EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
Her blue eyes twinkling as she strikes a pose for the camera, Linda Nolan is in the mood to celebrate as hello! joins her for our exclusive interview and photoshoot.
The star has just toasted her 65th birthday – a milestone that, at times, she thought she might never reach.
“I’m 65! It’s unbelievable,” says Linda, who remains radiant and upbeat despite living with incurable but treatable cancer.
And the best gift of all was receiving the good news last week that the cancer in her brain has not spread.
“On my 60th birthday, my wish was that I could make it to one more birthday. I said to one of my sisters the other day: ‘Oh my God – it’s been five years since then.’”
If anyone understands the importance of not taking such occasions for granted, it’s Linda.
“People have been asking me what’s on my bucket list. Meeting George Clooney would be nice,” quips the star, adding with a glint in her eye that she’s keen to find love again, after being married to her late husband Brian for 26 years.
“If a George Clooney lookalike came along, it would be hard to resist, but if he had the personality of a mouse, I wouldn’t be interested,” she says. “There has to be humour and romance. Not too much to ask for, is it?”
BIRTHDAY BASH
As well as joining us for today’s shoot at the fivestar Boulevard Hotel in Blackpool, Linda has been celebrating her birthday with her closeknit family, which includes her beloved sisters Coleen, Maureen, Anne and Denise, with whom she skyrocketed to fame in the 1970s as part of award-winning group The Nolans.
They count the international hit I’m in the Mood for Dancing and tracks including Attention to Me Gotta Pull Myself Together and among their back catalogue, and have sold more than 30 million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful girl groups of all time.
“Even at 65, there’s still a cake hidden from me, which is brought out while everyone sings Happy Birthday,” says Linda, who spent her special day last Friday going out for brunch in Blackpool’s Stanley Park, near to where she lives with older sister Denise.
Joining the party were Anne, Denise and her partner and a group of Linda’s school friends, before the celebrations ended with a relaxing evening at home with a Chinese takeaway.
Spending time with her loved ones has been Linda’s priority since she was told her brain cancer was incurable.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, after finding a lump. She then discovered she had cancer in her pelvis in 2017 after she fell going up stairs. A scan revealed not only a crack between her pelvis and her hip bone, but also the presence of cancer. By 2020, i
