On The Cover Coleen Nolan
Coleen Nolan tells us how a luxury cruise filmed for a new TV documentary series brought her and her sisters closer
Reunited with her sisters for a new TV series
In a long career that has seen them performing in huge arenas and recording hit singles, the Nolan sisters have experienced success and fun times. But it has sadly gone hand in hand with loss, heartbreak and a damaging fall-out.
To celebrate their lives and achievements, and in remembrance of their sister Bernie, who died from breast cancer in 2013, the women, now all single, went on the trip of a lifetime – a luxury cruise around the Mediterranean, filmed for an engrossing eight-part TV documentary series, The Nolans GoCruising, currently showing Tuesday evenings on the Quest Red channel.
It was, says Coleen, all she had wanted it to be – and more besides.
“We’ve always been a close family but I think life and careers has meant that we don’t spend as much time together now,” she says. “I live in Cheshire and they live in Blackpool.
“The cruise meant that we were able to be together and we laughed so much every day. But it also gave us the chance to sit down and talk openly about feelings and how we’re coping with things and that’s where the emotion comes into it.”
Coleen and Linda, who has her own ongoing battle with breast cancer, share a particularly emotional moment when Coleen tells her that she was also part of the reason why she wanted to make this trip.
The girls had a damaging fall-out when Coleen, Bernie, Linda and Maureen all took part in a reunion tour in 2009, without inviting eldest sister Anne.
“It went on too long,” says Coleen. “It was mainly between me and Anne, really. Instead of sitting down and actually talking about it, we just carried on with our lives, so then it became a bigger problem.
“When Bernie passed away, that’s when we really realised that life is just too short for a silly argument that just got out of hand.
“So, we had already made up, but what was lovely on the cruise was that I was able to reconnect with Anne again. We went off together for a couple of days and we hadn’t done that for years.”
Coleen, 55, is the acknowledged joker and mickey-taker in the family.
“I am one of these people who has to find humour in things, because life can get too depressing and serious sometimes,” she says. “I love shocking Anne, who we call ‘matron’ because she’s so easily shockable. The expression on her face when she thinks I have said something rude or made an innuendo and the way she says, ‘Coleen!’ is hilarious.”
Yet behind the cheery disposition, Coleen admits she has nerve attacks every time she is about to perform.
“I’ve always had really bad stage fright and I think the older I’ve got, the worst it’s become. But once the curtains go up and it starts, I’m absolutely fine.
“It’s the same doing LooseWomen on TV. Because I’ve been filming it at home during lockdown it’s the first time that my kids have seen me in such a state. They were shocked at how nervous I am before going on. They said to me, ‘Why are you so nervous, when you’ve been doing it for 19 years?’”
Such fear might be a surprise to people, seeing how she was singing from a tender age with her family.
“I was two when I first sang. It was at a massive three-thousand seater theatre in Blackpool at Christmas time. So, yeah, I have performed with my family all my years. However, I was on a Channel 5 show called In Therapy, and I found out that I have this condition called Imposter Syndrome. It means that I convince myself that I’m not good enough to be doing what I do and that I’m just ‘winging it’. And that all becomes this big thingng of nerves.nerves”
“I was able to reconnect with Anne again – life really is too short for a silly argument”