Loose Women star Coleen Nolan claims that while she has found the perfect new man to tango with, she won’t be waltzing towards the Strictly glitterball any time soon. She claims someone at the dance HQ clearly thinks she has two left feet. But she is adamant that it isn’t the show’s ‘Mr Nasty,’ Craig Revel Horwood.
The Mirror columnist says: “I would love to do Strictly. That show has always been on my bucket list, but they never ask me. “I think there is someone there that does not like me. They have asked all the other Loose Women, but not me. It is not Craig Revel Horwood. I love Craig.”
Something of a reality show veteran – winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2017 and coming fourth on Dancing on Ice in 2009 – she has also found a cure for the dodgy hips that could have hampered her performance … finding lurve! Naming her new man only as ‘Ryan,’ she says: “They [her hips] are probably better now I have met Ryan. “
Married twice – to Shane Richie, 62, and Ray Fensome, 68 – if she was asked to play snog, marry, avoid, she continues: “I would probably avoid Shane and Ray .. .but they are two of my best friends now. I would snog and marry Ryan.”
Speaking to fans at her This Is Me one woman show at Bush Hall in west London’s Shepherd’s Bush, Coleen also reflects on her experience earlier this year on Channel 4’s Celebs Go Dating. Coleen, who left single, says of not being picked: “It was mortifying when people didn’t put their hands up. My ego was on the floor. But I have now met someone….and this will be the best one.”
While Coleen, who formed the Nolan Sisters in 1974 with siblings Maureen, Bernie, Denise, Anne and Linda, is happy about her love life, she is critical about ITV budget cuts, which are affecting her professional life. A Loose Women panelist for 26 years, she says of its new 30 week format and the removal of the live studio audience: “I hate not having an audience. I hate it. It is really hard, as we don’t get a reaction about anything. Also, the studio is now much smaller and we have three morning shows that share that studio. The camera just swivels around for each show. But I am glad to still have a job.”
Coleen does worry sometimes that Loose Women may be ‘cursed.’ She says: “Over the years we have had some incredible guests – like Goldie Hawn, Whoopi Goldberg, Will Smith, Michael Douglas. We also got a lot of guests who, after they had done Loose Women, died. They were from an older generation.”
Countering speculation about off-screen spats between Loose Women panelists, she continues: “It is my second family. If Loose Women finished tomorrow they will always be in my life.”
Coleen is extremely supportive of her colleague, This Morning star Ruth Langsford, who shocked the showbiz world in May 2024, by announcing her devastating split from partner Eamonn Holmes. She was allegedly blindsided when he ended their 14-year marriage without warning.
Coleen says: “Ruth is fantastic and what a woman. She has really held her head high with everything she has been through and has kept her dignity. She has kept quiet.”
Warned of the perils of working in TV when she began her career, Coleen feels fortunate to have made such good friends. She says: “A very famous director on my first day on TV said to me, ‘darling, there are no friends in television … only opportunities’. I thought ‘you cynical old git.’”
Despite finding fame with The Nolans and her current role on Loose Women, these amazing achievements are not Coleen’s proudest moments. The 2018 ITV special The Real Full Monty: Ladies’ Night – which won an Emmy award – takes that place.
She says of the show, which saw a string of famous names strip off to promote cancer awareness: “I loved making that show and winning the Emmy – it’s my pride and joy. The Full Monty saved a lot of people’s lives, as a lot of people said afterwards ‘I have checked myself. It was such a shame the show stopped. I guess it was budgets, as usual.”
She had the time of her life hosting it alongside The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards presenter, Ashley Banjo. She says: “That show touched my heart.” But grandmother-of-four Coleen’s main priority, despite her success, is not work – it’s family.
Mum to Shane Jr, 37, and Jake, 34, by Shane Richie, as well as Ciara, 25, by Ray Fensome, she says: “What does family mean to me? They are my whole life and my reason for living and getting up in the morning. I literally worship them. I would be lost without them.”
Shane Richie’s son, Shane Jr., who was his mum’s warm-up man, took a cheeky swipe at his dad’s recent drink drive arrest. The EastEnders actor, known for playing Alfie Moon, was charged with drink-driving following arrest on July 29, and is scheduled to appear at Colchester Magistrates Court on September 9.
Shane Jnr, 37, asked the audience: “Is anyone having a drink tonight? Remember don’t drink and drive. ” Telling the audience he was taking his girlfriend and eight-month-old baby back to Staffordshire after the show, he added: I won’t be driving…I am drinking tonight.”
He also explained that he no longer uses his dad’s surname – preferring to go by Shane Nolan. He said: “My name is Shane Nolan not Richie. I was Shane Richie for years but then mum won Celebrity Big Brother and I changed it. I used to be called Shane Richie Jnr and I changed it to Shane Nolan. I just go with the parent who is most famous to get paid more. I have to admit my mum is smashing it.”
