens it brings home how I feel about my relationship with the Atomic Kitten girls.

‘It’s really sad that we don’t talk. I’ve reached out to them so many times. Life is too short.’

She wrote: ‘When something like this happens it brings home how I feel about my relationship with the Atomic Kitten girls.

Natasha who released her new single Edge Of Us earlier this year, reflected on personal life in a rare interview on the My Dirty Laundry podcast and said her past love splits have led to the ‘sickest, darkest feelings she’s ever felt in her life’.

But she said there was something incredible about ‘learning from her bad decisions’ and learning about how to fend for herself.

Natasha reflected on personal life in a rare interview on the My Dirty Laundry podcast and said her past love splits have led to the ‘sickest, darkest feelings she’s ever felt in her life’

Natasha is mother to son Josh, 20, with her bodyguard ex Fran Cosgrave, Harry, 18, with actor Gavin Hatcher, Alfie, 12, with ex-husband Riad Erraji, Ella, eight, with boyband star Ritchie Neville and Kitty, nine months with husband Charles Gay

Natasha is mother to son Josh, 20, with her bodyguard ex Fran Cosgrave, Harry, 18, with actor Gavin Hatcher, Alfie, 12, with ex-husband Riad Erraji, Ella, eight, with boyband star Ritchie Neville and Kitty, nine months with husband Charles Gay.

She said: ‘We’re a blended family and sometimes I feel like people can’t fathom how you can make something work that from the outside looking in, that looks different or chaotic.

‘They just they can’t comprehend what they don’t know, but I’m sat here with five incredible children and my life has continued and flourished and got better, despite the traumas that I’ve been through in my personal life.

‘Did I ever want any of that? Of course I didn’t! God, you must be mad! Like, to ever wish any of that upon you – but I can’t live in the past.

‘I’m never going say I wish that didn’t happen. I’m not going to wish my life away. Everything has made me the woman who I am today.

‘I’m probably more accepting than most people are because I have been through a lot. I do not judge someone because of their circumstance. Absolutely not.

‘I judge people how they treat me. You know, how you show respect to people, like they’re the important things.’

Talking about how empowering her new single is, she said: ‘When you’re going through a breakup, from my experience, It’s probably the weakest and the lowest you actually feel.

‘You get that like sicky knot feeling in your tummy where you know you’re going to have to walk away but you have a lot to lose.