Linda Nolan fought back tears on Good Morning Britain as she begged cancer to ‘leave my family alone’, as she prepares to possibly lose her hair for a fifth time.
The Nolans star, 65, received the all-clear from breast cancer in 2006, but was later diagnosed with incurable secondary cancer in 2017. However this week, Linda issued an update that the tumours in her brain – which were thought to be stable – have grown.
Appearing on GMB on Thursday, Linda revealed that she is being set on a new course of chemotherapy as a result of the update – and shared the news that she could face losing her hair for the fifth time.
She also revealed the physical toll the ongoing treatment was taking on her smile, pointing to a gap in her teeth and exclaiming: ‘Look, I’ve lost a tooth!’
Linda’s sisters also have a history of cancer, with herself, Colleen and Anne all receiving diagnoses and Bernie passing away from the disease in 2013.
Linda Nolan fought back tears on Good Morning Britain on Thursday as she begged cancer to ‘leave my family alone’, as she prepares to possibly lose her hair for a fifth time
Linda’s sisters also have a history of cancer, with herself (centre-right), Colleen (right) and Anne all receiving diagnoses and Bernie (left) passing away from the disease in 2013
‘I’m just like everybody else really, I just want it to go,’ Linda said of cancer’s prevalence in her family. ‘Or leave us alone for a little while at least.’
‘You would be entitled to feel a rage at the universe that your family has been cursed by the big C,’ host Richard Madeley said to Linda, before asking if she gets angry at how it has affected her family.
She replied: ‘I asked Bernie one time, somebody said to her “Do you ever think Why me?” and she said “No I think why not me”. It doesn’t pick and choose.
‘You can’t put your name down and say you’re next in line. But we have had a rough time with it.’
Linda then revealed that her step son Lloyd has also recently been diagnosed with cancer.
‘It’s like “Go away leave us alone”,’ she said. ‘But the treatments out there are brilliant now and hopefully that will work, and if it doesn’t work he’ll (her oncologist) put me on another.
‘He said “It’s a marathon not a sprint”, so I said “Well it feels like I’m getting faster by the day”.’
Linda gave the heartbreaking update on her condition this week, revealing that her tumours have ‘grown’ as her treatment has ‘stopped working’.
The singer was first diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer in 2005 before getting the all-clear in 2006. But in 2017 she was diagnosed with a form of incurable secondary cancer in her hip, which spread to her liver in 2020.
Appearing on GMB on Thursday, Linda revealed that she is being set on a new course of chemotherapy as a result of the update – and shared the news that she could face losing her hair for the fifth time
‘I’m just like everybody else really, I just want it to go,’ Linda said of cancer’s prevalence in her family. ‘Or leave us alone for a little while at least’
‘You would be entitled to feel a rage at the universe that your family has been cursed by the big C,’ host Richard Madeley said to Linda, before asking if she gets angry at how it has affected her family
Last year, she shared the news that the cancer had spread to her brain, with two tumours discovered on the left side of her brain which left her struggling with her speech and balance.
However, while the disease appeared to be stable in Linda’s recent updates, her latest prognosis has revealed the devastating news that two of her largest tumours has grown in size, while further cancer spots have been found.
In a new interview, Linda admitted she was left ‘sobbing’ as the doctor delivered the results.
She told The Mirror: ‘I sobbed when my consultant first told me. I know so many people are suffering and going through things, but I thought, just for once, could cancer just leave me alone? My heart sank.’
Detailing how she suspected something was amiss beforehand, she said: ‘I had feared something was wrong. My balance has been getting worse and my memory – my sisters have to prompt me when I get lost in the middle of a sentence.’
Linda told how she was accompanied by sister Maureen and her MacMillan nurse at the appointment and immediately asked her consultant if the cancer had spread.
After it was confirmed, she told how she then enquired straight away what the next course of treatment would be.
The singer was first diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer in 2005 before getting the all-clear in 2006. But in 2017 she was diagnosed with a form of incurable secondary cancer in her hip, which spread to her liver in 2020
In Linda’s recent updates, her latest prognosis has revealed the devastating news that two of her largest tumours has grown in size, while further cancer spots have been found
The Nolans star is set to start on a new course of treatment on Wednesday which will include the life-extending breast cancer drug Enhertu – which is not currently available on the health service in England after its manufacturers and the NHS spending watchdog failed to reach an agreement on price.
Linda said of the treatment: ‘To be able to try a new drug is amazing, I just wish everyone could have this opportunity. To be able to try this is hope – it’s a plan B not everyone is being allowed. To take this drug away from women is to take away their hope.’
But while Linda welcomes the new drug, the singer is dreading the side-effects after medics informed her it was a ‘possibility’ that she’ll lose her hair – which will be the fifth time for Linda amid her years of chemotherapy.
The brave star is trying to keep a positive outlook however as she insisted that she’s ‘ready to try anything’, declaring that as she’s done this before, she can ‘do it again’.