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Coleen Nolan has opened up about the ‘relentless’ trolling the Loose Women panellists receive and claims that the show is a ‘toxic atmosphere’ – which she says is absolute nonsense

Coleen Nolan has slammed claims that Loose Women is a “toxic” environment and believes people are jealous of the show.

Over the years, the ITV lunchtime programme has been slapped with claims that it’s not a pleasant place to work and that some of the panellists create a negative atmosphere. However, Nolan who has been on the programme since 2000 believes that those who make the claims are simply jealous.

In a candid interview, as she celebrates the news that she’s stepping out solo for the first time in her career, Coleen, 58, has admitted that she once left the show due to people behind the scenes. Now, she’s happier than ever after her return.

She told us: “It’s relentless, and I think it’s very sad because it seems to be a lot of women bashing other women. They go on about ‘Oh it’s toxic’, it’s been running for 24 years or something, if it was that toxic, trust me, being the person I am, I wouldn’t be there. I left for a year, years ago, because I wasn’t enjoying it. But that had nothing to do with the panel that was to do with more to do with people behind the scenes at the time. I thought ‘I’m not enjoying this’ and I took a break from it and did other things, the first time I went into Big Brother and all that I took a year out, but since I’ve gone back and those people have moved on, I can honestly say, I don’t know what I’d do without them.

“There is nothing toxic, I wouldn’t be there, you couldn’t sit on that panel and be yourself and have a laugh and have a joke or certainly have a row about something if you didn’t get on. So I think it’s really sad that people feel they have to knock it and that show in particular, the one show that’s so representative of women. You’ve got ages from late 20s up to 83, we cover every topic. I don’t know why they’re so determined to knock it all the time, maybe it’s jealousy.

“The worst thing for me is when they go ‘I don’t even care about them, I don’t care what they do’, I think well you keep mentioning them so they’re obviously really getting to in life. Maybe it is to make them more famous, I don’t know but hand on my heart, do we get on 24/7? No, it’s like my sisters. I turn sometimes and go ‘Shut up, you’re getting on my nerves’, I do that when I’m with my family. They’re as close to me as they could be. I get there and I can’t wait to see them. And we have a laugh and that’s most of the time, we all laugh about it now. You’ve heard me and Ruth, I say things and go ‘Oh sh*t that’s going to be front page, we’re having a feud’ but yeah it’s great, we love it.”

But while her Loose Women co-stars are on tour, Coleen reveals that she had to turn down the opportunity to appear on the panel in various cities due to other working commitments. “I’m filming [The Real] Monty and stuff and just all the dates they kept on giving me, I was like ‘I’m not here, or I’m doing this’, it’s just impossible,” she said.

Coleen is once again taking part in ITV’s The Real Full Monty

Coleen opened up on Loose Women about being diagnosed with skin cancer ( 
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Over the course of her time on Loose, Coleen has shared the highs and lows of her life. Most recently, she announced that she had been diagnosed with two forms of skin cancer, both of which were treatable. She said: “When it was announced they actually asked me to and I’ve known for ages, but they actually asked me to announce it because of Full Monty I just kind of started for Monty but I was really shocked about the amount of messages I got the most messages I’ve ever got on anything. It is important to talk about but I felt a bit to me it’s all a bit dramatic. I’ve got a sister whose cancer has gone to her brain. So I just felt a bit embarrassed. Initially, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s all got a bit too much.’ But obviously, it’s there and it’s always an important subject. But yeah, I mean, it’s it’s nothing compared to what my sister is going through.”

The star admits she “laughed” when her dermatologist explained she had skin cancer as she had initially gone to see him over another issue. She explained: “On the way out the door I just went oh could you just check this on my shoulder because I’ve had it for a while and it was the smallest piece of red stained skin but I’d had it for about a year. As soon as I showed him he went ‘That’s basal cell carcinoma you need to come back in’ and I went ‘I thought you were going to tell me it was eczema, and he was like ‘You need to get undressed’ and he checked all of it and then I asked him about dry patches on my face and he said ‘They’re melanoma’ but the shocking and surprising thing is that it’s all from childhood.

“He said everything I’ve got from childhood. That one [on her shoulder] has been treated the carcinoma and touch work that’s gone and then these two [on her nose] have yet to be treated but it’s nothing major. What he said about this is if they don’t treat them then later on in life, that will become a dangerous kind of skin cancer. So I do have to get them treated. And I’m going to go on and have an all-over body. I’m going to go and see another specialist who’s been recommended to me, who literally checks every single piece of skin you’ve got because I want to know because I know you know from being in a family that you’re surrounded by cancer and I do the full monty which is about awareness. I know that catching these things in time is the most effective as scary as it is.”

The singer and presenter praised her older sister, Linda, who is battling incurable brain cancer. Coleen described her sibling as a ‘warrior’ ( 
Image:
Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Coleen’s older sister, Linda, 64, is currently battling incurable cancer which was in her hip and has since spread to her liver and brain but is remaining positive as she moves forward. Discussing her sister, the presenter said: “Certainly in public [there’s a smile on her face], obviously there’s nights she goes to bed and I only found this out recently but there are nights she goes I think the night times because she’s totally on her own. You know, in your bedroom and your brain, you just overthink and I think they’re the times when she has her cry and and he’s scared you know, but the rest of the time. She is an absolute warrior. I look at her in awe. She treats chemo like she’s going to Tesco and it keeps coming back and battering her and she keeps on smiling and she still keeps getting out of bed and she bloody hates it. She hates it, she hates being bald. I think that for her that’s the most dramatic thing. She’s lost her hair, this is the fourth time and she’s lost it again and then she gets embarrassed and she goes ‘That’s really of vain of me’ and I’m like ‘It’s not’.”

