Coleen Nolan has taken to Instagram to confirm the news that she has given up smoking, and she was immediately met with support from her fans and co-stars.
In her online ‘Col’s Corner’ series, the Loose Women star looked beautiful in a blue shirt and thigh-high boots as she enjoyed a cup of tea in a beautifully-patterned teacup. “For those who know me,” she started. “I have been a heavy smoker and I have tried everything over the years. The patches, vaping, tablets, everything and nothing’s worked.”
As Coleen continued, the star revealed that she recently battled a “severe chest infection” saying it got to the point where she “could not breathe” for days on end. She went to a specialist who theorised it could be COPD, or an emphysema, which sparked a “lightbulb” moment in her brain, and meant that she hadn’t had a cigarette for “two weeks”.
The mum-of-three added: “I don’t want to smoke because life is too precious,” and she also revealed her fears that smoking might prevent her from being the “grandparent I want to be”.
Coleen was immediately supported in the comments with co-star Kelle Bryan writing: “Sooooo proud of you and what a different it has made already,” while a second penned: “Well done. I’ll be 2 years smoke free [at the] end of Jan but it took a lung cancer diagnosis to stop me!! Thankfully I’m all clear now.”
A third posted: “I did the same [caught] pneumonia and never smoked again! Well done soon you will hate the smell and wonder how you ever smoke,” and a fourth added: “Well done! It’s one of the hardest addictions to give up so you should be proud of yourself.”
Last month, the 58-year-old took a small leave of absence from Loose Women as she opened up about how “stressed” she was feeling. Addressing her followers, she said: “Hi everyone. I’ve had a week off this week. I was getting a bit stressed [with] so many things happening and I just thought, [it’s] very important for your mental health to just sometimes go, ‘I can’t do it this week,’ and that’s what I did.”
She went on to say: “Very kindly Loose Women let me do that and I was really looking forward to it… a nice, chilled out week, not thinking about anything. Let me tell you, I can’t wait to go back to work…”
Coleen finished by adding: “I also wanted to say, if you’re feeling a bit stressed sometimes, and it’s only a week, even if it’s a couple of days, you just need to take that break and regroup and do normal, everyday things… Remember, think about you sometimes.”
The TV star’s fans and friends flooded the comments section with supportive messages. One wrote: “Good for you Coleen, it’s nice to see you back today but your health comes first,” while another chimed in: “Great advice. Enjoy your time at home with the animals… Ignore the house stuff. Life is too short!”
A third remarked: “Well done! We all need time out sometimes and shouldn’t be afraid to ask for it!” and a fourth commented: “I have a reset day every Monday. I catch up on sleep and just do what’s needed. So important to look after your health, mental and physical.”
