Linda Nolan's final wish as she cherished last moments with family

Linda Nolan, the Irish singer, actress and television star, made an emotional wish before spending her last Christmas with her beloved sisters. The star, who first shot to fame in the 1970s as part of The Nolans alongside her sisters Anne, Coleen, Denise, Bernie, and their mother Maureen, sadly passed away today at the age of 65 after living with cancer on and off for two decades.

The group, known for hits such as Attention To Me, Gotta Pull Myself Together, and I'm In The Mood For Dancing, sold 30 million records. Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and went into remission a year later, but the disease returned in 2016.

It had spread to her hip, and then to her liver in 2020. By 2023, doctors discovered two sizable tumours in her brain, and she was told it was not curable. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here .

The Mirror columnist expressed gratitude for making it to Christmas and held high hopes for the year ahead. In a candid interview with The Mirror in December, Linda admitted she feared Christmas 2024 would be her last as she battled incurable secondary breast cancer.

"I try to stay positive", the singer confessed. "I'll use jokes and humour as a way to cope, but of course it's scary. And I have my days where I'm terribly down.", reports the Mirror.

Linda Nolan, with remarkable courage, shared her Christmas wish: "keep breathing and see another one". She defiantly stated, "I thought my 60th birthday would be my last, but I'm still here, five years later. It's easy to sit back and get depressed about it, but I'm still going. My hope for 2025? To not die, obviously. I just want to be here with my family."

Despite making plans for her own funeral, Linda shunned discussions on wills and finances, saying, "When people start talking about putting things in order – I don't want to talk about that. I don't want to think about my affairs. It's so final. Every birthday, I want to make it to the next one. I have to be like that, I can't be a grey cloud of doom."

Tragically, Linda is the second Nolan sister to succumb to cancer, following Bernie Nolan who died 12 years earlier. Bernie had announced her breast cancer diagnosis in April 2010 and by October of the same year, she joyfully declared she was cancer-free after undergoing a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and Herceptin treatment.

However, the cancer returned aggressively by October 2012, spreading to her left breast, brain, lungs, liver, and bones. Bernie Nolan passed away peacefully at her Surrey home in July 2013 at the age of 52, surrounded by her loving family, as confirmed by a statement released at the time.

Sisters Anne and Coleen have both faced their own battles with cancer. Anne was first diagnosed with the devastating illness in 2000, and by April 2020, at the age of 72, she was dealing with stage three breast cancer, just as Linda received her liver cancer diagnosis.

The sisters supported each other through chemotherapy, united in their resolve to conquer the disease. "I don't want to die. I love my life so much. I love my daughters, my grandchildren, my friends, all my family. I want to live for as long as I possibly can," Anne confided to The Sun during that period.

She had discovered a new lump while showering, marking her second encounter with cancer, but fortunately, she went into remission again after getting the all-clear.

In 2023, 'Loose Women' star Coleen received a skin cancer diagnosis. Recounting the moment she learned of it, Coleen shared: "My first instinct, typical me, was to laugh hysterically because I just thought that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard anybody say. I'm sick of cancer. Also, my first instinct was, 'I'm not telling anybody in my family' because this... seems nothing compared to what my sisters have been through."