But while Coleen’s struggles may have been made public, the singer and presenter says members of the public have pulled her family through thick and thin. “The vast majority of people out there have literally pulled me and my family through everything and still do,” she gushed before adding: “They’ve pulled me through divorces or they pulled me through meeting someone new or, you know, they’ve always just been it’s always been thanks to the public that we are where we are.

“Our career has always been done to the public, because for some reason, they took us under their wing, and they are just like an extension of our already big Irish family, I know that sounds cheesy but it’s true. I’ve done shows where, you know, you’re voted out by the public, and I’ve been terrible at them like Dancing On Ice. I was terrible but the public kept me in til the semi-finals, the judges wanted me out and week after week, those gorgeous people kept putting me through and I’m like, wow. So I’m always We’re always grateful. And you know, if you have lived your life in the public eye, sometimes it’s hard because sometimes you do want privacy. But you can’t have it always, you just have to take the rough with the smooth, I think sometimes that is hard.”

The Nolans have been a staple piece in British culture since they launched their chart-topping career ( 
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FilmMagic)

Opening up about her finances, Coleen says if she was a millionaire, she would consider taking six months off work – but this is far from a reality for her. The star who lives in Cheshire with her daughter and several animals added: “I have six days off and a bill comes in and I think ‘I better go back to work’, People see you on the telly and think ‘She doesn’t even need to go to work?’ they always think that and I need to go to work as much as the next person, I’ve got a house, I’ve got a mortgage and I’ve got animals.”

The Blackpool-born star continued: “I feel like I’d miss the public if I gave it up tomorrow, I’m a homebody, I’m known for it on Loose Women, I’m not out partying all the time. Even when they go out. Bless them. They always invite me but they know I’m gonna say no. Because I’m a real homebody. I like being at home with my animals. I did take three months off a few years ago, I nearly didn’t come back because I lost all my confidence and then I thought ‘You have to go back, it’s all you know, you’re just going to wither and die if you don’t go back’, because there’s nothing else I can do apart from sing and talk crap on the telly.”

The Nolans often appear on TV together nowadays ( 
Image:
Quest Red)
But one thing that Coleen has never done is tour as a solo artist. Today she announces her Naked Tour and jokes that she may consider getting naked on stage. Speaking about getting on the road, she said: “I’m so excited and terrified all at once. It’s something I’ve never done before, hence why I’ve called it Naked because I think Naked also suggests apart from the very obvious, it also suggests feeling very vulnerable.

“And I do feel very vulnerable but I’m also at a stage now where I’ve always said that singing and performing is really the greatest love of my life is what I’ve done since the age of two. But I’ve never had that but I’ve always been surrounded by family. You know, I’ve always had my sisters when I was very young. I had my Sisters Brothers mum and dad. And then even in presenting you know, I’ve got my other sisters like the Loose Women girls, it’s just always been a group thing. But I guess you know what’s happened to my sisters and Linda now especially as well as losing Bernie I’ve thought it’s one of those moments and feel the fear and do it anyway because I don’t want to get to an age where I think why didn’t I just do it. Because the thought of never performing again scares me more than performing. But am I am I excited? like you wouldn’t believe but equally, I go to bed at night sometimes thinking ‘I’m terrified, I am terrified’.”

But she won’t be alone for too long – her two sons, Shane Jnr and Jake, both singers and lead singers of bands will be heavily involved in the production. She went on to add: “I mean, even when I toured with my sisters, you know, we all took a moment while we’d have a solo each, but then they’d be in the background in harmonies, and then the next song you’d all be together. This is going to be me really alone. I mean, I’ve got a band and I’m going to have two or three backing singers and my son, Shane, is going to be there. He’s performing. He’s kind of like the warm-up and I’m using his band for my section. So I’m kind of still surrounding myself with family to a point. But ultimately I am on that stage on my own. It’s just so scary, it wasn’t scary until today when I’ve started talking about it and it’s like ‘Oh sh*t they’ve taken me seriously and this is happening, I was just having a laugh guys’. But no, I am looking forward to it and I just want everybody to you know, at the moment, the news and life in general is just a bit shit isn’t it? As in you know, everything you hear on the news or certainly on social media. It’s all very depressing and I just feel everyone’s feeling a bit down.”

Coleen’s two sons Shane (left) and Jake (right) will be heavily involved in her upcoming tour ( 
Image:
WireImage)
While her son Jake may have gone on to top the charts as the lead singer of Rixton, who were once managed by Scooter Braun and her son Shane has also enjoyed success as an artist, Coleen admits that while she worried about her three children following in her famous footsteps, there was nothing she could do to prevent them taking on a career in the media.

“It does worry you because I know how hard it is and I know how cutthroat it can be and I know that it’s not always fair,” she said before explaining: “It doesn’t always come down to being talented, you know of which they both are. Sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time or knowing, you know, to get that initial push. But I think when it’s in your blood as it was with them from quite a young age, there’s nothing you can do about it and who am I to say no, you absolutely shouldn’t when it’s what I’ve done since I was two years old. I don’t think I’d have had much of a say anyway. I think because they’ve grown up with it. They’ve seen all the pitfalls. You know, they’ve seen sometimes when I’ve come home and I’ve been stressed or upset or I’ve auditioned for something and haven’t got it and they’ve seen how it works so they’re the kind of used to it.

“Jake’s going to be the creative of my tour because he’s got such an immense, like just an incredibly creative talent, you know, as well as singing and writing music creatively. He’s just got ideas where I think where the hell did that actually come from? So he was the first one like when I said obviously I knew I wanted Shane involved because me and Shane, you know, we’ve got kind of the same personality and audiences love Shane.” But despite being upbeat about getting on the road, Coleen wants her audience to go on a journey with her.

