Ex-Atomic Kitten Member Kerry Katona Declared Bankrupt

London, England (CNS) - Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona has been declared bankrupt at the High Court on Thursday after failing to pay the final $154,000 of a $783,000 tax bill.

The 27-year-old singer was given two weeks to complete the payment by a bankruptcy registrar in London.

Mr. Registrar Nicholls had agreed to the bankruptcy order after giving her legal camp one more hour to come up with the payment on Thursday.

The bankruptcy petition was issued against Katona in January. HM Revenue and Customs insisted on pushing with the petition despite her efforts to reduce the bill.

Her rep, Luke Harris, claimed the funds were available but the checks were not cleared in time. But when the court called back just before 1 p.m., Harris said he was "not in a position to assist further."

Katona rose to fame as a member of the girl band Atomic Kitten in the late 1990s and left in 2001 when she became pregnant. She then married boyfriend Brian McFadden, of the Westlife boy band fame, becoming Kerry McFadden in 2002. They had two daughters together.

In 2004, she won the third season of the British reality show "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" After separating with McFadden in September, she reverted to her maiden name.

She is currently married to second husband Mark Croft and has two more children.