Coleen Nolan has never shied away from talking about the tricky times in her life and has been an open book when it comes to her two divorces, three kids and growing up as one sixth of The Nolans.
So when we meet her for a chat, Coleen, 58, is as emotionally frank as ever and tells us she’s all about “embracing” life. She may be smiling, but we sense there’s something weighing on her mind It transpires that at the same time as preparing to move into a new house with boyfriend Michael Jones, who she met on Tinder in 2021, she’s also trying to support her eldest son Shane, 35, through his split with his Miss Great Britain wife Maddie Wahdan. The couple married in July 2022 but hit the headlines late last year with Shane being accused of cheating.
Coleen, of course, has first-hand experience of infidelity, with her own marriage to Shane’s actor father Shane Richie ending in similar circumstances. It’s been a lot to deal with, but she is, as ever, pragmatic and honest about how she feels about a painful situation.“I love them both and I always will. It’s always extremely sad when something doesn’t work out – it’s always sad for both parties,” she tells us. “Obviously Shane’s my son – I adore him. And I still adore Maddie. I can sit and talk to Maddie for hours, I’ve been there and done it. But she’s doing great. I mean, she’s Miss GB, she’s beautiful and she’s a great person, and she’s got nothing to worry about. She’ll fly.”
On the subject of her own new beginning, the imminent house move may be stressful, but it signals a fresh start with Michael. And she tells us the couple definitely want to continue living together after a successful “tester situation” in their current home. But when it comes to a possible third marriage, what does Coleen – who got divorced from her second husband, Ray Fensome, in 2018 – see in her future?“ I might get engaged, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to walk down the aisle,” she tells us. “I know Michael would like to marry me and to be fair to him, it’s probably from insecurity because I’ve finished with him three times since I met him.“It was all my issues, because of what I’d gone through, so I was pushing him away thinking I couldn’t deal with it. I’ve had therapy, I’ve sorted my life out, and I’m very open to everything he’s providing me emotionally, and it’s fantastic. So let’s not try to fix something that isn’t broken.”
Coleen with boyfriend Michael Jones (Instagram/coleen_nolan)
Coleen is supporting her son Shane after his break-up (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)The former Nolans singer is also in the midst of a form of personal grief as her daughter Ciara, 22, recently left home on a one-way ticket to go travelling with her boyfriend, with no set return date. “I’m missing my best friend but I’m so proud of them both, it’s such a brilliant thing to do,” says empty nester Coleen, who also shares Jake, 31, with Shane Snr. “Selfishly, as her mum, I keep hoping for a text saying, ‘I’ve had enough, I’m coming home,’ and it’s only been a week so far.” Ciara’s departure in January marked the start of what is going to be a big year for Coleen – and she tells us she’s all about “embracing every moment”.As well as the move, there’s the small matter of her UK-wide solo tour starting this month, which she tells us is like a modern version of a Nolans tour. Her son Shane is her support act, Michael is “on the merch”, and second ex-husband Ray is playing guitar.
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When we talk about prepping for her live performances, her face is a clue as to why she may be feeling so open and vulnerable at the moment.“I’m terrified,” she admits. “It’s too late now to get in my car and just drive away, but I’m tempted to do it every day. I’m dying of nerves and I haven’t slept for about three months.“It’s the unknown, but it’s something that I really, really wanted to do before I die. I’ve toured before and I’ve been on stage before, but I’ve been surrounded by my sisters, but this is totally alone.”
At 58, Coleen is young to be thinking about her own mortality, but since losing her older sister Bernie to cancer at just 52 and now watching Linda, 64, deal with her own diagnosis, we understand why she’s determined to grab life with both hands.“When we lost Bernie after our reunion tour in 2009, I thought that would be it, we’d never tour again, we’d never sing again,” she says. “Then Linda got re-diagnosed. These are life-changing moments that make you sit there and think, ‘When I get to a point where I can’t do anything, what am I going to regret?’ And one of the main ones was that I’d never sing or perform again, even just once more.“I thought I’d maybe do it next year but Linda said, ‘No, do it now, we don’t know where we’ll be. Bernie thought she was going to tour again, and the following year was diagnosed with cancer and never got the opportunity.’”
She adds, “Bernie lived for performing, so I knew Linda was right.”Speaking of Linda, Coleen is in awe of her sister. Reflecting on their New Year celebrations, she says, “I’m starting to think Linda is some sort of AI because she’s just incredible. Denise was sitting down at one point and Linda went over and said, ‘Get up and dance,’ but Denise told her, ‘I can’t, my legs are killing me.’ Linda went, ‘Yeah, well my brain is killing me and I’m managing to dance!’ There’s not a lot you can say to that is there?“We had the time of our lives. We’re just embracing every moment, and I hope there are many, many more moments to embrace.”
Coleen is planning to move in with Michael (LORNA ROACH PHOTOGRAPHY)
Coleen with first ex-husband Shane Richie (Getty Images)It’s hard to imagine feisty Coleen, a Loose Women regular, being frightened about getting back on stage. “It’s weird because I’m scared, but it’s also making me feel alive at the same time. I had all the awful feelings about ‘my kids are grown-up, I’m going through the menopause’ and all of a sudden I felt very redundant as a person. So I just thought, ‘You know what, I may be 59 in March but in my head I’m still 29, so let’s do it!’.”“Redundant” isn’t a term one would normally associate with Coleen – who’s been a regular on live television since joining the Loose Women panel in early 2000 and she says she still loves it. “It’s because it’s a different show every day. I love the fact that it’s women of all ages, all sizes, we’re very diverse and I’m really proud of that. I love the campaigns we do, and the fact that there really isn’t another show like it.”She admits there was a time where she “fell out of love with it for a bit”, and not – as tabloid headlines would have you believe – because of “feuds” or “wars” with fellow panellists (usually Janet Street-Porter or Ruth Langsford).
“It was because certain people behind the scenes weren’t being nice and I wasn’t enjoying it,” she tells us candidly. “Then those people went onto other things and great people came in, and I’ve loved it ever since.”As we’re talking about the so-called “feud” stories, Coleen shows that, while she may feel vulnerable at the moment, she’s no pushover. They need “little disagreements” because otherwise it would be boring, she laughs, adding the panellists aren’t blind to the fact that these become tabloid gold. “When there’s a little bit of something between Janet and me, or anyone else, every time we go to break we say, ‘That’ll be on the front covers this week!’.”What does bother her is that it’s “always women”, she says, adding, “You don’t see a story about Match Of The Day saying ‘ Gary Lineker ’s at war with this person or that person’ do you?“Hand on heart, we all get on. But I live in Cheshire so I can’t just pop out for a drink with them. So we’re not always out on the town together, but God help everyone when we are because when we do go out, it’s wild!”After all her honesty, we’re still surprised by how down-to-earth Coleen is given she’s been a household name for virtually her whole life.
“Celebrities are the people I watch on telly, not me,” she laughs, when we bring up her star status.“Some people are so good at being celebrities and they’re brilliant on the red carpet. I get invitations and I’m like, ‘No, I can’t, I’ve got to muck the horse out or take the dogs for a walk’!“But at the same time, if someone shouts my name, I get really thrilled by it. A stranger coming up to you in the middle of Tesco and going, ‘Oh my God, I love you,’ or, ‘Me and Mum watch you every day,’ is very, very humbling and it makes you realise why you do it.”
COLEEN NOLAN NAKED WILL TOUR THE UK IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH. VISIT COLEENTOUR.COM FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION
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