Coleen Nolan opened up about her profound grief following the loss of her sister during Monday’s edition of Loose Women on ITV.
The 60-year-old television personality, who appeared alongside Christine Lampard, Nadia Sawalha and Gloria Hunniford, revealed the devastating impact Linda’s death had on her.
“When Linda died, that hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t know what to do with myself and I didn’t want to get up,” she told her fellow panellists.
Ms Nolan explained she had to push herself through everyday tasks despite feeling completely withdrawn.
Coleen Nolan opened up about losing her sister to cancer
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ITV
She admitted: “I was forcing myself to do everything because actually inside I didn’t want to do anything.”
The presenter revealed she made the decision to seek professional help despite having her family and children offering their support.
“All my family were there, and my kids were there, and ‘you can talk to us’, and I thought, ‘no, I need professional help now,'” she said.
“This needs professional help because I don’t know how to pull myself together, so I instantly got therapy.”
Coleen Nolan at Linda’s funeral
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GETTY
Ms Nolan acknowledged feeling conflicted about requiring therapy this time, noting she had not needed such intervention when her sister Bernie passed away from cancer in 2013 at the age of 52.
The Loose Women star also addressed the cruel online criticism she received after being photographed arriving at Linda’s funeral.
“On social media, someone saw me smiling as I got out of the car at Linda’s funeral because they were smiling at me, all these people,” she said.
“The amount of trolls I got ‘look at her smiling at her sister’s funeral, making it all about her'”.
The singer’s comments came during a discussion about Kelly Osbourne responding to online abuse regarding her appearance at the Brit Awards, where she had attended with her mother, Sharon, to collect a Lifetime Achievement award for Ozzy Osbourne.
Upon seeing her noticeably frailer appearance, many fans and critics of the middle Osbourne child took to social media, branding her “gaunt”, “close to death” and even “like a dead body”.
On Sunday, Kelly issued a furious response on Instagram, writing: “There is a special kind of cruelty in harming someone who is clearly going through something.
“Kicking me while I’m down, doubting my pain, spreading my struggles as gossip, and turning your back when I need support and love most.
“None of it proves strength; it only reveals a profound absence of compassion and character.”
She continued: “I’m currently going through the hardest time in my life. I should not even have to defend myself.
“But I won’t sit here and allow myself to be dehumanized (sic) in such a way.”
Linda was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 before receiving the all-clear six years later.
Linda, Coleen, Bernie and Maureen of the The Nolans
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GETTY
The disease returned in 2017, with doctors discovering tumours on her hip bone and pelvis, indicating incurable secondary breast cancer.
Her condition continued to deteriorate, with the cancer spreading to her liver in 2020 and subsequently metastasising to her brain by 2023.
The Nolans singer died on January 15 last year at the age of 65, with Coleen present at her bedside.
Her funeral took place ten days later at St Paul’s Church in Blackpool, where family and friends gathered to pay their respects.