AIRLINE star Katrina Leeder looked very different 23 years after finding fame on the popular ITV programme.
The popular ITV series followed the highs and lows for those working for budget airline EasyJet.
Airline star Helen Leeder shot to fame 23 years ago on the hit ITV show
The former TV star is now a travel radio presenter
Check-in staff member Katrina was many customers’ first point of call when they came to the airport.
Katrina starred alongside supervisor Leo Jones and trouble-shooter Jane Boulton, among a number of other airline workers.
Her problem-solving manner gained her a legion of fans and she became one of the best-loved cast members.
Katrina, 48, has opened up about her health battles over the years.
She has fought life threatening cancer on eight occasions within a 22-year battle, with her last bout being in May 2013.
She has lost a kidney, her spleen, part of a lung, part of her diaphragm, half her stomach, her gallbladder and 70 per cent of her liver, but has never given up.
As of 2023, she has used her expert airline knowledge to bag a job as a presenter on Travel radio.
She often shares travel updates with her fans, including holiday posts and an insight into her life with her two twin daughters Freya and Clarissa.
In 2018 she appeared on This Morning and told Rylan and Emma Willis: “I’m OK, so on Airline you see me having cancer number two, I’ve had it seven times now.
“I left easyJet, I actually left and had cancer again but I didn’t tell anybody, I kept it very quiet.
“I lived a bit of a private life and then unfortunately over all those year’s I’ve had it seven times and lost seven organs.”
Katrina went on: “But I’m still here. So I live each day, every day is very precious for me, very important. I live each day as it comes and grasp what I can. Every day I’m here I bless those two girls and I’ve got more time with them.
“I literally live for them.”
The popular TV show ran on ITV for eight years from 1998 to 2006 and followed easyJet staff across the country.
Each episode lasted for 22 minutes and documented dramas that unfolded after missed flights, cancellations, police operations, illnesses and even the odd wedding.
It was a huge hit, raking in millions of viewers each episode, over the ten seasons.
Katrina’s co-star Jane also became a favourite and certainly had to put up with some angry passengers in her time on the show.
After working at Luton, Jane moved to Heathrow, then Belfast and then Gatwick, before quitting the industry in 2014.
As of 2023, she runs her own business called Party Paradise UK, which provides entertainment and cake for kids’ parties.
Since the show finished, she is now married– and goes by Mrs Lee – with three kids of her own and said she still gets recognised in the street.
Despite the show stopping in 2006, Helen said she regularly touches base with Leo and Katrina.
Helen revealed she had cancer eight times & had eight organs removed
