She rose to fame in the band Hear’Say after appearing on the reality television series Popstars in 2001.
And Kym Marsh has now opened up about life before the spotlight as she detailed the financial struggles she went through raising her older children.
The 46-year-old soap star has revealed that growing up with her son David, now 27, and daughter Emilie, now 25, was “hard to raise money for the week”.
Strain: Kym Marsh has recalled her financial struggles raising eldest children David, 27, and Emilie, 25, as a single mom before she found fame
In a new interview with Prima Magazine, mom-of-four Kym recalled the struggles of raising her oldest children while trying to make it big.
She shares David and Emilie with her former Builder fiancé Dave Cunliffe, whom she split in 1999, just a year after their daughter was born.
But the kids never had a problem, and the Strictly Come Dancing star shared: “They were well dressed and fed, although they had no luxuries. Sometimes it was difficult to get the money together for the week.
“When Emilie was a baby, my sister Tracey and I would sometimes split a bag of diapers in half.
Siblings: Kym gave birth to her eldest children before she rose to fame in 2001, with Emilie now 25 and David now 27 (pictured together)
Old times: In a new interview with Prima Magazine, Kym, who is a mother of four, recalled the hardships of raising her oldest children while trying to make it big
Children: She shares David and Emilie with her former Builder fiancé Dave Cunliffe, while their youngest daughter, Polly, is from her marriage to Jamie Lomas
She recalled: “They were well dressed and well fed, although they had no luxuries. Sometimes it was difficult to get money together for the week.
“I would take the kids to mom’s too if we didn’t have enough money to top up the electricity meter. Times were tough, but we made it and I made it work,” she recalls.
Kym has been open about her struggle with fame after growing up on a council estate in Wigan and becoming pregnant as a teenager.
She has previously admitted to living in a rented flat with her two children on “£80 a week”.
Tough: “I would take the kids to Mom’s too if we didn’t have enough money to top up the electricity meter. Times were tough but we made it and I made it work.
Covergirl: She was talking about the fights when she appeared on the cover of Prima Magazine
The beauty is also mom to daughter Polly, 11, who she shares with ex-husband Jamie Lomas. While the former couple also welcomed son Archie in 2009, who was born prematurely and died shortly after birth.
Kym is now married to Army Major Scott Ratcliff after they tied the knot last year as she explained to Prima how the different dynamics of their relationship work well for the couple.
“The older I get, the more I realize what I need in a partner and what I can give in return … Scott and I don’t have the luxury of living together full-time as he spends Monday through Friday at the barracks,” she shared.
Next, “He drives miles every weekend just to see me for two days… Sometimes I’m like, ‘Honey, you don’t have to drive all the way — why don’t you stay down here this weekend?'” He’s just like, “Absolutely not ‘Cause there will be many times I can’t reach you.” He really cares about me in every way he can.’
Happy: Kym is now married to Army Major Scott Ratcliff after they tied the knot last year as she explained to Prima how the different dynamics of their relationship work well for the couple