Birth name Katie Olivia Hopkins

Birthday 13 February 1975

Star sign Aquarius

Birthplace Barnstaple, Devon

Marriages Damian McKinney, September 2004 – 2005. Mark Cross, 2010 – present

Controversial TV star Katie Hopkins was born and raised in Devon in a ‘regular middle-class family’.

Katie’s dad Roy was an electrical engineer and mum Anona was a housewife. She has an older sister and they both went to a private convent school.

The ambitious star enjoyed her schooling and claims to have lost her virginity at 14. With hopes of becoming a colonel, Katie Hopkins was sponsored through university by the Intelligence Corps.

After her economics degree at the University of Exeter, she went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst but was unable to complete her training due to an epileptic seizure. She continues to suffer from epilepsy.

Katie worked for a business consultancy and the Met Office before finding fame as a contestant on The Apprentice in 2007.

She was given a place in the final but turned it down, announcing that she didn’t want to uproot her family from Exeter to London if she won the job.

After the show Katie sold her story to the press and made shocking revelations about her love life.

She had started an affair with her first husband Damian McKinney while he was still married to another woman. They tied the knot in 2004 and had daughters India and Poppy but split in 2005.

In 2007 she was snapped romping in a field with married former colleague Mark Cross. He left his wife for her and they had a son called Max.

Katie Hopkins continued to appear on reality TV. She was a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! just months after The Apprentice ended and married Mark on screen in 2010 for Celebrity Four Weddings.

She has become known for her controversial opinions, having taken part in various television debates. On This Morning she famously clashed with host Holly Willoughby during a discussion about ‘lower class’ children’s names.

Katie has also criticised the obese and people on benefits. She writes a newspaper column in which she shares her thoughts.

In September 2014 Katie showed off a fuller figure after piling on the pounds for a TV documentary.