Whether that be laughing or smiling, she says that there will be parts of the concert which will shock the audience as she opens up about her extreme highs as well as the extreme lows of being in the spotlight since the age of two. One thing she is excited about, however, is the upcoming return of Big Brother.

Despite being excited for the return of Big Brother, Coleen has flat out ruled out a return to the house ( 
Image:
PA)
Nolan appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 10 back in 2012, finishing in second place. However, just five years later, she found herself becoming the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 19. However, she has no desire to return to the house as a housemate – even if she was offered an eye-watering pay cheque.

Reflecting on her time on the programme, she said: “I always thought it’s a good show. I love things that are kind of more even more than physical, like a mental experiment. And that’s what Big Brother is. It’s a psychological experiment. And it’s really fun to watch. Would I ever, someone asked me earlier would you go back in? Absolutely not.

“They literally couldn’t pay me enough to go. They couldn’t pay me enough to go and do it again. But I enjoyed the experience. I think it’s had a long enough break that it’ll be interesting to see it come back now. I also want to phone them all up and go ‘You have no idea how hard it is’ I don’t think anyone does, people always say to me ‘Why is it hard to sit in the house for 24 hours you don’t do anything? It is possibly mentally one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

“[It was] very close to breaking me, completely. 24 hours feels like a week an hour feels like 24 hours. And when I say there is nothing to do. There is nothing to do. There’s no music, there’s nothing to read. There’s nothing to write you don’t know the time you are in a house full of strangers that you would probably never be friends with on the outside. All sleeping together. You know two baths Well, a toilet in the bathroom. Nothing locks. There’s no privacy. You can’t sleep during the day because they wake you up with an alarm. It is mentally a massive challenge. And I don’t think you’ll ever understand it till you’re in that situation.”

Coleen is preparing for her upcoming headline tour

Having previously appeared on Dancing On Ice, Coleen explained she isn’t able to take part on Strictly Come Dancing ( 
Image:
Ken McKay / Rex Features)
One job she would consider is taking over Phillip Schofield on Dancing On Ice. Earlier this year, it was announced that the presenter had quit all roles with ITV after confessing to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ male colleague who was much younger than him. In 2011, Coleen presented one episode of the show alongside Schofield but now says: “I’ll consider anything to be honest with you, yeah, of course, I did present it once when Holly was sick, and I had a great time doing it. I don’t think, annoyingly, they see me for primetime I don’t think. I don’t think I’m, the right shape, size or age for them for primetime which is fine, I’ve kind of got my head around it now. But do I think I could do it? Yeah, I think I could have a right laugh doing it. I couldn’t be ‘Oh my God you’re amazing’, I’d probably be like ‘God that was really bad’, Maybe that’s why they don’t want me? They’d be like ‘No, she’s too honest’, but of course I would but I wouldn’t worry about it because I’ve not been asked, it’s fine.”

Although she loved her time on the programme, it came with its downfall as she claims she’s not able to participate on Strictly Come Dancing because of it. She said: “I’ve never done Strictly which devastates me. Since that show started, I’ve always wanted to do Strictly and so many Loose Women have done it but they never, ever ask me. But it’s because apparently, I did Dancing On Ice, they don’t have anyone who’s done Dancing On Ice on Strictly.

“Had I have known that was the rule, I might not have done Dancing on Ice but they didn’t ask me then either. But yes, Strictly is brilliant but I’ve kind of scrubbed it out of my bucket list because I know it’s not going to happen. However, I still love it and I’m addicted to it. The Loose Women who have done it have said physically, it’s absolutely relentless and exhausting but I love learning to dance, I’d love to learn to dance properly, I’ve never been trained to dance, I’d love to be with a professional and I love music, that would be good but I’m too busy now, I’m organising a tour.”

Coleen will join the likes of Gemma Collins, Paul Burrel, Julia Bradbury, Ben Cohen and her former Loose Women co-star Sherrie Hewson for ITV’s The Real Full Monty. This Christmas, the celebs will be getting their kit off to raise awareness of cancer and the importance of self-checking in order to save lives.

Speaking about getting on stage with the Full Monty team, Coleen beamed as she exclaimed: “I love Full Monty. Every single year I’ve done it, they’ve said ‘This will be the last one’ because it is quite a big show to organise, there’s a lot of people involved in that show and there are weeks and weeks of hard work, we don’t just learn this dance to get our boobs out and go home, I hate that bit by the way, still, this is my fifth one and I still hate that bit. It’s a real commitment to do it, its tiring and they’re long days but it means such a lot to all of us and everyone in it.

“Somehow, whether it’s themselves or relatives like myself has been touched by cancer as has most people and the awareness that it raises every year is insane every year, someone will message saying ‘You’ve saved my life, I found a lump while I was watching the show, I decided to be brave and go to the doctor’, you think ‘Oh my God’, that’s exactly why you do it, it means a lot. Every year I go ‘I’m not doing this again, it’s too hard, I’m too tired and I don’t want to get my boobs out’ – but it’s fabulous and it’s quite liberating.”

Just seconds before the celebs take their kits off, a huge light is shone on the audience to protect their modesty, although Coleen later found out that it doesn’t protect them. While laughing, she said: “I was saying ‘But the audience are going to see my boobs’ and they go ‘they won’t, in that moment we’re going to put a massive light on the audience, so for a few seconds it blinds them’ by which time, when the light’s gone off, you’re covered up – they told me this but last year, my kids came and they went ‘Nah, we did see your boobs’ and my daughter was like ‘I saw Ashley’s willy’ and I was like ‘Brilliant, fabulous’ so this time when they go ‘The light will blind them’, I’ll go ‘Shut up no it won’t’. But it’s a really different vibe this show, even the audience, I’ve never known an audience like it, they’re so on your side, there’s nothing sexual, it’s weird saying it’s a feel-good show because it’s actually, equally it’s a heartwrenching show as well.”

