Fitness DVDs made me unhappy – I ate myself to death, says Coleen Nolan
WITH a starring role in Dancing On Ice and her latest fitness DVD hitting the charts, Coleen Nolan has never looked better.
But behind her slim figure, size 10 and beaming smile, the Loose Women star was desperately unhappy.
5
The year was 2009 and after years of battling to control her weight, Coleen had capitalized on the celebrity fitness DVD craze and released four of her own films between 2007 and 2009.
With a grueling diet and exercise regimen, she had lost the 4st and dropped from a size 18 to a size 10.
“I actually looked great,” she says. “I'd say this is probably the best I've ever seen.
“Funnily enough, I was offered a lot more primetime jobs.”
But the 6ft tall star says the constant exercise and dieting made her miserable.
“They sent this trainer about seven days a week and I was on a very strict diet.
“As a person, I was probably the unhappiest I've ever felt. I lost myself somewhere,” says the mother of three.
“I lost my personality and no longer knew who I was supposed to be.”
The pressure to maintain weight began to take its toll.
“I thought, 'I don't know who I'm doing this for,'” she says. “I did it for the money.”
Coleen started gaining weight and was a size 16 by 2011.
“I've been on all the diets and they all work until you stop,” she says.
“I was on a liquid diet, which involved three glasses of liquid, and lost three stone in three months. It was only 500 calories a day.
No quick fix
“My doctor said, 'Please get rid of it,' because it was very dangerous.
“When I did that, I must have put the 4th back on. Unless you change your lifestyle, no quick fix will ever work.”
Coleen's body fights started when she was a little girl.
At the age of nine, she joined her older siblings in the Nolan Sisters and it wasn't long before she started feeling insecure.
“My sisters were teenagers at the time and were beautiful, and I thought, 'Oh God, I'm fat,'” says Coleen, 58.
“Now I look back and think, 'Oh my God, there was nothing of me'.”
As part of the successful girl group, which also included her sisters Maureen, Anne, Linda and the late Bernie, Coleen says her body was scrutinized from day one.
“I was probably told to lose weight, or called the chubby one,” she says.
“But I was only nine. I'm so glad I didn't listen to them, I probably would have developed an eating disorder or just hated myself.
“It is an industry that can make you feel extremely insecure.”
Today's TV world isn't that different.
As she prepares to celebrate her 59th birthday next one The presenter says she is furious to find herself being sidelined by TV bosses thirsty for younger stars.
“I'm in an industry that often says, especially to women, 'No, you're a bit old to be doing that now.' Well, I just don't have it,” she says.
“I'll let them know when I'm too old.
“You go to a meeting for a new show, you're getting along great and you think, 'This feels perfect for me.'
“Then someone in their 20s or early 30s who is obviously beautiful gets it.”
Coleen even claims she felt pressured to have cosmetic surgery or “try a little Botox”.
She says: “There is a lot of pressure, but I don't want to, thank you. Leave me alone,” she says.
“It makes you look in the mirror and think, 'Maybe I should get a facelift. Maybe I should have Botox” or “Maybe I should be a size six.”
“I'm just strong enough to say no.”
5
5
I've been on every diet and every diet works until you stop
But Coleen adds: “I don't think there's anyone who doesn't look in the mirror and stand there and pull their cheekbones in and pull out the wrinkles.
“But I also love seeing the life on people's faces. I love all the scars and wrinkles.
'I don't like a face that has lived and laughed a lot frozen on time because you got work done.
“I am in no way against anyone who wants to take that path. But don't try to pressure me.
“I also feel like everyone is starting to look the same. Women are just starting to look like The Stepford Wives.”
Covid and lockdown took their toll on Coleen's weight and she found herself back to a size 18-20.
Not only that, she had 'crippling' pain due to a bad disc in her back, bursitis – a painful swelling in her hip joints – and plantar fasciitis – heel pain – in both feet.
“I had the worst time. I literally ate paracetamol every day,” she says.
“I was obviously overweight. It was closed, so you just ate crap.
'I'm such a snacker'
“So I decided to follow a plant-based diet, which changed my life.
“Within two weeks I was taking no painkillers, my feet and hips cleared up and I lost about two stone.”
But as a lot of health problems disappeared, another, more serious condition appeared.
Coleen says: “I've just found out I'm pre-diabetic. It is type two, which means it has to do with food.”
Coleen puts this down to her feeling out of control between meals.
“I'm such a snacker. I ate myself to death – chips, chocolate, whatever,” she says.
“And processed vegan food is just as bad for you as having a McDonald's.
“I just need to stop eating crap.”
But when it comes to using weight loss drugs such as Ozempic – a celebrity favorite – Coleen is strongly against it.
She says, “I don't believe that.”
Coleen was scared last year when she discovered skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, on her shoulder, but luckily it was successfully treated.
But three pre-melanomas on her face still need to be treated.
“As soon as I can, I'm going to sort them out because later they will turn into cancer,” she says.
Her sister Linda, 64, is still battling incurable brain cancer.
“She is just incredible, her will to live is outrageous,” says the star.
'She says she's going to have chemo, just like I say I'm going to Tesco.'
Coleen lives in Cheshire with her partner of three years, Michael Jones, 59, who works in supermarket logistics and animals including four dogs, three cats, a horse and two goats.
I decided to follow a plant-based diet, which changed my life
Yet she says she has suffered from 'empty nest syndrome' since her 22-year-old daughter Ciara left earlier this year to travel with her boyfriend.
“Just because they bought a one-way ticket, I can't say, 'Oh well, I only have three months to get through it,' because it could take three years,” she says.
“It's a huge, huge hole in my life. My eldest son (Shane Jr) has been back for a while and I have my partner Michael here, but that doesn't fill the daughter gap.
“I don't think anything will fill that until she gets home.”
Meanwhile, Coleen is busy with her new solo tour, cheekily titled Naked.
In the show, she performs a selection of her favorite songs, shares her thoughts on growing older and discusses her love life – which could be tricky considering who she'll be sharing the stage with.
“My son Shane Jr supports me and my ex-husband, Ray (Fensome), plays guitar,” she reveals.
“My new partner does the merchandise. So it really is a family affair.”
Coleen decided to call the tour Naked as it is her first time on stage without her famous sisters.
“I feel incredibly vulnerable so my partner suggested I call it Naked, which I thought was a brilliant idea,” she says.
“People ask, 'Are you going to be naked?' and I'm like, 'If that makes you buy a ticket, then I say yes'.”
As for what's up for discussion, she says nothing is off limits.
“If you ask me a question, I will answer it. There are no restrictions for me,” she promises. “Unless it's gross or something.
“But you'd be really stupid to spend money on a ticket if you hated me, so fool yourself even more.”
- Coleen has dates across the country for her Naked tour until March 28
5