Linda Nolan’s heartbreaking final Christmas as she ‘couldn’t hug family’

Putting family above everything else, spent her last Christmas surrounded by the people she loved.

After rising to fame with her sisters Anne, Denise, Maureen, Bernie, and Coleen in The Nolans, Linda remained close to her siblings, who supported her in her final months.

after a lengthy battle with cancer. Linda is the second Nolan sister to pass, following Bernie’s death from cancer in 2013. 

Linda, born in Dublin, was grateful for every special moment she spent with her loved ones over Christmas, even when she was too ill to eat or cuddle her newborn great-nephews.

Linda attended a pantomime production of Snow White in St Helens, Merseyside, where her sister Maureen, 70, played the role of the wicked queen. Linda described her as “possibly the most beautiful wicked queen in the history of wicked queens”.

This experience led Linda to reminisce about her own pantomime days.

In an article for the Mirror on December 18, Linda, who had previously played the wicked queen at the same theatre, pondered whether she would still be performing in pantomimes if her health allowed it.

She wrote: “I used to love doing panto when Brian came with me, but I rather like having Christmas off these days. On Christmas Eve alone, Maureen’s got three shows!”

Linda had participated in and watched numerous pantomimes over the years, but seeing children in the audience made the experience feel new again. Despite her illness, Linda fully immersed herself in the Christmas spirit, which was her favourite time of year.

She even went gift shopping with her friend Sue, joking about the challenges of navigating through narrow aisles in her wheelchair: “She’s been great at taking me out in my wheelchair, although she no doubt needed a mulled wine after the last trip when she turned me round in one narrow aisle and we took out half of womenswear.”

Linda recently recounted participating in Christmas jumper day, sharing with her fans: “Mine has a gin goblet in a Santa hat on the front. Because nothing says Christmas like a GandT in a hat.”

Reflecting on a year filled with adversity, she expressed gratitude to her readers: “I can barely believe I’ve made it but here I am, and I’m so grateful. Thank you so much for reading my highs and lows this year. I’ll make a Christmas wish for many more.”

Linda shared in her Mirror column how Denise had provided her with a practical yet thoughtful Christmas gift – a modesty slip to allay her fears of an accidental fall. 

The actress candidly revealed: “It’s no secret I have five mats in the bathroom. I’m so terrified of falling and having to be hefted to my feet in my birthday suit.

“I know I shouldn’t lock the door because people need to get in, but I’m so worried about falling half-dressed, I often lock it anyway. Everyone, even my own sisters, are under strict orders to immediately throw me a towel if the worst happens.”

Even in challenging times, the ‘Naughty Nolan’ spirit shone through.

Explaining the gift from her sister, Linda said: “So faced with this conundrum Denise, bless her, sourced the modesty slip, which meant I was confronted with a pile of turquoise swimsuit material under the tree on Christmas Day, complete with two holes down the sides so you can slip your hands through and actually wash. (They’d possibly be put to other uses if Brian was still alive… But here we are.).”

Linda also mentioned her ongoing challenges with a chest infection.

Sadly, she was struck down with a severe chest infection over the holiday season, which left her unable to “eat a bite, not even a sprout” on what she calls her “favourite day of the year”.

She revealed: “I staggered down at noon, and could only sit on the sofa as everyone else tucked into lunch. I managed to open some presents, but was back in bed by 8pm. I still have gifts unwrapped. A travesty.”

The day after Christmas, instead of enjoying a relaxing day at home, Linda found herself visiting her GP, where she was given antibiotics for her chest infection and anti-sickness tablets for nausea.

Keen to avoid a hospital stay, her doctor agreed she could return home unless her condition worsened.

Admitting that it wasn’t the festive period she’d envisioned, Linda wrote: “It’s been grim. It wasn’t the Christmas I wanted. There was no late-night karaoke, and not one of my four selection boxes got opened.

“As I write this, I don’t plan to go to Coleen’s New Year’s bash either. No burger van in the driveway for me, and no cuddles with her son Jake’s new baby. I’m beyond disappointed.”

Linda, despite her recent bout of ill health, recounted her festive experiences with a note of optimism: “But, although I’ve missed the revelry, there’s been a different kind of Christmas and New Year in its place.

“Days of peace and reflection. We’ve talked about Christmases past and all the good times. We popped Sinatra on and remembered Mum and Dad. And my best friend Sue plans to stay with me to see in the New Year, telling me, ‘I am where you are’.”

Battling with illness, Linda penned on January 8 that she had not eaten for 11 days due to severe flu symptoms which left her frail and gasping for air after just walking a few steps.

This drew concerned attention from her sisters, who insisted she consume energy drinks as it was all she could stomach, reports .

Linda recalled: “The doctors say it’s been a bad case of flu. I became so weak I’d walk a few steps and struggle to catch my breath. My legs were even more wobbly than usual and of course although I try not to, I immediately thought of how Bernie was at the end. You think, Oh my God, is this it? “.

However, Linda’s appetite made an unexpected comeback on Sunday, January 5, when Denise and her husband Tom’s order of a Chinese meal sparked a desire for “chicken curry with pineapple, no mushrooms.”

The star reflected: “Pineapple in a curry. That was the foil container to finally tempt me out of my fast. My very own Chinese New Year. I hadn’t eaten for 11 days, what a Christmas! A complete wipe out.”

Linda, battling through her health issues, managed to visit her brother Brian’s house where she was greeted with a delightful spread of homemade treats.

She quipped: “I told her no one likes a show-off. I ate a whole half a scone. Jam and cream too. It was so good to get out and chat or listen, rather, which I know sounds unlikely but I’m suffering from the worst dry mouth so gossiping’s restricted. I think that’s a chemo side-effect rather than the flu.”

As New Year’s Eve approached, Denise, 72, grew increasingly worried about Linda’s condition, prompting a hospital visit where she was prescribed steroids in addition to antibiotics.

Recounting her subdued New Year’s festivities, Linda shared: “They sent me back home to rest, and she was then reassured enough to go to Coleen’s New Year’s party as my friend Sue and her husband Graham came round to stay. I was asleep by 10.10 pm but that was pretty good going!”

Despite missing out on family celebrations, Linda confessed: “But for the first time in my life, I wasn’t in the mood for cuddles.”

Linda’s agent announced her death in a statement which said she passed away “peacefully, with her loving siblings by her bedside”.