Coleen Nolan's life off-screen from famous sons, soapstar ex and tragic death

Loose Women star Coleen Nolan rose to fame as a child alongside her sisters and has remained in the public eye ever since.

At the age of nine, Coleen made her first television debut alongside her sisters on the TV show It's Cliff Richard! and has remained a staple on TV screens since.

Coleen, who became a star when she joined The Nolans with her siblings, has had an incredibly successful career. However, in the early 90s, she left the pop group to focus on her children.

A few years later, she joined the panel in 2000, a position she's maintained to this day. However, Coleen has made plenty of other TV appearances over the years.

The 59-year-old has been a presenter on , a contestant on , and a runner-up on ...Get Me Out of Here! and won Celebrity in 2017.

With so much of Coleen's life captured over the years, we've taken a look into her world when the cameras aren't rolling. From turbulent relationships, steamy affairs, heartbreaking deaths and soap star exes, Coleen's life is anything but boring.

Relationships

In the late 1980s, Coleen met actor and entertainment star Shane Richie, who is best known for playing Alfie Moon on BBC's .

It wasn't long before they welcomed their first son together before getting engaged. The duo initially planned a grand wedding, but they ended up eloping to Florida in the 1990s.

Along with their son Shane Jr, they also had a second son together called Jake. However, their romance came to an end in 1997, with both Coleen and Shane confessing to having affairs during their relationship.

In her autobiography, Coleen detailed kissing a keyboard player while on tour with her sisters. Admitting she felt unattractive and non-existent after having her second son, she enjoyed the attention.

She wrote: "As I kissed my musician, it was like a sexual awakening. Adrenalin was pumping through my body. I knew what I was doing was terribly wrong, but I was literally shaking with exhilaration. 'I am still attractive,' I thought to myself."

Since then, Coleen has been overwhelmed with guilt and has described the incident as "one of the most horrendous times" of her life.

Despite both Coleen and Shane's infidelities, the pair kept things amicable and continued to co-parent their sons together.

After her divorce, she met musician Ray Fensome, who became her second husband and father to her only daughter, Ciara. In 2005, the duo got engaged before tying the knot two years later in 2007.

Sadly, their marriage didn't work out, and they called it a day in their relationship two years after their wedding. However, similarly to Shane, Coleen and Ray appear to have no bad blood and are close friends.

Recently, Coleen showcased her partner, Michael Jones, on Loose Women after meeting him on the dating app Tinder. However, the pair's relationship has been anything but smooth sailing, as it's reported they've called it quits three times.

Speaking to the , she said: “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’m very open to everything he’s providing me emotionally, and it’s fantastic"

However, it seems like things are back on track as she shared a sweet snap alongside Michael and her family while watching one of her son's shows in Edinburgh.

Children

Coleen has three children, two of which she shares with star Shane Richie, and she often speaks about them while appearing on Loose Women.

It looks as though her two eldest, Shane Jr and Jake, have followed in their parent's showbiz footsteps.

When the Nolan Sisters toured together in 2009, Shane Jr was the warm-up singer for his mum's band. However, he also fronts The Nolan Band alongside Matt Bamber and Jack Lavelle.

Similarly, Jake is also no stranger to the performing . He was part of the band Rixton, now called Push Baby, which had a hit No.1 song, "Me and My Broken Heart."

Although the band announced in 2022 that they were taking a break, Jake has been on his own tour, recounting his time in the industry. Recently, Jake took to to share he was expecting a baby with his partner.

Coleen shares her youngest and only daughter, Ciara, with ex-partner Ray Fensome. Earlier this year, Coleen spoke about Ciara's decision to travel the world with her partner.

She confessed: "They've worked really hard and saved up and I'm so proud of them both and her, but honestly, I just can't stop crying. But I'm trying not to do it in front of her because I'm thrilled and I'm proud because what an amazing thing to do. But it's like losing my best friend."

However, it seems as though Ciara is back in the UK, as Coleen recently shared a sweet snap of them together.

Family heartbreak and cancer scare

Tragically, Coleen lost her sister Bernie in 2013 after she died at the age of 52, following a three-year battle with breast cancer. Three years before she died, Bernie underwent treatment.

Having a mastectomy and undergoing chemotherapy, Bernie was given the all-clear in 2012. Sadly, it wasn't long before the disease returned and spread aggressively to her brain, bones, lungs, and liver.

Coleen has openly spoken about Bernie's death on Loose Women over the years. More recently, the star detailed how everyone in her family handles grief differently.

She said: "For me. It's not, 'Oh, I like to have this thing that's going to help me remember them'. Because I never, ever, from the day she died or my parents died, ever forgot. I'll never forget."

Sadly, another one of Coleen's sisters, Linda, is currently battling breast cancer. She was initially diagnosed in 2005, although the disease resurfaced in 2017 and has spread to her brain, bones, and liver.

During an episode of Loose Women, she told viewers her sister doesn't want to know how long she has left and wants to enjoy the rest of her life.

She said: "At the moment, she's still having treatment, and that's what's keeping her going, you know, 'as long as they're still going to treat me, then I'm going to keep on going'."

Coleen herself had her own health scare in 2023 when she was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer.

Speaking on the ‎Learning As I Go: Learning To Feel The Fear podcast, she confessed: ‘I got skin cancer last year. I had carcinoma on my shoulder, which has now gone. And I had chemo cream on my shoulder, so that burned that off.’

Since then, the ITV star confessed she won't go out without wearing SPF 50.