The Atomic Kitten star opened up about a £250k tax bill and the moment her two-year-old asked why she was always sad.
If you grew up in the early 2000s, chances are you’ll have danced to Natasha Hamilton’s voice as part of the chart-topping pop band Atomic Kitten.
But behind the number ones and the magazine covers, Natasha was navigating something that will feel painfully familiar to a lot of women: debt, financial chaos, and the overwhelming pressure to keep it all together.
She’s recently opened up about all of it on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast and in an article in The Times.
The tax bill that changed everything
When Natasha left Atomic Kitten in 2004, she was dealing with postnatal depression after the birth of her son, Josh. She shared that she wasn’t mentally or physically able to keep going and stepping back was the right call for her health.
What she didn’t anticipate was the financial fallout.
“I first really learnt about money when I left Atomic Kitten and was hit with a tax bill of over £250,000,” she told The Times.
Faced with a bill she couldn’t afford to sit with, despite having postnatal depression, she went back to work. “To pay that tax bill I went back to work too quickly and it had a huge impact on my mental health,” she said. “I had a mental breakdown.”
For years, management had handled Natasha’s finances and like many business owners and sole traders that go through a boom year, large tax bills can be a shock if tax wasn’t saved up along the way.
She did tell The Times, “I do wish the record company had given us some financial advice. I didn’t know what a financial advisor was until my late twenties or early thirties”.
Credit cards, debt, and learning the hard way
She also shared that in her late teens and early twenties, credit cards were freely available and used. “I then had to spend my late twenties and early thirties paying off a lot of debt. I owed about £20,000 at one point.”
Especially in the 2000s, many will remember the 0% credit card phenomenon that gripped a generation and flung millions into credit card debt.
The business empire that crumbled
Natasha and her ex-husband built multiple businesses together – coffee shops, restaurants and bars, with a view to selling the assets to provide for her and the family in the future, she actually references hoping that it would ultimately be a “pension” for her.
She says that she was the face of the business and her ex-husband handled the finances for both their business and personal life.
Then when the divorce hit, everything was frozen, she was left thinking “Where are my assets?”
She shares how running the businesses meant working hard for many years, in the hope that there would one day be a rainy day pot for her and her kids in the future.
She didn’t even have the log in details to her own banking. She said she wasn’t controlled, but she was used to people handling her money and she was happy for her ex to deal with the money. She can’t comprehend that now.
She recalls sitting at her kitchen island, opening letters and receiving calls about bills that had bounced – she phoned the bank crying.
To this day, she still doesn’t know what happened. She couldn’t afford to put any money into investigating what had happened and ultimately it took her 7 years to financially recover from her divorce.
Natasha said that maybe if she’d have cashed in all her assets earlier, maybe she’d have had a couple of million, but it essentially all disappeared. In her own words, “Numbers are not my strong point”.
She built a property portfolio – then lost it all
Prior to the 2007 crash, she’d also built up a small property portfolio – the ultimate goal for many Brits who want to build wealth. Unfortunately, due to the properties falling into negative equity, she lost a lot of money in those investments also.
What now for Natasha?
It’s fair to say that Natasha has been through the mill when it comes to money – but these scars have helped to shape her focus and strategy for the future.
- She’s founded her own record label, Morpho Records, in December 2025
- She’s also released two solo singles this year, with an album due in June.
- She’s had a pension for the last 5 years
- She’s focussed on making sure she lives within her means.
At Financielle, we love that Natasha shared her story and helped to normalise money troubles when life hits you.
Our big take-aways
- Always know your numbers – especially where finances are joint. What assets do you have? What debts do you have? How are businesses performing? You literally can’t afford to say you don’t understand the numbers.
- Build a process that takes care of the basics – set tax aside in a sinking fund; look to invest a percentage of your income regularly into a pension. Businesses are great but come with inherent risk – cover all bases.
If you’re struggling in debt and want to take back control of your money. Check out our free debt guide here
Image credit: Natasha Hamilton Instagram
The content produced by Financielle is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice