Linda Nolan

Speaking from the heart

IT’S been a showbizzy week for us Nolans (we do have them).

And best of all, the razzamatazz has taken place right here in Blackpool.

Given that this town is the spiritual home of it – there’s a museum set to open that’s all about it, containing a Nolans’ catsuit (more to follow) – that’s just how it should be.

On Tuesday, yours truly enjoyed a glossy magazine photoshoot ahead of my 65th birthday next week.

The outfits were a bit beige given the backdrop was the Irish Sea with its dubious floating objects, rather than the Caribbean. But it was all very tasteful (and so was I, honest) and great fun. Before that, at the weekend we packed in to see Coleen perform her new one-woman show here, directed by her son Jake and supported by her other son, Shane.

Why have one Nolan when you can have three? Oh my God, she was so nervous. She texted saying: “Girls, I’m not messing about, I don’t know how not to be sick before I go on.”

We were nervous for her. And all those near her. But in that theatre you could feel the excitement. People had travelled from Glasgow and London.

One woman came up to me and said: “I have never felt so much love for one person in a room.”

She name-checked me, too, bless her. Before one song she told the auditorium her sisters were here.

“Cancer has been greedy with my family,” she said. “But Linda’s still standing and still having fun.”

And so I did. A little too much. The prosecco was on tap so it was rude to say no. My memento is carpet burn. I got home with my godson and his wife, they put me in the stairlift and followed me up and I promptly fell to my knees when I got out.

But if you can’t enjoy fizz after a night of good old-fashioned entertainment in Blackpool, where can you?

The city’s new museum, Showtown, opens next month, complete with a Nolans’ section, I’m told. It’s about time our city’s cultural history was recognised.

On the opening night, I’ll be the one in knee pads.