Tickets for Coleen’s Naked… and In The Mood For Dancing Tour are available on her website, here, on September 15.

Olivia Newton-John’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, paid tribute to her ‘brave’ mum on Loose Women today on what would have been the Grease star’s 75th birthday

Olivia Netwon-John’s daughter says the late actress is ‘sending her signs’ as she paid tribute to the Grease star on Loose Women today.

Chloe Lattanzi, 37, was Olivia’s only child and was heartbroken when the star died after losing her battle with breast cancer in August last year. Paying tribute to her ‘brave’ mum on what would have been her 75th birthday, the singer said she can still feel her presence as she opened up a ‘strange occurrence’ a week after Olivia’s death.

Speaking to the Loose Women panel, Chloe said: “About a week after she passed, my phone went ‘click’ and I’d had a discussion… she said ‘If I can come through to you, show myself to you, I will’. I had a feeling just to look at this photo, I knew there was something special about it.‌”

Olivia Netwon-John’s daughter says the late actress is ‘sending her signs’ as she paid tribute to the Grease star ( 
Image:
WireImage)

Chloe was Olivia’s only child ( 
Image:
Christine Chew/UPI/REX/Shutterstock)
Explaining she could see a “blue orb” in the picture, Chloe continued: “I zoomed in, it was a live photo, and I pressed the live button and there was a bright blue orb flying around my dog Jelly’s head. My mum wears this aqua blue stone around her neck. She never took it off, John [Olivia’s husband] gave it to her and it was that colour so I feel it was her way of showing me ‘It’s Momma’.” Chloe also said her father had sent her a photo in which a blue orb can be seen flying near his wife, who is a cancer survivor.

Revealing she gave up her career as a singer for a while to care for her mum towards the end of her life, she concluded: “We were together every minute of every day and I would sleep with her at night. I have many precious memories and I’ve never seen anybody that has as much strength as my mum or could endure what she did, with such grace, and humour and dignity. I will treasure that time for the rest of my life.”

After Chloe spoke about her mum and also thanked her fans for supporting her, Coleen Nolan also paid tribute to Olivia, saying she had met the Australian once before. Telling the audience she was ‘beautiful inside and out’, the Nolan Sister looked emotional as she remembered the Sandy star.

In August, Chloe admitted she had been “neglecting” herself as she faced heartbreaking health struggles, just a year after her Olivia’s death. The singer revealed she had been suffering from memory loss and had found it difficult to get out of bed, as she took to Instagram, admitting: “I have not been okay.”Explaining she was going to “disappear for three weeks”, Chloe then told her followers she would see them “at the walk”, referencing her mother’s annual Walk for Wellness. The event will take place in Melbourne in October to raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre.

Katie Price’s teenage son Junior shared with ex-husband Peter Andre appeared on Loose Women to promote his latest chart-topping tune called Only One

Katie Price slammed her former Loose Women co-stars after being snubbed from the popular ITV morning programme last Friday.

Her teenage son Junior, who Katie shares with ex-husband Peter Andre, appeared on the show to promote his single Only One. Katie had once been a regular panellist on the ITV daytime programme until 2018 before she quit for ‘personal reasons’.

In his first solo TV interview, Junior 18, spoke at length about his whirlwind music career, following in the footsteps of his Mysterious Girl hitmaker dad. But the mum-of-five pointed out presenters failed to mention her once, despite her music career too. Famously singing her rendition of A Whole New World, as well as releasing several tracks herself, Katie hit out at hosts Kaye Adams, Nadia Sawalha, Judi Love and Jane Moore in a TikTok tirade, telling fans the stars “hate me”.

Katie fumed at the Loose Women on a live video ( 
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Tik Tok)

Katie says she was snubbed by presenters ( 
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The former glamour model was telling her live viewers how she wasn’t mentioned at all in Junior’s interview, despite still being in his life. “Isn’t it weird I was in Big Brother with Nadia, I presented with all the other ones on Loose Women.” She explained: “Not one mention about his mum, not one mention about ‘is your mum proud of you? It was all Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete. He was obviously told not to talk about me. It is so cruel. But that’s what this industry is like!”

Later in Katie’s video, her daughter Princess, also shared with Peter, appears as Katie begins telling her about the ordeal, adding: “I had to just confess to everyone how on Loose Women they didn’t even mention me considering I worked with them. I said I am in his life I do see him and I do speak to him and we all do. But our whole family our left out of everything because they hate me.” Katie was a regular and popular panellist on Loose Women between 2015 and 2018.

Katie quit the show for “personal reasons” but has never disclosed her exact reasoning behind her departure in 2018. She has however told fans she would never appear on the show ever again as the programme makes her “feel sick”. It was during another recent TikTok live she explained: “No I’m not doing Loose Women. Been there done that.” Katie previously accused show bosses and producers of expecting her to “perform like a seal” for ITV daytime viewers.

Addressing her time on the show in 2021, she said: “I was doing Loose Women for two years. When I look back at that it makes me feel sick. Because those two years were bad. Bad, bad, mentally. Bad bad bad.” She told the podcast Changes With Annie Macmanus: “But I still went out there and put on a brave face. I look at it and think, ‘Oh my God’. I look at my eyes on it and think I look dead in my eyes. Because all the drama came out.”

