Coleen Nolan - Upfront and Personal: The Autobiography

SIDGWICK & JACKSON

First published 2009 by Sidgwick & Jackson

This electronic edition published 2009 by Sidgwick & Jackson
an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Rd, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
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ISBN 978-0-230-74278-9 in Adobe Reader format
ISBN 978-0-230-74277-2 in Adobe Digital Editions format
ISBN 978-0-230-74279-6 in Mobipocket format

Copyright Coleen Nolan 2009

The right of Coleen Nolan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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This book is dedicated to my husband Ray,
for turning my life around and helping me to believe
in myself again I love you!

And to my beautiful children, Shane Jnr,
Jake and Ciara you are my life, my love,
my heart, always and forever.

Picture Credits

All photographs are from the authors personal collection apart from the following:

Mirrorpix: .

Redferns: .

Rex Features: .

PA: .

Getty: Nicky Johnston/Universal.

Dan Latchford/Latchfordpaps: .

Paul Mitchell/Woman magazine/IPC+Syndication: .

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of photographs reproduced in this book. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make restitution at the earliest opportunity.

Sitting in the dressing room I studied my reflection.

Not bad actually. A make-up artist had just done her very best to hide the dark circles under my eyes, carefully cultivated by years of running around after three kids. Shed also painted my lips a bright shade of peachy pink and appeared to have created the illusion that I actually had cheekbones. I was impressed!

Now the resident Loose Women hairdresser Lee Din was doing a sterling job on the birds nest of hair Id stepped off the train with at the crack of dawn this morning, crafting it into something halfway decent.

Its good to have you back, Coleen, he smiled, catching my eye in the mirror.

Its good to be back, I replied, trying to channel calm thoughts.

Everything was riding on this moment. Just months earlier Id felt down and miserable, convinced my TV career was all but over. At thirty-eight I was washed up, unemployable, tarred by the brush of a failed stint presenting on This Morning and very worried about the future.

My partner, Ray, was working hard and I was taking every job I could get, but still we were struggling financially. The rainy day wed saved for was here and now the piggy bank was running dry. I had a family to support and we needed the stability of a regular income. And I needed a chance to prove myself once more. So one night I lay in bed trying to think of all the positive things I could do instead of panicking. I had to think of a plan an escape route to where I wanted to be. I suddenly remembered that I had a business card for a lady called Dianne Nelmes, a big boss on ITV daytime. Id met her a couple of times and wed got on well, so the next morning after Id seen my sons Shane Jnr and Jake off to school and wiped porridge off my toddler Ciaras chin, I rummaged through a drawer of junk. I sieved through hair bobbles, scrappy bits of paper and Ciaras old dummies until eventually I located Diannes dog-eared card. Then, managing to fire up the family computer, I typed in Diannes email address and carefully constructed a light-hearted message.

Well, Ive done the stay at home mum thing, I wrote. But even the kids are begging me to go back to work, so if you hear of anything then please let me know.

I didnt think shed reply but she did, promptly, with some great news that Loose Women, a series Id worked on two years before, was coming back on air. Ill let them know youd be interested in taking part, she promised.

Now here I was, weeks later, gearing up for my moment, my one big chance to prove myself once more.

Ten minute call, Coleen, a runner said, popping her head round the door.

Standing up, I thanked Lee, smoothed down my blouse with my hands and stepped out of the dressing room. Taking a deep breath, I walked down the long corridor of ITVs South Bank studios, to reach the Loose Women set.

There were people darting around everywhere, wearing headsets and jeans, and I could hear the warm-up man inside whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Next to me appeared my old friend and Loose Women anchor presenter Kaye Adams. We both rolled our eyes as we were forced to do a kind of ridiculous half hug and air kiss to avoid messing up our hair and make-up. Then coming up the corridor behind us were the other presenters, Carol McGiffin and Jenny Trent Hughes, who were both full of beans and ready to join us on the panel.

Two minutes! A producer dashed past indicating with his fingers.

I smiled at Kaye but immediately felt my stomach churn with a mixture of apprehension and adrenalin. I still get nervous to this day!

Then suddenly we were given the green light and I was walking out into the studio with the other girls. There was a sea of smiling faces as the audience cheered, and as I settled into my seat behind the desk I could feel the heat of the bright studio lights on my face. Excitement and exhilaration rushed through me like an electric current.

I was back on the map...

I made my singing debut when I was two years old, at Christmas 1967 when we did a turn at the ABC theatre in Blackpool in front of about 2,000 old age pensioners.

I can actually remember that very first time when I ventured out on the stage on my own. I had a long nightie on and was clutching my teddy. Everyone looked at me and said, Ahh as you would to a little kid, wouldnt you! Not realizing how cute I was, I thought, What are they saying Ahh about? Then I sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town to rapturous applause.

My family were quite unique in the fact that we all sang together. For years before I came along, my older brothers and sisters had joined my parents in an act called the Singing Nolans. Work could be sporadic in Dublin, so in 1962, three years before my birth, the family crossed the Irish Sea, relocating to Blackpool in search of more regular work. There were many more clubs and hotels to perform at in England, so it turned out to be a canny move.

Mum and Dad were both very talented singers. My mum, Maureen, trained as a soprano at the Royal Irish Academy and had many admirers as much for her bonny looks as for her wonderful operatic voice. She met my dad, Tommy, while they were both performing at Clerys Ballroom in Dublin. They were both twenty. They married a year later and went on to form a two-piece act called Tommy and Maureen: The Sweethearts of Song.