Loose Women’s Coleen Nolan says ‘that doesn’t get you anywhere’ as she opens up on love life
Loose Women star Coleen Nolan is set to appear on Celebs Go Dating as she looks for love but has admitted that she’s ‘scared of hurting anyone” during the experience
Coleen Nolan opened up about her personal life (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Television personality Coleen Nolan admits “I’m scared” as she provided a significant relationship update. The Loose Women panellist, 61, has experienced a turbulent personal life. She’s been married and divorced twice, initially to EastEnders actor Shane Richie and subsequently to musician Ray Fensome.
She parted ways with her most recent partner, supermarket logistics manager Michael Jones, in 2024, and now she has enrolled on Celebs Go Dating as she searches for love again.
Coleen confessed she’s “scared” of the experience after dating specialists Paul C. Brunson, Anna Williamson and Dr Tara Suwinyattichaipor informed her she needed to “stop being such a people pleaser”.
Speaking to Closer, she said: “They’re really good at giving you the truth and taught me how to be more transparent. I’m scared of hurting anyone to the point where I hurt myself first, and that doesn’t get you anywhere in dating.”
Coleen was wed to actor Shane from 1990 to 1999 but their union ended when he had an affair. They had two sons, Shane Jr, 37, and Jake Roche, 33, reports the Mirror.
Coleen (third from right) with the rest of the Celebs Go Dating cast (Image: Channel 4)
She married her second husband Ray in 2007 before the pair separated in 2018. They share daughter Ciara, 25.
The television star has been single since parting from her partner Michael two years ago, and acknowledges she has had some disappointing experiences on dating applications despite meeting her most recent boyfriend on Tinder.
She said: “I’ve been on the dating apps over the last four or five years, and you turn up and they just don’t look like their photo.” Coleen says she actually requested her manager to contact the producers to express her interest. She confessed the previous series, featuring singer Kerry Katona, “looked so much fun”.
This follows Coleen revealing she has one key rule regarding finding love again. She has recently slimmed down from a size 20 to a size 14 dress size and the self-assurance this has provided her is amongst the reasons she has joined the programme.
She is making herself available for romance again but is resolute she didn’t want to go back to the dating apps. Coleen told the Mirror: “I genuinely want to meet someone and if I’m going to do it, why not do it like this?”
Coleen Nolan (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hearst)
Despite this she acknowledges that dating in your 60s is “a minefield”. She added: “A lot of the attention I get is from younger men sliding into my Instagram DMs, and I think, ‘Why? What could you possibly want with me?’ My rule is, I don’t want to date anyone I could have given birth to.”
The TV personality has also experienced problems with men her own age, saying: “Some of them act really old, like: ‘We’re too old for that now.’
“The minute someone says that, I’m out. I’m 61, but mentally I’m about 35. I want someone who still wants to live, laugh and do things.”
Coleen will be accompanied on the programme by the likes of former England rugby star James Haskell, rapper Professor Green (real name Stephen Paul Manderson) and ex-Love Island contestant Gabby Allen.
The latest series of Celebs Go Dating begins on Monday, May 4 on E4 from 9pm to 10pm.
