Elizabeth Margaret McClarnon-Cho (born 10 April 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and actress, known for being the longest serving member of the girl group Atomic Kitten, with whom she had three UK number one singles "Whole Again" (2001), "Eternal Flame" (2001) and "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" (2002), and two UK number one albums: Right Now (2000) and Feels So Good (2002). After forming in 1998, the group went on hiatus in 2008, before reuniting during The Big Reunion. McClarnon co-wrote several Atomic Kitten songs, including the UK top 10 hits "See Ya", "I Want Your Love" and "Someone Like Me".
Elizabeth Margaret McClarnon was born on 10 April 1981 in Liverpool, England to Janet (née Mills) and John McClarnon.[1] She has a younger brother Joe, five years her junior.[2] She attended The Belvedere Academy, as well as the Elliott-Clarke Performing Arts School.[3]
Career
1997–2004: Atomic Kitten
McClarnon performing with Atomic Kitten in Poland in 2005
In 1997, while McClarnon was still in secondary school, her music teacher arranged for her to take part in an audition with OMD frontman Andy McCluskey, who was aiming to create a new girl group.[4] The group became Atomic Kitten, which was made up of McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Natasha Hamilton, and they released their first record in 1999. Katona left the group in 2001 and was replaced by Jenny Frost.[5] Atomic Kitten have had three UK number one singles, "Whole Again", "Eternal Flame", and "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)". They also had two UK number one albums, Right Now and Feels So Good, both being certified double-platinum in the UK for sales of over 600,000 copies each. The total worldwide sales are estimated at 6.2 million singles and 4 million albums. McClarnon is the only member of the group to write any of their material.[6] McClarnon appeared in the video for "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" with the FHM Hot 100, which charted at number 10 in the UK.
2005–2012: Solo career and stage
In 2005, McClarnon signed a solo deal with All Around the World. The same year, she was runner-up on the first series of Celebrity Love Island on ITV.[7] In December of that year, she was the opening act of Magnet Tour, by Robin Gibb.[8] On 13 February 2006, she released her first solo single, "Woman in Love", a cover of Barbra Streisand's 1980 hit.[9] The song was released as a basic single worldwide, but in the UK it was released as a double A-side with a cover of Jackie Wilson's "I Get the Sweetest Feeling". "Woman in Love" peaked at Top100 in Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Top20 in Spain and Top5 in UK and Scotland.[10] On 27 December 2006, McClarnon appeared in the ITV documentary The Girl With the Golden Hair and performed three songs with Richard O’Brien: "Thank You for the Music", "I Wonder (Departure)" and "I’m a Marionette".[11] In March 2007, McClarnon recorded "(Don't It Make You) Happy" to compete for the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, but failed – the competition was won by Scooch.
Despite the success of the first single, McClarnon's album release was delayed several times for 3 years, until it was cancelled when she left the label in 2008. That year, McClarnon won Celebrity MasterChef.[12] In 2009, she recorded "Lately" for the Global One Music Charity Project. The same song has been recorded by different artists all around the world in different languages.[13] Also in 2009, McClarnon signed with the label 3 Beat Records and planned to release "Not in Love" as a single, but this never happened, and she left the label. In 2010, she presented the reality show Hotter Than My Daughter, which aired at the beginning of February 2010 for six weeks, on BBC Three.
McClarnon (left) alongside her Atomic Kitten bandmates in May 2013, following their reformation
In January 2013, the original line-up of Atomic Kitten – McClarnon, Hamilton and Katona – reformed for reality documentary series The Big Reunion, along with five other pop groups, 911, Honeyz, B*Witched, Five and Liberty X. Katona left the group in November 2017. McClarnon and Hamilton subsequently performed as a duo, with Frost rejoining for a brief time in 2021, until Hamilton's departure in October 2024, effectively disbanding the group for a second time.[17] In May 2025, McClarnon served as a member of the British jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.[18]
Personal life
McClarnon married Peter Cho in June 2023, and they welcomed their first child, a son, in November 2025, after multiple rounds of IVF treatment and McClarnon suffering several miscarriages.[19][20][21]
↑"Series 3: Liz McClarnon". Celebrity MasterChef. BBC. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021. Atomic Kitten's Liz McClarnon was all smiles when she won back in 2008.
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