Junior promoted his single Only One ( 
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Her outburst comes after Peter praised Junior for his iTunes chart success following the release of his new tune on Friday. Writing on Instagram, he wrote: “Can’t believe junior is going on Loose Woman on his own for the FIRST time today. His single ‘Only One’ is OUT NOW. Download on iTunes. Thank you so much for your support already everyone. Yeah a bit emotional…… but for a reason. So proud of you son for being you. ‘Only One’ out now.”

The release comes after mum Katie was forced to call the police after discovering a freaky fan’s bizarre plans to break into her Mucky Mansion. She feared for the safety of her five children after hearing threats from the sad stranger on TikTok. In a now-deleted clip, the barmy bloke told viewers he was “going to the Mucky Mansion”. He detailed his plans to enter Pricey’s property, including what he would do if confronted by the mum-of-five inside the sprawling Sussex home.

“Well, I’m going to a party near the Mucky Mansion and I’m going to break in through a hole in the fence and give Katie Price a copy of my book. So Katie Price, I’m coming for you,” the creep said, sparking Katie’s call for help. Sources say Katie took the threats “very seriously” after being forwarded the crazy clip, immediately grabbing her phone before she “called the police straight away”. An insider told The Sun: “She’s terrified and doesn’t want her kids put in danger.”

Loose Women panellist Linda Robson candidly opened up about her post-pregnancy body during the show

Linda Robson left her Loose Women co-stars speechless after making an intimate admission about her post-pregnancy body. Wednesday’s show on ITV saw the ladies discussing the changes women’s bodies undergo after childbirth.

Denise Welch humorously remarked: “Let’s not forget that your fufu is never quite the same again! Let’s be honest, let’s not beat around the bush, no pun intended.” This quip sent the live audience into fits of laughter and applause.

Amidst the laughter, Linda began to share her personal experience following the birth of her child. She confessed: “I remember after I had Lauren getting a mirror and having a look at down below. It looked like I’d been through a war! It was completely savaged.”

Linda made everyone laugh on Wednesday’s Loose Women ( 
Image:
ITV)
Linda’s frank confession triggered more laughter from the panel, with Denise struggling to contain herself. However, guest panellist Joanna Page took the opportunity to offer some advice to the women watching and those in the audience.

She advised: “I don’t think it matters which kind of birth you have. If you have a caesarean or a natural delivery, it presses down on your pelvic floor anyway. So tip for you ladies, do your pelvic floor exercises.”

Linda, who shares her eldest child Lauren with ex-partner Tony Tyler, later had two more children. The Loose Women star is also mother to Roberta and Louis Dunford.

In a shocking turn of events, it has been reported that Linda and Mark Dunford have decided to part ways. Linda made the revelation on a panel last week, asserting her independence and stating she doesn’t require a partner.

She candidly expressed: “I feel like I don’t really need a partner to love me. I’ve got my children, my grandchildren, my sisters and my friends.” Adding a touch of humour to her declaration, she quipped: “I’m looking for affection, not an erection!”

Tom Parker’s widow Kelsey joined Loose Women on Friday to open up on life after the death of her husband, moving forward with her children and the man in her life

Kelsey Parker revealed the heartbreaking question her young daughter asked following the death of her dad The Wanted star Tom as she discussed her new autobiography.

The widow opened up to the Loose Women panel on how she keeps Tom’s memory alive for her two children, Aurelia and Bodhi. She said: “He’s so present in our house there’s still all the pictures from our wedding, Tom’s everywhere in our house.

“But for them, it’s constant like this morning I did a little video of [her daughter] and she said, ‘Can you text that to daddy?’ We’re always talking about daddy and I said, ‘Mummy can’t do that. He’s watching you, he can see you singing and dancing, but I can’t actually send that video to daddy’.”

Kelsey has found love again with Sean Boggans, who she was introduced to at a wedding in Rhodes in September 2022. The pair went their separate ways before recently reuniting after meeting at another mutual friend’s wedding.

Kelsey Parker opened up how she’s keeping Tom’s memory alive and her new autobiography ( 
Image:
ITV)
The mum-of-two admitted the new relationship has been “hard” as she said: “That’s not plain sailing, either, because it’s really hard. We’re trying a new relationship and I am grieving someone and it’s really, really hard for both of us, but you know what I’m really, really happy and I deserve a little bit of happiness.”

Opening up on her book, Kelsey explained: “In the chapters, you’ll get to spend time with me and Tom together, so you’ll be at our wedding and then in the back end of the chapter will be the year of our first wedding anniversary. You really get a sense our relationship, our love, he was my best friend, my soulmate, my everything.”

Tom died at the age of 33 last year ( 
Image:
Kelsey Parker/Instagram)

Kelsey is now dating someone new ( 
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@being_kelsey/instagram)
“This has been the hardest thing I’ve done, I can’t read the book without crying,” she continued. “It’s a real realisation that this has been my life for the last three years and when Tom got diagnosed, I didn’t have time to think it’s like he got diagnosed and there’s only standard of care and I was on this mission I’ve got keep him alive. Then I’ve got to the point where obviously he died and then it was my kids and how do I move forward and how do I get through this and how do I live my life now without the love of my life?”

Victoria Beckham celebrated her birthday in style by taking a private jet to the south of France.

The Spice Girl turned 50 this week and spent the milestone surrounded by her family. Husband David Beckham is said to have taken her to France where they were driver by a chauffeur to a £200-a-head hilltop restaurant in Saint-Paul de Vence. It is a favourite spot for A-list stars thanks to its stunning remote location.

