With new show The Nolans Go Cruising airing soon, sisters Coleen and Maureen open up to GEORGIA HUMPHREYS about loss, family feuds, and dating.

closer than I’ve ever been with her, and [I’m] kind of regretting that I spent too long not speaking to her.”

Both Maureen and Coleen are relieved that, even though The Nolans Go Cruising is described as “part reality show”, it’s not a dramatic watch.

“They really weren’t out to get a horrible story, or instigate arguments or anything,” says Maureen.

“They did say, all the way through, ‘If you say something and then you change your mind, because you didn’t like the way that came out, then absolutely say’. So, we felt protected.”

“I think that’s what got the best out of us in the end, because we felt safe that they weren’t trying to set us up,” elaborates Coleen.

“A lot of these reality-type shows, they are scripted, and they are set up. I get it — the public loves a row and they say, ‘It makes great telly’; I just didn’t want to be a part of that.”

What really comes out watching the show, however, is how happy they all are to be open about their personal lives, discussing everything from low self-esteem, middle age, and Linda’s fight with incurable breast cancer.

The 61-year-old actress, singer and TV personality was in remission for six years following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2006, before being told by doctors in 2017 that she had secondary cancer in her hip.

“I see Linda every day because we live literally two doors away from each other, so I

“Oh god, I’d love to say yes, I really would. And trust me I looked, everywhere,” quips the star, who shares 19-year-old Ciara with Ray, and is also mum to Shane Jr, 31, and Jake (whose dad is actor and singer Shane Richie).

“In actual fact, we were kind of concentrating on finding Linda love, but, don’t get me wrong, there were some beautifullooking males where we’d all go, ‘Oh, he’s gorgeous’.

“The thing is, I’m all talk because I say all of this and then if one of them had even slightly said anything, I would have died and turned into a 10-year-old. I’d literally be overboard and swimming back to shore!”

Maureen, who split from her husband in 2018 after 28 years together, adds: “There were all these beautiful men around, but you look at them and you think, ‘Oh my god, they’re 25’, and Linda says, ‘Never date a man you could have breastfed’.”

“I always say I’d never date a man I could have given birth to,” echoes Coleen. “That’s my rule!”

The Nolans Go Cruising starts on Tuesday July 7 on Quest Red and will also be available on dplay.