Kerry Katona BUST-UP

Lover got sick of her boozy wild ways

By Rav Singh

TELLY beauty Kerry Katona has been dumped by fiancé Dave Cunningham, he exclusively revealed to the News of the World last night.

The shock announcement came just a week after we published snaps of the former Atomic Kitten star chatting up a stranger on a topless Spanish beach, and follows a string of furious bust-ups.

Printer Dave, 26, told us: "We HAVE split up and it was ME who ended it. Things haven't been great. It wasn't over what happened in Spain—we patched things up after that. We had a laugh over it. Now I don't know what's happening—I don't know if we'll get back together."

Amazingly the news comes only two days after 25-year-old Kerry Katona, the ex-wife of singer Brian McFadden, announced that she planned to get married for the second time. But a close friend of Dave revealed last night that he ditched I'm A Celebrity jungle queen Kerry over her boozing, crazy behaviour and refusal to settle down for a quiet family life.

"They haven't been getting on for a while because Dave hates all Kerry's partying and wants a normal lifestyle," added the pal. In September when she came out of six weeks' alcohol rehab at the Cottonwood clinic in Arizona, she vowed to Dave that she'd settle down, lay off the drink and spend more time with Dave and her two daughters.

"But after a few weeks she was back to her normal self—getting drunk and having a good time. When Dave told her, ‘You've got to stop caning it!' she just ignored him and carried on going on benders. And whenever she gets drunk she goes completely bonkers."

Dave dumped Kerry in April over her cocaine abuse— first revealed in the News of the World— but they made it up. The friend added: "Dave is really anti-drugs and hated what Kerry was doing. But she begged him to take her back and he gave her another chance. This time he's had enough."

A friend of Dave's ex-girlfriend, children's nurse Colette Cody, also claimed last night that, after nine months with Kerry, he had been badgering Colette to get back with him. He can't get her out of his head, even though she's told him she won't have him back," said the friend. Whenever Dave hits trouble with Kerry, he turns to Colette again. He's obsessed with her. In the last few weeks he's been telling her, ‘I miss you. I want you back.'"

Kerry's recent holiday to Marbella, Spain, with Dave sparked fireworks. First the couple were involved in a violent scene at a nightspot, when feisty Kerry belted Dave in the face after he begged her to leave a lap dancing club.

Dave had enjoyed a private dance with a busty babe and went ballistic when Kerry—who once earned £700 a night as a teenage lapdancer— demanded one too. Then we pictured the Warrington-born babe showing off her new £3,000 boob job on the sands, chatting up a hunky fan and enjoying a topless rub from a wandering beach masseur.

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Ender tells of deadly brain bug nightmare for the first time

MY HEAD HURT SO MUCH I WANTED THEM TO CUT IT OFF

By Rachel Richardson

SHAKEN EastEnders star Joe Swash has movingly told for the first time how he was struck down by killer disease meningitis.

"I was certain I'd die," he revealed in an exclusive interview with the News of the World. "My head hurt so much I wanted the nurses to cut it off."

The 23-year-old actor, who plays Albert Square Jack-the-lad Mickey Miller, confessed he was terrified when the deadly virus left him paralysed down his left side and unable to speak.

But after five weeks battling the disease Joe is back on his feet. Recalling the chilling moment his nightmare started he told us: "I knew something was wrong and it could kill me. I was sure I'd suffered a stroke because my body was numb. Then the headaches started and I thought it was something much worse. I've never felt pain like it."

Joe's torment began in the early hours of September 28. Girlfriend Emma Sophocleous heard him groaning in bed beside her at their north London flat at 2am.

"I couldn't feel the left side of my body," said Joe. "It was numb. I tried wiggling my toes and my legs. My arm felt like it was sagging, almost hanging off my body. Then I tried to move my mouth and felt sheer terror come over me—I couldn't move my lips.

"Because of the numbness my first thought was that I'd had a stroke. My second thought was that I couldn't work again.

"I've spent half my life trying to be an actor and I work on a show that I love. I felt it had all slipped away because I'd now lost the most important thing you need to be an actor—the ability to talk. It was terrifying. I've never been that scared before."

Worried Emma, 23, rang Joe's mum Kiffy who lives nearby. She arrived with his two sisters, 14-year-old TV co-star Shana—who plays screen sis Demi—and Caisie, 20.

"I knew I was in a bad way when my mum looked at me and the colour drained out of her face," recalled Joe. "It really scared her and she started panicking, especially when I started to vomit uncontrollably.

"Then I got a panic attack, shaking and having cold sweats." Kiffy dialled 999 and Joe was rushed to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

As the ambulance dashed through the dark streets, Joe was struck by violent headaches and thought his life was ebbing away. "I thought to myself, ‘This is it. I'm going to die. I'm not going to see my friends and family again.'"

Joe's condition was deteriorating rapidly as medics whisked him into the emergency ward. "I was slipping in and out of consciousness," he said.

"My limbs were completely lifeless. I was like a rag doll. Mum thought she'd lost me."

After a barrage of tests doctors were still not sure what was wrong. "I didn't speak for three days and my head hurt so much."

After three days the doctors finally diagnosed viral meningitis and prescribed a cocktail of drugs involving eight pills a day. But Joe was still in excruciating pain.

After ten days on the ward Joe was desperate to go home. Joe knew he wasn't fully recovered but decided to con the doctors into releasing him early.

The soap star put on the acting performance of his life to convince the medics he was well. And he was let out on a Saturday morning, 11 days after he was admitted. But less than 24 hours later, Joe suffered a severe relapse.

He woke up on his sofa and it was like a re-run of that first attack. He was dashed back to the Royal Free where he stayed another week.

When Joe was eventually released a second time, he was told to rest at his mum's place for two weeks. He made slow progress but at the end of the fortnight suffered another serious setback and a SECOND relapse.

"But Mum knew I couldn't face going back into hospital so she let me weather it out in her bed at home," confessed Joe.

Two weeks later Joe was up and around again. And he got the doctor's all-clear last Tuesday. He plans to return to work on November 14 and will be back on screen in January.