Victoria was joined by her four children – Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper – alongside her parents Jackie and Tony. “David chose somewhere incredibly remote where they knew the family wouldn’t get papped,” a source said. “The restaurant regularly hosts A-list celebrities during the Cannes film festival so none of the Riviera locals bat an eyelid when they see a celebrity.

“Victoria had an amazing fine wine-fuelled afternoon, soaking up the rays al fresco, overlooking the Med and enjoying her favourite white fish,” they told The Sun. Victoria is also getting ready to celebrate at a lavish birthday dinner this weekend in London, where she will be joined by Gordon Ramsay, Mel B and Emma Bunton, according to the publication.

Victoria Beckham’s five favourite beauty products that keep her looking youthful at 50

David and Victoria were joined by their children for the celebrations ( 
Image:
Dave Benett/Getty Images)

She only gave fans a tiny glimpse at her celebrations ( 
Image:
victoriabeckham/Instagram)

Posh Spice was flooded with well wishes as she marked the big 5-0, including from her bandmates. Emma Bunton was the first Spice Girl to post a gushing Instagram tribute to her Posh pal. Sharing a highlights video of their years together set to the band’s smash hit, Say You’ll Be There, she wrote: “Happy birthday @victoriabeckham! 50 and bossing it! Your beautiful family are a credit to you and I’m sure you’ll be spoilt rotten. We love you to bits.”

Mel B wished her “Happy birthday!” and Mel C said: “How did we get to 50?” The Scouse star continued: “We have shared so many adventures together from dancing in a church hall in Woking to dancing on top of black cabs at the Olympics!!! I’m so proud of everything we achieved together and to watch you go on to fulfil so many of your dreams beyond that is just incredible. Happy Birthday Victoria, I am very proud of you, to be your friend and band mate. Love you to bits.”

Geri Horner hadn’t posted on social media since January but returned to share a sweet message for her pal. She shared a slew of throwback photos of the two, with photos including the duo on stage, at lavish events and from photoshoots. Geri captioned the post: “Happy Birthday! @victoriabeckham You’re amazing! From our Tank girl audition over 30 years ago , and you’re still shining bright ! Wishing you love & joy.”

Victoria celebrated her 50th birthday with a sweet post shared with fans about her children and husband David Beckham. She said: “As I get ready to step into 50 (in heels, of course!), I feel so incredibly blessed to have reached this milestone. Blessed, but also accomplished and deeply content. Not just of where I am as a woman, but of how far my fashion and beauty brands have come. My ambition was always to empower women and make them feel like the best version of themselves. To me, that meant trusting my instinct and never compromising on my creative vision.”

David shared a touching tribute to his wife to the sound of The Bee Gee’s More Than A Woman. He penned: “Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife… As you head into this birthday you should look back and be proud of what you have accomplished, achieved & what you have built, Posh Spice, businesswoman & of course marrying an England captain. But your biggest success are your children, you guide them, love them & teach them… They love you beyond words, we all love you so much x Have a special day you deserve it all. 50 and fit. I am being honest,” alongside a series of pink heart emojis.

As Victoria Beckham celebrated her 50th birthday alongside husband David Beckham and loved ones last week, some expected to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle turn out for the star-studded bash.

But the Sussexes were nowhere to be seen despite their previous close bond with the Beckhams following several reports that the once close relationship may have fallen on shaky ground. The two couples have had rumours circulate of snubs, and a less than friendly phone call that imply that the relationship has now turned frosty.

David and Victoria have been long-time friends of Harry as well as his older brother Prince William. In fact, during her Spice Girls days, Victoria met both of the princes, who were teenagers at the time, on several occasions, including at the premiere of SpiceWorld The Movie.

For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US .

How Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the Beckhams went south

Victoria celebrated her birthday last week ( 
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INSTAGRAM)
It appears that the Beckhams stayed on friendly terms with Harry and when he started dating Meghan and they were reportedly eager to make her feel welcome in the UK. In fact, there were reports that Victoria had given Meghan access to her little black book of her favourite hairdressers and stylists in London.

Biographer Tom Bower, who has written a book on Meghan and is now writing one on the Beckhams, claimed in The Sun that the former footballer and fashion designer even offered the now Duchess of Sussex refuge at their Los Angeles home at a time when there was intense media interest about her.

However, the first sign of tension came shortly after this, when reports about Victoria helping out Meghan were published – leaving the Sussexes upset. According to the Mail On Sunday, Harry confronted David with his suspicions in a phone call that left the ex-Manchester United star “furious”.

Harry and Meghan were said to be worried that close friends might be leaking stories about them and were keen to find out who could be behind it. It is alleged that in particular, Meghan suspected Victoria – and Harry called David to repeat the accusation. A source close to the Beckhams told the publication: “David and Victoria went to Meghan and Harry’s wedding and were very supportive when Meghan arrived in the UK.”

Afterwards, the couples seemed to put the ordeal behind them with David and Victoria at St George’s Chapel in Windsor to see Harry and Meghan get married in May 2018. Victoria wore a chic navy dress and hat while David looked smart in a morning suit. Several months later, the royal couple headed off on a tour of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, which coincided with the 2018 Invictus Games, which were being held in Sydney. Harry and a pregnant Meghan appeared at the opening ceremony of the Games.

How Invictus Games fueled the feud

Harry and Meghan appear to have drifted from David and Victoria ( 
Image:
Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)
Harry is said to have asked David to be an ambassador for the Invictus Games – but things reportedly turned sour when the prince refused to see the former England football captain at the event in Sydney in 2018. It was claimed that the reason Harry was keeping his friend at arms’ length was Meghan – as she feared Victoria was leaking stories about her to the press.

