Loose Women legend Coleen Nolan became emotional on Monday’s edition of ITV’s chat show as she recalled the exact moment her ‘insecurities’ over her weight began
Coleen Nolan became emotional as she recalled the exact moment the ‘insecurities’ with her weight began. The Loose Women star, 60, has been open about her weight journey over the years, but on Monday’s edition of the ITV chat show, she pinpointed the moment everything began for her.
The singer, who shot to fame as the youngest member of The Nolan Sisters, was grateful that she and her siblings did not have to endure the onslaught of social media trolling when they became famous in the late 1970s but remembered being called ‘heavy’ when she was a child, and admitted that it stayed with her ever since.
Appearing alongside anchor Ruth Langsford, as well as fellow panellist Gloria Hunniford and former EastEnders actress Nadia Sawalha, Coleen recalled feeling as if she was the ‘biggest’ in the group when they were enjoying success with hits like I’m In The Mood For Dancing and Gotta Pull Myself Together.
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She said: “I look now and go ‘I don’t know what I was worried about…’ but I always felt as if I was the biggest in the group, I was the one with the big boobs and I was quite tall believe it or not. So I always had that, luckily it wasn’t in the social media age so I wasn’t getting trolled or reading all about it. But my insecurities about my weight started actually from a friend of the family.”
The former Dancing On Ice star couldn’t recall exactly who it was, but recalled being ‘very small’ when a friend of the family had picked her up when she was just young, and begged with parents and adults to be mindful of what they say around children.
“I can’t remember who it was, I know it was a guy, and I was only very, very small. He went to pick me up and said ‘Ooh, she’s a heavy one.’
“And it stayed with me my whole life. I have such a phobia of being picked up, I constantly think ‘Oh don’t pick me up because I’m gonna be too heavy. This has been my whole life. As a parent or adults around children, you need to be really careful around the language because it stays.”
The TV favourite managed to lose five stone in the late 2000s and subsequently launched a fitness DVD but later admitted she had ‘lost her personality’ during that tough time as she stuck to a strict regime. In 2021, she claimed that switching to a vegan diet had led to further weight loss. At the time, she told Bella magazine that she felt better than ever but sometimes missed a McDonald’s milkshake.
She said: “I feel much better than I’ve ever felt. I’ve changed my diet and had my teeth done, which I just love… I can’t stop smiling.”
Coleen went on to joke that she was concerned she would “be in a mobility scooter before 60” if she didn’t lose weight as her “back and hips were bad”.
“Getting off the sofa was hard work,” she explained.
It was her daughter Ciara who inspired her to become vegan after showing her documentaries about the health benefits of the lifestyle.
“I’ve probably dropped a couple of stone,” she added. ” The weight loss was just a bonus. Me going vegan was never about losing weight.”
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