“Having flown half-way around the world, he was perplexed why officials after he arrived at the sporting venue were playing a dance to keep him happy, but away from Harry,” Tom Bower writes for The Sun. “The reason for the distance was Meghan, the newly married Duchess of Sussex. She wanted no competition in the media from David, and especially not from his wife, Victoria.”

But despite the growing tension, Meghan did wear some of Victoria’s designs after this. On Christmas Day in 2018, while pregnant with Prince Archie, she wore a Victoria Beckham navy coat during the royals annual walk to church in Sandringham. And just months later in March 2019, she wore a Victoria Beckham to the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

Former Suits actress Meghan previously spoke of Victoria in the press and admitted she didn’t have the right ‘silhouette’ to wear designs from the Spice Girl’s fashion label. Meghan, who is 5ft 6in, said: “What I’m starting to learn is, even though things look amazing on the hanger, it doesn’t mean they’re going to look amazing on me. For example I love Victoria Beckham dresses, but I don’t have the long torso to support that silhouette.”

Here is why Meghan Markle Inherited most of Princess Diana’s Necklace including $45m worth gold

 

Meghan Markle found a special way to honor Princess Diana during her trip to Nigeria.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, wore a sentimental necklace that belonged to Prince Harry’s mother to a reception for military families in Abuja on May 11.

 

PEOPLE exclusively reveals that the necklace, featuring a delicate diamond cross on a gold chain, was a recent gift from Harry to his wife and once belonged to Princess Diana.

Meghan often pays tribute to Harry’s mother through fashion, and has several pieces in her jewelry box that belonged to the late Princess of Wales, including butterfly earrings and an aquamarine ring. Prince Harry, 39, also famously included two diamonds from his mother’s personal collection in the tri-stone engagement ring he designed for Meghan when he proposed in 2017.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex follow in the footsteps of Harry’s parents, King Charles and Princess Diana, who visited Nigeria for an official visit in March 1990. Meghan may have subtly paid tribute to Diana during the first day of their trip on May 10 by wearing a gold collar necklace reminiscent of one Diana wore during her time in Nigeria over 30 years ago.

On May 11, Meghan wore the cross necklace with a St. Agni white strapless column linen dress and her hair swept up, allowing the accessory to shine. She received a warm welcome at the reception held at the Defense Headquarters Officers Mess, where an official acknowledged Meghan’s Nigerian heritage in their address.

“Princess Meghan is a Nigerian!” Abike Dabiri Erewa, chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora, said at the event. The exclamation won a round of applause from the crowd, plus a smile and applause from Meghan herself. The Duchess of Sussex previously shared on her podcast Archetypes that she discovered she is 43% Nigerian through a genealogy test. Throughout the trip, she spoke of the connection she feels to the country.

The chairman went on to say that she was “excited but not surprised” when Meghan shared the news about her Nigerian heritage, “because she is beautiful, intelligent, diligent and hardworking and she stands firm in the midst of challenges.”

“Prince Harry, you married the best — our daughter, our friend, Princess Meghan,” she said. “I hope you come back again, again and again.”

Harry and Meghan are in Nigeria at the invitation of the Chief of Defense Staff, the country’s highest-ranking military official, and arrived in Africa on May 10 for the official three-day stay. The visit is significant as their first international tour since stepping back from their royal roles in 2020, and PEOPLE’s chief foreign correspondent Simon Perry exclusively joined the trip to Nigeria.

The busy itinerary highlighted the Invictus Games, which Prince Harry founded in 2014 as a vehicle for healing for wounded, injured and sick service personnel through adaptive sport. Harry and Meghan made the trip following Nigeria’s event debut at the latest iteration of the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany in September 2023, and the Minister of Defense has expressed interest in hosting the Games in the future.

The Duke and Duchess’ trip kicked off in Abuja and concludes in Lagos on May 12 with a basketball clinic from charity Giants of Africa, a cultural reception at the State Governor Hosue and a polo fundraiser for Nigeria: Unconquered.

Ending the stay in Lagos also calls back to Princess Diana and King Charles’ trip to Nigeria, as they visited the city in 1990.

Prince William and Prince Harry with their mother at Thorpe Park in 1993, four years before Princess Diana’s death. (Getty Images)

The first instalment of the sixth and final season of The Crown is here, and it features Princess Diana’s death.

The 36-year-old royal died on 31 August 1997 in a high-speed car crash in Paris after she was chased by the paparazzi.

Her sons, Prince William, now 41, and Prince Harry, 39, were just 15 and 12 years old respectively at the time.

Images of the brothers walking behind their mother’s casket are ingrained into most of our memories – but what have William and Harry said about their mother’s death since?

From their thoughts on walking behind Diana’s coffin, to their reaction to her death, here’s everything the pair has said.

On walking behind Diana’s coffin

“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” Prince Harry told Newsweek in 2017. “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”

The late Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and King Charles follow the coffin of Diana in September 1997. (Getty Images)
Harry further opened up about the effect this moment had on his mental health, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2021: “When my mum was taken away from me at the age of 12, just before my 13th birthday, I didn’t want [that] life. Sharing the grief of my mother’s death with the world…

“It was like I was outside of my body and just walking along, doing what was expected of me, showing one-tenth of the emotion everybody else was showing.”

Prince William told the BBC that the decision for him and Harry to walk behind the casket was one made collectively by the family.

“It wasn’t an easy decision and it was a sort of collective family decision to do that. There is that balance between duty and family and that’s what we had to do,” he said.

“[I had to] between me being Prince William and having to do my bit, versus the private William who just wanted to go into a room and cry, who’d lost his mother.”

Harry’s last phone call with Diana

During the 2017 HBO documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Harry said that the last time he spoke to his mother was during one of her nightly phone calls, which were a regular occurrence after she and King Charles III split.

“I can’t really, necessarily, remember what I said,” Harry recalled. “But all I do remember is probably, you know, regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was. And if I’d known that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother – the things I would have said to her. All I remember regretting for the rest of my life how short that phone call was.”

The moment they found out Diana had died

“There’s nothing like it in the world,” William said in the HBO documentary. “There really isn’t. It’s like an earthquake has just run through the house and through your life and everything. Your mind is completely split. And it took me a while for it to actually sink in.”

Diana with Harry and William in 1985. (Getty Images)
Later, in Prince Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare, he wrote of the moment his father told him of Diana’s death: “Pa didn’t hug me. He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ But after that, nothing was OK for a long time.”

A message being passed on from beyond the grave

In Spare, Harry wrote about seeking help from a woman with ‘powers’ to help ease the sadness of Diana’s death.

He says that the psychic told him: “You’re living the life she couldn’t. You’re living the life she wanted for you.”

On not understanding the mass grief from the public

“It was very, very strange after her death, you know, the sort of outpouring of love and emotion from so many people that had never even met her,” Harry said in the HBO documentary. “… And I was thinking to myself, how is it that so many people that never even met this woman, my mother, can be crying and showing more emotion than I actually am feeling?”

Harry has only cried twice since Diana’s death

Diana was buried in the middle of an island on her family’s home, Althorpe Estate, which is where her funeral was held.

In the HBO documentary, Harry revealed: “The first time I cried was at the funeral on the island…and only since then, maybe once. So, you know, there’s a lot of grief that still needs to be let out.”

Prince William with Diana and Prince Harry on the day he joined Eton in September 1995. (Getty Images)

On the process of grief

“[You have to] slowly, you try and rebuild your life, and you try and understand what’s happened, and I kept saying to myself that, you know, my mother would not want me to be upset,” the Prince of Wales said in the 2017 documentary.

“She’d not want me to be down. She’d not want me to be like this. I kept myself busy as well – which is good and bad sometimes – but allows you to kind of get through that initial shock phase.”

Watch: The Crown risks royal anger with Princess Diana landmine wedding comment

Harry convinced himself Diana had faked her death

In Spare, Harry wrote that in the process of grief he convinced himself that his mother had faked her death and was living in the Swiss Alps.

“She’s been very unhappy,” he wrote that he told himself. “She’s been harassed, lied to, and lied about her. So she’s faked this accident as a move to make them get away from her.”

The effect of Diana’s death on Harry’s work and personal life

In an interview with the Telegraph in 2017, Harry detailed the long-term effects his mum’s death had on his life.

“I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of twelve, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last twenty years, had had a quite serious effect not only on my personal life, but also my work as well,” he explained.

“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions, when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming at you from every angle.”

Prince William and Prince Harry in 2021 unveiling the statue of their mother at Kensington Palace on what would have been her 60th birthday. (Getty Images)

Diana’s presence is ‘constant’

In 2022 Harry told the TODAY show that his mother’s presence had been felt more keenly since the birth of his two kids, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2.

“For me, [her presence is] constant,” Harry said. “It has been over the last two years – more so than ever before.”

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their roles as working royals -Credit:WireImage

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to be the subjects of new bombshell revelations in a forthcoming German documentary. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped down as senior working royals, before moving to Montecito, California, where they now live with their two children, will be the focus of a new show.

Journalist and royal expert Ulrike Grunewald will present the documentary, which promises to uncover “fresh secrets” about the royal couple. The programme is being produced for Germany’s ZDF network, with Ulrike having previously collaborated with the network on royal specials.

Reports suggest that the journalist travelled to California with a team of five people to investigate Montecito and gather information from the neighbourhood where the couple resides with their two children, Archie, 5, and Lillibet, 2.

The documentary will feature insights from experts and journalists, including former Fleet Street royal reporter Richard Mineards.

Harry made the move to California with his wife in 2020 -Credit:Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women
In his latest column, Richard wrote: “Los Angeles-based producer Melanie Hillmann grilled me for two hours on my Riven Rock neighbours, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, under director Ulrike Grunewald. The interview is airing in due course as part of a prime-time documentary on ZDF Royal.”

Ulrike has produced several royal documentaries, including 2009’s The Windsors, as well as The Queen in 2015 and a TV show titled How German is the Queen?

In 2020, she worked on Man Fergie! – The Duchess and the Secret of the Windsors, and in 2021, she produced the documentaries Princess Diana’s Dangerous Legacy and The Queen and the Power of Images.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to be the subject of a new documentary -Credit:SIPA USA/PA Images
The journalist and filmmaker had the opportunity to speak with Prince Harry in Dusseldorf during the Invictus Games last September.

At the time, she observed: “Now that Meghan is here, he is over the moon. They have been holding hands, cheering competitors on at various matches and games. They seem intimate and very close. Either that or they are very good actors. From where I’ve been watching, they seem very in love.”

It comes as Prince Harry continues to make the most of his solo trip to the UK this week. The youngest son of King Charles is said to be in ‘very high spirits’ despite him confirming that his father is too busy to meet with him during the three day visit.

Prince Harry is in the UK but will not be meeting with his father, King Charles -Credit:Getty Images for The Invictus Games Foundation
The Duke of Sussex was pictured visiting Armoury House in London on the afternoon of Tuesday 7 May, as he attended an Invictus Games discussion called ‘Realising a Global Community’, in his first sighting since touching down in the UK.

Today, May 8, the Duke will give a reading at a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral marking the decade anniversary of the competition’s launch.